Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Thinking ahead to spring and what mods I may do to my toon....I presently utilize a starting battery, house battery and a trolling motor battery on my boat. We are at a dock that does not have power so I'm looking at battery charging ideas. I know that solar is one option but with the location of my batteries it's not real practical on my boat, and being weekend warriors I fear that someone else might take a liking to them if I leave the panels laying out when we're not around.

I've been looking at the Minn Kota MK 2 charger that utilizes the motor charging system to charge alternate batteries. I've read some good reviews but there have been some klinkers in there as well. My motor charging output is well within the parameters needed for using this system

Anyone have any real world experience with this charger and it's efficiency? We seldom use the trolling motor so it would be more of a "top off" requirement....the house battery has the majority of items attached..i.e. fish locators, live well, etc. I have nothing attached to the starting battery other than the boat motor.

Just wondering if this charger would fill the need to keep the trolling and house battery up to a sustainable charge........Hauling these deep cycles back and forth to charge is really a pain in the A**...well actually the back....

Thanks

I have been looking at them also. Since I installed the min kota I pilot I have found I am only getting about 4 hours of good use on a windy day. My thinking is if you have long enough run times between uses then it will work. The charging only comes into play once the starting battery is fully charged. a local guide just installed one on his boat so waiting to here how it is working out. will let you know if I find out.