How often to charge with onboard charger

[AaronM]

After a light day of fishing, do you guys plug in the onboard charger that night? Can you have them plugged in too much? Thanks for any help!

[LMITOUT]

It's good to top off deep cycle batteries and as long as the charger has a maintain mode it'll be fine to leave it plugged in.

[Whoaru99]

ALWAYS recharge your batteries as soon as possible after any amount of use. For me, that is one of the first things I do after getting home; plug in the charger, ALWAYS.

Most OB chargers are meant to be plugged in all the time. They continuously monitor the batteries and keep them on an indefinite float charge/maintenance charge as appropriate.

[PerchJerker]

I agree with the first two answers. Get a good on-board charger with a maintenance mode, then plug them in and leave them plugged in.

[Sandmannd]

Agreed, I plug my boat in as soon as I get home and it stays plugged in till the next time out. Have never had a problem.

[BoxMN]

Even with the on board "never have to touch them" chargers, don't forget to occassionally check the water level on your batteries. But I do like most of you, plug it in ASAP after being out and let 'er ride

[hhguide]

I would caution people from just leaving them plugged in. I put alot of hours on my boat and only put the charger on until they turn green then I unplug them. Otherwise I think it drains the water out of them and make sure to keep them full otherwise its nothing but trouble!

[311Hemi]

What is the proper level of water in the batteries?

[Mallard1]

I asked the same question to the battery store where i bought my two deep cycles last year. They said just enough to be slightly above the plates you see in the batteries.

[Mallard1]

I asked the same question to the battery store where i bought my two deep cycles last year. They said just enough to be slightly above the plates you see in the batteries.

[Mallard1]

I asked the same question to the battery store where i bought my two deep cycles last year. They said just enough to be slightly above the plates you see in the batteries.

[Whoaru99]

Sure, if it's not a maintenance free battery, one always should keep an eye on the electrolyte level.

However, a "real" charger with float/maintenace mode should not cause any significant drop in level.

Now, if one uses their batteries quite a bit, the heavy initial charging is probably what's causing the level drop, not a float mode.

[jeffreyd]

If you look in the hole, with safety glasses on, you see a notch cut out of the tube that goes to the plate, fill the water to the bottom of the tube. You can purchase a battery fill jug at most auto stores that will stop the water when it is full. Just fill the can, put the plunger on and fill away.