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I was wondering if there was a way to hook up my twelve volt alternator from my big motor to charge my 24 volt setup? I have a 24 volt minn kota trolling motor and
right now I unhook the leads and charge one battery at a time. It would be nice to be able to charge this circuit while i was running the big motor.
Thanks in advance,
John
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This method would be strictly dependant on how you boat and motor are currently wired. You can wire it like a diesel pickup, which all have 2 12 volt batteries, but remain 12 volt systems, where you duplicate another set of wires from your big motor alternator/starter (depending on how it is rigged) to the second battery. This mean you would have 2 positive wires and 2 negative wires, with each wire going to its respective battery. This still gives you 12 volts of charge to each battery. 24 volts is obtained with one positive cable going to the other batteries negative cable thus doubling the voltage, then that batteries positive cable supplying your electric motor which then takes it's negative back to the 1st battery. As I'm not sure how your boat/motor is wired, do this at your own risk. It could also require the use of a switch. I know fish1on (Pat) is pretty familiar, and I know he is a very good guy, and I'm sure he could work out a very fair deal to figure something out for you.
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If you have an outboard like mine it barely generates enough power to charge one battery let alone two.
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Kent, even if your motor only generates a small amount of power, it can still charge as many batteries as you can connect. It will just take longer to charge them. 2 batteries would generally equal twice the charging time and so on for each additional cell in the circuit.
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Theoretically correct; however, I don't want to burn up all the gas in my gas tank in the effort.
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Understandable there. It would probably be more economically feasable to install one of those RV solar cell chargers on your boat. Then the energy would (in the long run) be very cheap.
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Without looking at your boats wiring It would be hard to give advice on the best method.
Strickly an assumption here.... you have a 24 volt system for an electric trolling motor operated on two seperate batteries that are not tied into your main 12 volt engine battery system. This 12 volt system operates everything else on your boat I.E starter, electronics, lights.
Your wants and desires can be achieved in many ways. I would shop around and work out the best approach that fits your budget and style boat.
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YOU NEED A TOP CHARGER TRANSPO MAKES ONE PART NUMBER IS 12-24N YOU CAN GET THEM AT YOUR LOCAL ALTERNATOR STARTER REBUILDER IF YOU NEED TO KNOW ONE CHOOSE TO JUST LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE. I KNOW THEY HAVE THEM OR CAN GET THEM. BECAUSE I SALE THEM TO THEM.
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Some on-board chargers have an option where you can charge the trolling motor batts while running the big motor. It's handy for those times when you're spending a week at Lake Powell without a generator. But if your batts are good, you should be able to get several days of hard use out of your 24-volt motor.
[url "http://www.stayncharge.com/"]http://www.stayncharge.com/[/url]
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A lot of trolling motors will run 12 or 24 volt. I think the 24 volt option just gives a little more power and longer battery life when using muliple batteries. Check your manual and see if the motor can be operated on 12 volt and you can rehook your terminal leads on the batteries to give 12 volts and setup to charge from your main drive battery. Be carefull though - sloppy connections and poor wire can put noise back into your main electrical system when you run the trolling motor. It could interfere with a fish finder. I installed an onboard charger that I can plug in to AC - I could hook it into the drive system and charge from there if I need to.
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