www.iFourWinns.com

Any ideas on a New battery tender not sure if a solar unit is the way to go or not.

Will the boat be near an A/C outlet? If so a plug in is probably cheaper. I bought a battery tender at bass pro shops, it was fairly inexpensive and coast guard rated for engine room which made me feel a little safer.

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Terry
Current: 07 Crownline 255 CCR cuddy - 350 Mag MPI/B3 "Casi Cielo"

Previous:97 245 Sundowner 5.7GI/SX

Tow vehicle: 1986 GMC 2500 Camper Special 454/TH400

It will be in the garageport on the side of the house so yes. Going to check those out at basspro.

Makes sense to get something that is inexpensive and functional.

The 1.5A solar panel I use on our boat was a lot cheaper than the battery tender I have from my motorcycle days. And the solar panel does not require direct sunlight to charge. In fact, the panel I have (measures about 4" wide by 12" long) will put out almost 18V in direct afternoon sun! That solar panel cost me about $20 a few years back.

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1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
2013 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi
San Antonio, TX

I have seen batteries blow up on solar panel websites because they overcharged the batteries. Thanks for the posts I am contemplating both at this time. 2008 H220SS

Joe - do a search on the forum. There are quite a few threads about different chargers that you might want to check out for info also.

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

When I had my H200SS, I had a 2 bank charger from Bass Pro. Everytime I brought the boat home, it was plugged in and I always had well maintained batteries. This is the way to go.

Mine was the Pro Sport 12 http://www.basspro.com/ProMariner®-Prosport-Series-OnBoard-Marine-Battery-Chargers/product/97825/-1464916

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

Deltran products are amazing, I've been using their tenders for years and it looks like they now have a solar charger with a built in tender. The smallest unit MSRP's for $80.
I've found it shipped for around $75
http://www.batterymart.com/p-021-1163-b ... onShopping

My next paycheck I'm buying one for sure!!!

They also sell just the solar controller if you already have a panel for like $25 bucks to prevent overcharging.

http://batterytender.com/solar.html

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Most battery tenders, solar panels are 250ma or in that range. The AC ones are about 1 to 1.5 amps. They basically maintain the battery, so it says fully charged. At 350 ma, it would take weeks if at all, at 1 to 1.5 a few days and at 6 amps, 24 to 36 hours to charge up. Of course you can go with a bigger one.

Bass Pro is not cheap. I would use a good 3 stage charger, as in ProMariner or Guest. From Hodges Marine, about $70.00 for a 6 amp one. http://www.hodgesmarine.com/Promariner- ... m42006.htm

Defender.com is very good too.

Here is what a good 3 stage charger will do. The important thing here too is desulfating, this will make your wet cells lasting longer.

Stage 1: Charging
During this mode, the ProSport will use its available charging amps (as controlled
by temperature) until battery voltage is raised to 14.6 VDC (Factory setting for
standard Flooded (Lead-acid) / AGM batteries).
Stage 2: Conditioning
The ProSport will hold batteries at 14.6 VDC (Factory setting for Flooded (Lead-acid) / AGM
batteries) providing a 100% charge to each battery, while conditioning batteries by desulfating
each battery. Upon completion, the ProSport will go to into its maintenance mode.
Stage 3: Maintenance Mode
During this mode, the Red Charging LED and the RED Battery Type LED (Factory set
charge profile for standard Flooded (Lead-acid / AGM Batteries) will turn off indicating
the Charge Process is completed, followed by the Green READY LED turning.

It's only putting out 270 milliamps or you could say 0.270amps. I hope I am not talking out of turn, it just dedends on your needs!

Well lets say on a good day, it spits out 1.5 amps of charging power. My automatic bilge pump draws 1.5 amps and during these rainy florida days it's probably on for a total of 15 minutes and used about half an amp hour of power from my battery. It's pretty safe to say that even the smallest solar charger they offer will be just fine to maintain and top off the 75amp/h battery in the boat during the week for when the bilge kicks on to empty the rain water.

On a side note, I re-water proofed the canvas so maybe i won't get much water in the boat

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

If thats all you need it for, I would suggest a dual battery setup. Run the pump on the one battery and save the other for starting. You would get more out of it for all round boating. What I do, is run the stock pump on the 1st battery and I installed a 2nd pump a little higher and have that connected to the 2nd battery. If the 1st pump is overwhelmed or is not working the 2nd pump will kick in!!

That's a grand idea, cause my manual switch bilge pump is maybe 2 months old and the automatic is brand new. Can never be too safe with a boat that's kept in the water huh? Would a Y pipe flow enough with both on? Both are 500gph. There is a 5 amp fuse on the circuit, I wonder if it will be okay to run both pumps on the manual switch? Total combined amps would be 3amp.

I like that idea. 500gph auto.... and 1000gph manual operation

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

No to the "Y". Yes, you could run both on manual, but make sure that on "auto", that power is coming off each battery. You may need to go to a 7 amp fuse for manual and fuse each leg from the battery.