Battery charger recommendation???

[cfelton]

As for the alternator on the motor Id change ot over to a one wire external marine charger that mounts over the water pump and runs with a belt. I bought a new one for 60.00 in the box. Works great! I put my trusty old Shumacher 2/10 amp charger on my batteries about once a month for a couple days on each battery. It charges them up and cuts off automatically.

[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.

[cfelton]

Hey Scook, look on Amazon. I just saw a 110 amp, one wire Delco alternator for 65.67 from Rareelectrical. I used a long bolt that went right over the front motor mount into an existing hole in the head and you can make a top bracket for the top mount hole. Look at my gallery pics, maybe you can see it. If you need any measurements let me know, Ill be home for a few more days, be glad to help you.

[spareparts]

Originally Posted by cfelton

Hey Scook, look on Amazon. I just saw a 110 amp, one wire Delco alternator for 65.67 from Rareelectrical. I used a long bolt that went right over the front motor mount into an existing hole in the head and you can make a top bracket for the top mount hole. Look at my gallery pics, maybe you can see it. If you need any measurements let me know, Ill be home for a few more days, be glad to help you.

power steering pump may get in your way.Keep in mind 1 wire alternators don't charge till you get them over about 1500 rpm, if you do a lot of trolling/low speed idling, you may have issues

[steplift20]

It is a Schumacher. That's funny. Still works. H

[cfelton]

Spare is right, I have to give it a little speed to make it start charging first then it usually works well.

[scook]

It was a happy thought, getting by for less than a hundred bucks plus a little time in the shop, but lots of my time is spent at a slow troll for Salmon, so I'd probably better stay with a conventional setup.