Battery charger recommendation???

[scook]

cfelton, where did you get a marine alternator for $60? I'm seeing kits for $250 - $600.

Spare, thanks for the manual - I'll dig into it and see what I can find.

Had to laugh reading the shop battery charger comments - we could start a historic charger website. I've had a smart charger for a few years that charges at 2, 6 or 12 amps and automatically slows down and stops and an old one that was my dad's (he'd be 104 if he were still among us). I think it's Shauer brand - no meter or anything - if it's humming, it's working, if you forget it and leave it on, you buy a new battery.

Destroyer, these are Optima batteries (the kind that don't have liquid acid). They can't be checked with a hydrometer (www.optimabatteries.com). Looking for an onboard charger so I can just plug the boat in when it's sitting (which is a lot), charge the batteries up if needed and maintain them, I heard that charging at higher amperage shortens the battery life. It's a mystery to me but I want to make the right choice when I replace the Guest 10 amp onboard charger that's no longer working on the boat - the technology is definitely above my pay grade. Reading on their website, I don't see the charging amperage being a problem, but I value the wisdom and experience here so I'm picking our collective brain.