Association Forum - "Battery Tender" accessories?

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

"Battery Tender" accessories?

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

2272 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/19/2013 : 10:02:50

As I mentioned elsewhere on the forum, I'm hoping to do a 1 week cruise this summer. I typically do daysails, so dual batteries is really overkill. But I've bought an inexpensive raft and trolling motor (low bucks because of very infrequent planned use), and I plan to use an extra dual-purpose group 24 battery currently in my basement to power the motor (it's 2 years old and never been through a discharge cycle).

This has me thinking about the best way to recharge the trolling battery while out on a cruise. While searching Amazon, I came across the "Battery Tender" series of accessories. While I'm not interested in their 120v chargers (I have a nice 2-bank Guest charger in the boat already), I do like the looks of their [url="http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-081-0069-6-Terminal-Disconnect/dp/B000NCOKZQ"]fused harness[/url], [url="http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-081-0148-25-Disconnect-Extension/dp/B000FW2MWW/"]extension cords[/url], 12v adapters ([url="http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-Cigarette-Lighter-081-0069-5/dp/B003CJ927I/"]male[/url] and [url="http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-081-0069-8-Cigarette-Disconnect/dp/B0041CDPQO/"]female[/url]).

These components would seem to provide a lot of options, like charging the battery while motoring by simply plugging into my 12v adapter. In fact, with the 25 ft. extension cord, if I'm towing the dinghy in calm water I might be able to run the cord back to the dink and charge the battery without removing it.

Also, my current 12v cockpit adapter is a homemade job with inline fuse hand-spliced and battery terminals hand-crimped. Their harness with a 12v adapter socket looks to be a lot more "professional" and moisture proof.

Do any of you guys have any experience with this line of connectors. They appear to be more auto/RV/motorcycle grade than marine grade, but for temporary hookups it looks like they would be good enough for occasional use during my once-a-year cruises.

Rick S., Swarthmore, PA
PO of Take Five, 1998 Catalina 250WK #348 (relocated to Baltimore's Inner Harbor)
New owner of 2001 Catalina 34MkII #1535 Breakin' Away (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)

Edited by - on

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2013 : 13:13:49

The wiring gauge of the 12 volt socket and your corresponding cable to the tender can affect the ability to recharge the battery. If you are only intending to use the tender for runs of a couple of hundred feet or so the extension cable may suffice. If you intend to be running around in the tender I would replace my cabin battery with the tender battery for a time while I'm crusing under power. You might be able to alternate bateries each day and keep them both relatively charged if you are diligent about your battery use.

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

2272 Posts

Response Posted - 04/19/2013 : 14:18:10

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Sloop Smitten
 The wiring gauge of the 12 volt socket and your corresponding cable to the tender can affect the ability to recharge the battery. If you are only intending to use the tender for runs of a couple of hundred feet or so the extension cable may suffice. If you intend to be running around in the tender I would replace my cabin battery with the tender battery for a time while I'm crusing under power. You might be able to alternate bateries each day and keep them both relatively charged if you are diligent about your battery use.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
As I mentioned, I do not have a cabin battery, and for so little cruising installing a permanent second tray would be more cost and trouble than it's worth. If I bring the battery inside I plan to lash the box to the compression post.

I'm not sure how much I'll be running down the battery, since this is all new to us. We will be going directly to shore and back, but my dog's bladder and curiosity may cause us to do so a few times a day. I have meters available that can monitor the battery drain to make sure I don't exceed 50% of the rated capacity.

I have many options to bring the battery into the boat and charge it, but of course lifting the battery out of a small, unstable raft is a chore. That's why I was wondering if, in calm waters, I could shorten the painter to ~20' and run the extension wire back to the dinghy while motoring.

I'm aware of AWG requirements, and you can push 10 amps (size of my alternator and/or Guest charger) through 25' of 10 gauge with less than 3% voltage drop. But I think that as the battery tops off the amperage reduces and the voltage comes up, so 10 gauge may not be absolutely required - it would just take longer.

The harness itself comes with a 15 amp breaker installed, so the wiring must be sized to handle that amount of current over short runs. However, their chargers don't seem to be larger than 1.25 amps, so the cabling is probably not sized for 10 amp chargers.

I just found a review from someone who said he cut the Battery Tender extension cable and measured it as 16 gauge. So that is a little small for pushing 10 amps through.

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

2272 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2013 : 17:08:59

I went ahead and ordered a few connection components. I want to add a 12v adaptor to my steering pedestal (to power up my Netbook that I mount there), and redo one that goes back by my outboard. The quality of these connectors is very nice for doing these sorts of things.

I don't think that the wiring gauge is heavy enough for charging from my 120v Guest charger, but I do think it can be used in a short run on to connect into the alternator system (as long is the other battery is connected also). Each of the battery harnesses is fused, so there is protection if too much current flows.

I'll post a report later on how all this works if anyone is interested.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.