Battery Charger question

[piripucha]

My boat neighbor has 24v sytem boat. Can he use a 12v smart charger to charge individualy each of is two 12v batteries that are connected in serial? Whre does he connects the only ground cable the charger has?

 

[Freeebird]

Disconnect the batteries from one another and charge them separately.

 

[Freeebird]

One other thing. I doubt the cables would allow charging both in a parallel setup, but you could use jumper cables and charge both at the same time. Red on red and black on black, of course.

 

[lake of the woods]

piripucha,

I am no "expert" in this area and hopefully some of the HOF members that are battery and charger "experts" can speak as to whether your neighbor should do this. Is it good or is it bad?

I am doing what your neighbor is asking - I hooked up a "marine" battery charger to each of the two 12 volt batteries that are hooked up in series (for my 24 vdc thruster(s) - and it seems to have worked well for me for the past three years. My batteries have accepted the charge with no damage to the batteries or charger.

While it has worked for me without any problems please remember I am no expert (ignorance can be bliss or dangerous) and just went and tried it not knowing if doing so could have created a problem

I am interested to see if those with knowledge in this area will advise not to do it. Just because it is working for me does not mean it should be done.

Mark
Lake of the Woods
1989 40 DC

 

[Freeebird]

I just figured the OP's buddy was looking for a temporary fix for a couple of bad batteries and just had a 12V charger handy. Why not just buy/replace a 24V charger and be done with it?

 

[piripucha]

He got fed up with the old ferro-resonant SENTRY type chargers. He wants to instal a new smart charger that will charge his two 12v batteries that make his 24v battery bank, individually. I saw in the ProMariner Charger web page that you can do this. I hope he gets away with it, because I am also tyred of the old chargers.

 

[Boatsb]

If he wants to properly charge the 24 volt bank he needs a 24 volt charger and an equalizer that will isolate and charge each one individually for equalization. It's a simple system I have sold before. They will extend the battery life and do not need any human interaction once installed.

PM me if you need specifics.