Battery Charger

[broth]

Hey gang,

I'm looking for some advice on a battery charger. I'm new to boating and have recently purchased a 2007 170CC. I absolutely love it! I had a new Minn Kota Riptide 55 trolling motor and a Lowrance 525CI sonar/GPS. My dealr installed a deep cycle battery under the console.

I'm looking for advice on what type of charge is best / most convenient.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

[rkola]

I mounted a Minn Kota 20 amp charger (2 circuits @ 10 amps ea.) in the starboard console of my 170 DC. We take the boat out for several days at a time, and try to stay in campgrounds with electricity. This arrangement means one less thing to try and fit in the truck or camper, and works geat at home for keeping both the starting battery and the trolling motor deep cycle "topped off" and ready to go. I got the charger on sale at Sprotsman's Warehouse, for around $180. Before getting it I just used a standard 8 amp charger (sears) that I inherited from my father-in law about 20 years ago. It worked okay, but was a bit of a pain to take on trips, and I got tired of taking the cover off the battery every time I needed to hook up the charger.

Ron

[woodNfish]

Oof, you paid a lot of money for that charger! I just bought an XPS 2 bank 20 amp charger from Bass Pro Shops and it was about $90 with shipping. This is my second one as these things last about 3 - 4 years. They are completely encapsulated and not repairable, but it does come with a 2 year warranty.

I read some user reviews of the Minn Kota chargers and people were complaining that they were not getting full charges on thier batteries so I went with the XPS - same as my first one.

I have a 17 Bass and my charger is mounted in the rear battery compartment. I had to lengthen the wires to my trolling battery which sits under my console. I just cut off the wires from the old charger and spliced them onto the new one. The old wires were actually a heavier gage even though the chargers are of identical power and banks.