Rod McInnis wrote:
"K. Smith" wrote in message
...


the
best thing to charge the battery(s) is the engine's system, which by
design usually does everything just about right, a good initial high amp
hit to get the charging underway & replace the start loss, but it only
does this when it knows the battery is "cold" & can safely take it, then
it will settle to keep feeding the battery at a fully controlled optimal
rate till it's completely charged & then not overcharge it.




Man, I don't know what type of engine system that you have that came with
such an intelligent charging system, but no automobile based engine or
outboard motor that I have ever seen came that way stock from the factory.

Most factory alternators these days are the built in regulator types that
don't even give you the option of using a smart regulator. The regulators
simply crank full alternator output till the voltage reaches 13 volts, then
they decrease the output current as the voltage increases, reducing it to
the minimum (which usually is not zero) when the voltage reaches 14.2 volts.
The regulators are cheap and dumb.

If your alternator has an external regulator you can replace it with a
"smart" multi-stage regulator that will treat the batteries much better.
They will hold full alternator output until the battery voltage reaches 14.2
volts to assure a rapid return to full charge, then drop the voltage down to
13.2 volts to "float" the battery so it doesn't have any additional strain
on it.

The multi-stage battery chargers do the same and are much. much gentler on
the batteries than a cheap unregulated battery charger.


Rod McInnis



Most of those builtin ones are much cleverer than you think, put some
gauges over one & see, they do it just about right & usually have the
brute force to maintain that as other loads (lights etc) come & go

K