Are you looking forward to a tremendous season on the water this year? After all, you may have worked hard to buy your boat and have found a wonderful storage facility while you're not using it. You may also feel that you have put a lot of effort into preparing and maintaining your vessel when it's not in direct use. Yet you may be taking one area for granted, and this could stop you in your tracks when you arrive with entourage in tow and fully laden for your maiden voyage. Are you sure that your battery is going to "play ball" with you or could you be set up for a disappointment?
Charging Woes
There's nothing worse than that feeling of disappointment and gradual realisation that today, you're not going anywhere. Everyone in your party will be deflated and mentally making alternate plans, while you're kicking yourself that you did not get the right type of battery charger in the first place. Your battery will typically support your pastime, as long as it receives proper maintenance and perhaps it's time that you took care of this problem once and for all.
Basic Criteria
When you select a battery charger, you need to take into account several different criteria. Have you checked to ensure that your charger matches the actual voltage of the battery itself? This is quite fundamental, but you will ordinarily need to choose between 12 volts or six.
Delivery
You do need to be careful when you attach the battery to its generation source, to make sure that the charger matches the amps per hour capacity. If not, there's a danger you could deliver too much current to the unit.
Right Type
Perhaps most crucial of all, however, is the battery type. Usually, one charger will "fit all" but not if you have a gel cell unit. These tend to be on the top end of the price range and need their own style of charger.
Bulk or Trickle?
To restore power in an emergency situation, you really need a bulk charger. This can be quite efficient while at the same time taking care of the battery through a multi-stage charging process. This is the safe bet if you're not sure about what you're doing and want to avoid damage to the battery itself. Alternatively, you can employ a trickle charger to keep a battery towards full capacity, once it is reactivated. This approach does take quite a lot longer, however, and will probably not be of much use today.
Moving Forward
You should talk with your marine product supplier to make sure that you don't find yourself in this situation again – and get the right charger for your needs. For more information, contact your local marine batteries supplier.
Share