Aftermarket On-Board Charger

[Ihateriversnags]

Greetings everyone,

Picking up my New/Used boat on Wednesday this week and I was wondering if any of you use an aftermarket On board battery charger? Brand/Price likes vs. dislikes and any installation hints would be appreciated. IF I remember right this boat has three batteries on board.

[Down Deep]

I installed a MiinKota on my boat about 5 years ago and it has worked flawlessly.

[Northlander]

Minkota here too and it works great so far.

[Eastwind]

I also have a Minn Kota that I am happy with. Actually, anything made by Minn Kota that I have ever owned has held up well and you cannot beat how they take care of you when you do have a problem. If you have one battery in the back and two up front I would install a single in the rear battery compartment and a double for the front rather than a triple. I used to have a triple, not a Minn Kota, and as soon one bank went out I was out the value of the triple bank. Another thing to consider is just installing a double for the two batteries up front. That's what I did. My motor cranking battery never needs to be charged during the season. During the off season I just hook it up to a normal portable charger as needed.

[gspman]

Minnkota for me.

[Mark Christianson]

Myself and a few friends have the Cabelas chargers.

The model escapes me. NO problems at all.

[NBR]

There are many good ones. MinnKota, Bass Pro, ProMariner are all good units.

Depending on what you power off of your cranking battery I would not rely on the big motor to keep it charged unless you run the big motor at 3/4 to full throttle a lot. On my boat I run the depth sounders, live wells, lights, bilge and evey thing else but the TM's. I didn't charge the cranking battery after every use but now I have a set of jumper cables onboard and a three bank charger. Since I get the three bank I haven't needed the jumpers but they still stay on board.

[Mille Lacs Guy]

As far as I'm concerned there is only one brand of on board charger to be considering: Guest. They make a very good charger, in fact they make the majority of cabelas on board chargers. They really have worked well for me in the past.

[MercMan]

I also purchased a Minn Kota. It works like a champ and I love it. One of the best things I have bought for my boat.

[ChuckN]

Guest for me too.

[Ihateriversnags]

Thanks for all the information, Seems to me that everyone is either running the Guest from Cabelas or the minnkota chargers. Any difference in ease of install?