'97 330 Sundancer Battery Charger Question

[ippa2]

I was curious does my battery switch need to be ON when running the battery charger? All summer long when I'm on dockside power I would leave the battery switch ON all summer long. Since the boat has been on the hard I have it plugged in, battery switch OFF and I turn the charger on for a day or two every 6 weeks. But it just occcured to me that I don't know if the batteries take a charge when the switch is OFF. I could probably figure it out looking at the wiring, but its 8pm and its 6 degrees outside. I'm not about to start crawling around the bilge.

Thanks for any help on this one.

Mike

 

[Nehalennia]

I would depend on if your charger is installed to charge through your battery switch or not. Many people do that to eliminate a rat's nest of wires heading to the battery and if they have not installed a proper power bus.
I have mine connected directly but besides the main battery cables the charger cables are the only other leads going to the batteries.

 

[JimG]

Most chargers are connected directly to the batteries.

 

[ippa2]

Well as it turns out the battery switches were actually ON... and the battery acid was frozen, which from what little I know about batteries means they are dead as a door nail with no hope of survival... looks like I'll be paying a visit to Interstate in the spring.

Any comments on frozen batteries? Is it as bad as I think it is? Keep in mind it was below 0 last night...

 

[Alegria]

Well to answer your question the batteries will charge with the switches off. I leave mine off and the charger on and they do charge.

Now as to frozen electrolyte... That I can't give you a firm answer on. All I know is that I disconnected the batteries and left them in the boat, no issues last year. I don't expect any this year either... But they are wet cells so I am just looking for a good reason to go to AGM...!!!

 

[Larry]

"I am just looking for a good reason to go to AGM...!!!"

Agreed, the charger does charge with the switch in the "OFF" position

I had put the AGM's (3) in my last boat, yes it's nice that you don't need to worry about them freezing, but after I really did an actual cost analysis, it just isn't worth the extra cost. I just replace my lead acid batteries every 3 years (I leave batteries in all winter) and it is less expensive than going to AGM's.

 

[Creekwood]

A fully charged battery will not freeze at 0 degrees F or no one in Northern Canada would be able to have an internal combustion engine. Your batteries are toasted.