Finally installed up my o/b charger and i'm not sure if I can have the o/b/c hooked up and the batteries hooked up at the same time. any ideas? Thanks

not following u

i guess you mean that you have the batteries hooked up to the motor and electrical panel, etc.

as long as you don't have any switches leaking, you should be ok.

it would be best to have a master battery disconnect.

guess I should have asked it this way, do I have to unhook my trolling motor batteries to use my on board charger.

I do not disconnect anything when I am charging mine with the onboard charger.

You do not have to unhook the batteries as long as you know that you are not losing any juice anywhere and be sur to watch your water level.

Your trolling motor batteries are on a seperate circuit than the main battery. In fact, the onboard charger should be to charge the trolling motor batteries. Your main battery is charged from the alternator on the motor.

Good question.....You can just plug in your obc and leave it on 24/7 and leave everything connected "BUT SWITCHED OFF" until you're headed for the water and unplug your OBC.


If your obc is setup to recharg both your trolling motor batteries and your cranking or main battery, it's a good practice to turn off the trolling motor power switch and if you have one, the boats' master power switch when the obc is plugged into AC. That is so that the obc can cycle through its modes to reach a trickle maintenance charge level. If you forgot and left on a depth finder or a light, and still had everything connected, the OBC would be fooled, never reach a trickle charge level and could overcharge your battery(s).

Thanks for the answers. Its a 2 bank charger and is strictly for my trolling motor batteries. I don't think I've charged my cranking battery but one time and thats when I got the boat back in November.

Actually, some OBC's don't trickle charge. I have a Dual Pro and it doesn't. When It reaches full charge, it shuts off. It won't charge again until I unplug and plug it again.
I like this type of charger because I rarely let my boat sit very long, even in the winter. Having a constant charge on your batteries generates unnecessary heat that takes it's toll on batteries over time. If we were up north, I would probably have one, but not here.

Just my $.02.

Artie

I just plug it in and forget it-that's the benefit of an on-board charger.

Bass Art is correct..the Dual Pro line of chargers don't all have the added feature of trickle charging. They can be used essentially the same way though, leave them plugged in and connected to the batteries 24/7.