![]() ![]() So avoid undercharging your 12-volt battery, unless you enjoy trips back to the marine store and laying out money for a new one.Ĭonsider time spent transporting the new battery to your boat and reinstalling it. The more you run down your battery, the fewer charge cycles you can expect to get. Otherwise, you can not expect your battery to have a long life. According to our above levels, that would be 12.06 volts. Ten percent is 11.31.įinally, if a 12-volt battery is charged to 10.5 volts or less, it is considered as not being charged, or dead.īattery manufacturers typically recommend keeping your battery above the fifty percent level. A battery with 12.6 volts is considered to be fully charged.Ī battery with 12.5 volts is 90% charged. It is good to understand the state of your 12-volt battery based on the current percentage of charge level. That is why battery cutoffs prevent voltage from going below this level. This indicates a weak battery.ĭamage can begin when the voltage goes lower than 11.8. Avoid using a battery with 12.2 volts, or less. Your first concern is avoiding damage to the battery cells. You want your engine to start and your onboard components to continue working. You don’t want a battery that is undercharged, as well. ![]() Remember, the batteries may expand during use, so leave adequate space between the batteries. Measure the space available in your battery compartment to determine how many batteries you can utilize. If you have a heavy load, consider using more than one battery to lessen the battery workload. To get the best performance and life from your battery, it is good to have a maintenance plan.įirst, know the optimum voltage level of your battery. Regardless of the type of marine battery you have, by avoiding overcharge, you will extend the life of your battery. An SLA battery should initially read 13.1 before settling in at 12 volts. If you have a lithium battery, strive for 13.4 volts. It may dip to 12.6 volts, which is also acceptable. ![]() You want the battery to settle in at 12.7 volts, which it will if your initial reading is between 13.2 and 13.4 volts. So, to maintain the charge, you want to keep your marine battery between 13.2 and13.4 volts. Overcharging the battery will boil away electrolytes, and diminishing the electrolytes will shorten the battery’s life. This is because you want the battery to maintain its optimum level of electrolytes. Why not just charge the battery until it is full? Wouldn’t this indicate the best charge level? The matter of a fully charged marine battery can be somewhat confusing. Both of these chargers will get the job done. The most important factor is to keep your battery charged to the 12.6- volt level. So, know the conditions you are heading in, and know the likelihood that those conditions will change according to the weather forecast. The smoothness, or roughness, of the tides, is another variable. Weather conditions also affect your ability to monitor your battery charge. Of course, the amount of wake you encounter is also part of your decision. This will give you access to more information more quickly. If you accelerate to high speeds, the Optima 1200 charger may be a better choice. If you typically troll at slow speeds and have plenty of time for reading the interface, you may consider the 12 -volt digital 400 chargers. The one you need will depend on the type of battery you have and the sophistication of the interface you want. Its interface includes charging levels, fill rate, mode settings, and fault messages. This charger is ideal for flooded and high-performance batteries. This charger is acclaimed for its ability to recharge batteries, even dead batteries that other chargers have been unable to regenerate.Īnother popular charger to keep your 12- volt marine battery at the correct charge level is the Optima 1200 charger. This charger keeps the battery charge level automatically. To achieve this voltage level, consider obtaining the Optima 12 volt digital 400 charger. So what voltage should a 12 -volt marine battery have? The accepted standard is 12.6 volts. ![]()
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