I have had my boat sitting on the trailer since late November.
Yesterday, I decided it was nice enough to check it out...I turned
the key and got the familiar sound, and was able to raise the motor
to normal position.

My question is: Is it necessary for me to charge the battery or will
running it up and down the lake for an hour or two be enough to charge
it to sit? I only use it once or twice a week normally.
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If you really wish to get inteligent answers, you may want to try
rec.boats.cruising. It's a moderated group with boaters. No O.T. posts.

Thanks. I will subscribe to that newsgroup....meantime, I hope
someone will give me an answer here.

Florida Keyz wrote:

If you really wish to get inteligent answers, you may want to try
rec.boats.cruising. It's a moderated group with boaters. No O.T. posts.

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Jim,
If your engine has a charging system then running the boat should
sufficiently charge your battery. If you just did a lot of starting and
stopping without enough run time in between then it might not. Pretty much
like your car. I'd suggest having two batteries and an "A-B-Both-Off" switch
to give yourself insurance. I used to subscribe to rec.boats.cruising, it
wasn't moderated when I did. I'd be surprised to know that's been changed.
But there did seem to be less OT posting than over here. Happy boating.
Paul

"Jim Woodard" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I will subscribe to that newsgroup....meantime, I hope
someone will give me an answer here.

Florida Keyz wrote:

If you really wish to get inteligent answers, you may want to try
rec.boats.cruising. It's a moderated group with boaters. No O.T. posts.

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Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).

Florida Keyz wrote:
If you really wish to get inteligent answers, you may want to try
rec.boats.cruising. It's a moderated group with boaters. No O.T. posts.

Wrong. The newsgroup 'rec.boats.cruising' is not moderated. It is
exactly the same as THIS newsgroup, only the name is different.

For some reason, behavior over at rec.boats.cruising is a lot more
friendly and productive. Maybe it's because there isn't a flock of
cawing Krause-obsessed neocon sock puppets over there.

DSK

Jim Woodard wrote:
I have had my boat sitting on the trailer since late November.
Yesterday, I decided it was nice enough to check it out...I turned
the key and got the familiar sound, and was able to raise the motor
to normal position.

My question is: Is it necessary for me to charge the battery or will
running it up and down the lake for an hour or two be enough to charge
it to sit? I only use it once or twice a week normally.

If it won't start then you've not got much choice obviously, but if it
can get you going having sat so long in the cold then it's probably an
OK battery.

Save you spend lots & lots of money on a big professional charger, 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.

So check the water & good luck.

K

Checking the level of the water is a good tip.....I had planned to
do that first thing.

"K. Smith" wrote:

Jim Woodard wrote:
I have had my boat sitting on the trailer since late November.
Yesterday, I decided it was nice enough to check it out...I turned
the key and got the familiar sound, and was able to raise the motor
to normal position.

My question is: Is it necessary for me to charge the battery or will
running it up and down the lake for an hour or two be enough to charge
it to sit? I only use it once or twice a week normally.

If it won't start then you've not got much choice obviously, but if it
can get you going having sat so long in the cold then it's probably an
OK battery.

Save you spend lots & lots of money on a big professional charger, 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.

So check the water & good luck.

K

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"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

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

Jim Woodard wrote in message
...
I have had my boat sitting on the trailer since late November.
Yesterday, I decided it was nice enough to check it out...I turned
the key and got the familiar sound, and was able to raise the motor
to normal position.

My question is: Is it necessary for me to charge the battery or will
running it up and down the lake for an hour or two be enough to charge
it to sit? I only use it once or twice a week normally.
--

It's a bit late now...but I would have taken the battery indoors and topped
it up with my battery charger once a month.
That is supposed to make the battery live a longer life.
(note: we have prolonged periods of below freezing weather)