# Proper battery charging



## aeviaanah (Aug 3, 2014)

Curious if its best to charge at 2amp 6amp or 10amp. 

My starting battery is a Lawn and Garden 230 cranking amp @ 0F and 300 cranking amp @ 32F. 

My deep cycle is BPS 185. 

My typical fishing routine is to run the starting battery 4-5 times to get motor going. I use the deep cycle to run trolling motor for about 4-5 hrs. I come home and begin charging deep cycle first as the starting battery is hooked up to alternator on motor. The next morning ill put the charger on the starting battery and alternate them every few days. My charger is electronic and it switches to maintainer mode.


----------



## TNtroller (Aug 3, 2014)

If your charger is a smart one as you say, just let it do its job. If the battery needs 10amps, it will deliver the 10amps and drop down as the battery is charged.


----------



## aeviaanah (Aug 4, 2014)

I still have to choose one of the three. It is smart in the sense that it knows when battery is at full charge and it will automatically switch to maintainer.


----------



## Bugpac (Aug 4, 2014)

If you got time. Slow is always better. 2 on the start battery. 6 on the bps.


----------



## Bugpac (Aug 4, 2014)

Not all smart chargers are fully auto to sense amp rates...


----------



## Zum (Aug 5, 2014)

I read somewhere that you should charge at 10% of the amp rating of the battery.
I use 10 amp...my trolling motor deep cycle is a 2009, I fish atleast 2/3 times a week..


----------



## Gagoosebuster (Aug 9, 2014)

Here is some info you can take to the bank, this is for deep cycle batteries. With deep cycle batteries you want a higher amp charge for the first part of the charging cycle. In the first stage of the process, current is sent to the batteries at the maximum safe rate they will accept until voltage is brought up to nearly 80-90 percent full charge level. There are limits on the amount of current the battery and/or wiring can take. How much amperage is best for your battery will depend on the batteries size. For 90+ Ah batteries 10-15A per bank smart chargers with an automatic maintain mode are the best. For smaller 90- Ah batteries a 5A per bank smart charger with maintain would be fine. A trickle charge is not desirable for deep cycle batteries, you want the first part of the charging cycle to be a higher amperage charge, as the batteries reach full charge the smart charger will lower the amperage, and once the battery is fully charged it will go into maintainer mode. You can make any battery last longer if you just do a few things: get a smart charger with maintainer, if your charger does not maintain buy a charger specifically for maintaining (you can get a $20 maintainer at Walmart). Keep the batteries on the charger every minute they are not in use, after a day on the water get them back on the charger and charged asap. You have to keep the batteries fully charged when they are not in use do not let the battery sit uncharged. Use distilled water and keep the water level where it is supposed to be. Try not to completely drain your battery every time you go out. Keep in mind that when you buy a new battery it will take about 15-20 charging cycles before your battery will give you it's full potential, the first 10-20 cycles you will only get about 75% of the batteries potential. 
There a few things that you may hear about batteries that are myth or something that applied to old batteries many decades ago. Here is the truth: Your batteries will not develop memory, modern batteries will not go bad from being set on the ground, trickle charge is not best for deep cycle batteries, & keeping you battery on a maintainer charge all the time will not burn it up.

I hope this helps.


----------



## Bugpac (Aug 9, 2014)

Did you author this or clip it from a battery manufacturer..


----------

