Battery Maintenance Question

[BaitCaster]

OK, so I got a new battery and the Minn Kota MK 110P portable 3 stage charger. The charger has a maintenance mode. So, should I keep the battery hooked up to the charger all the time when it is not in use?

 

[russ010]

with a portable charger, I would charge the battery as soon as I got home from using it (overnight)... then again the night before I were to go fishing.

If you're going to be going weeks without fishing, I would might hook it up every 2 weeks or so, but just for overnight.

I don't think those types of chargers are made to be ran continuously like the onboard chargers are

 

[longjohn119]

OK, so I got a new battery and the Minn Kota MK 110P portable 3 stage charger. The charger has a maintenance mode. So, should I keep the battery hooked up to the charger all the time when it is not in use?

If it has a maintenance mode then yes, you can leave it plugged in and it will automatically keep the battery topped off without damaging the battery. I just buy the little 1.5 amp 3 state chargers by Schumacher ( https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...motive/batteries/equipment_supplies/chargers/and mount them right on my battery boxes. If you are using the boat weekly it's not a big deal, you can just charge them and take them off when they are done but these really are nice for over the winter because you just plug them in and forget it until spring and your battery will be nice and fresh. I like them because they really do extend the life of a battery, even a trickle charge for long periods on a fully charged battery cuts it's lifespan, so the ultra low charge maintenance cycle is nice. I sat down and figured it out and it cost well less than a buck a month to leave the charger on the battery all the time. You can also leave the Schumachers hooked up to the battery all the time, even if you are using another charger, so basically all I ever have to do is just plug them in to a dropcord when I get home and unplug them when I leave and never touch the battery itself until Fall when I take them out of the boat and plug them both in for the winter. If I need to take the battery somewhere, like a friend's boat for a weekend, the charger is always with it and at the campgrounds all you have to do is plug in the dropcord, no dragging out or even having to pack a charger, it's already there. My oldest one is over 7 years old and still working as well as the day I bought it. I got both of mine for 20 bucks apiece and they have more than paid for themselves just in hassles and saving time. The only drawback is if you use the battery hard a 1 1/2 amp charge rate isn't enough to recharge it overnight, it takes the better part of a day. On the plus side the slower the charge rate, the longer the battery life.

 

[bAcKpAiN]

Be careful if it has a cooling fan. My Schumaker died after a few months a few years back because the fan burned out.

 

[longjohn119]

No fans, no big iron transformer, it's a solid state switch mode charger and sealed up tight. You can lay your hand on it during full charge and it gets warm but not uncomfortably hot which also tells me it's extremely efficient (Wasted electricity = heat) I know a collector that has 15 show cars and he has one of these on every one