Charging Batteries from Mains

[forrestmichael]

Hi, my boats in the dry dock and has very simple electronics, no mains socket for plugging and charging while in a Marina etc.

I'm trying to reduce the equipment I have to purchase (cost) I want a battery charge regulator anyway for efficiently charging the batterys, my question is, can I wire this up with a mains plug socket also to charge the batteries while in the marina or do I need a seperate charger for mains power.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks
Mike

 

[MoodySabre]

If by a battery charge regulator you mean something that will more efficiently charge your batteries from the engine, then no you can't put 240v into it. You will need a car type charger to run direct off the mains.

 

[VicS]

The two low cost options you have open to you are a basic non regulated battery charger or an "automatic" regulated charger, which is what you should chose if your are wanting to leave it in use unattended.
Halfords offer three of the former type and two automatic ones.

No bad things have been reported here about the Halfords chargers AFAIK.

 

[William_H]

The reference by Halfords to 1200cc battery charger is a bit strange/ confusing. It is presumably the smallest charger /cheapest. Presumably supposed to be matched to a battery you might find in a small car.
I would suggest it would be fine for the biggest of 12v batteries provided you realise the limitations.
This will charge at something near its rating continuously relying on you to turn it off when it has charged enough. (at least I hope that is the type)
If you are going to put the charger on when you arrive and remove before you leave the boat this can be the most efficient and cheapest charging. The larger charger will put more charge in but even the small should be fine for the biggest of batteries. Assuming they are not very flat and you only want to keep the batteries charged over lay up.
An amp meter is very usefull for this type to give you an idea of what you are putting in (not necessarily what the charger is rated for) and you can rela5te this to the size of the batteries.

The automatic types are safe to leave on full time ie while you are away from the boat but will proably put less in if you only leave it on while you are in attendance.

Your charger system from the engine is regulated so is much more akin to the auto chargers ie safe to be left charging full time (long haul lorry operation) Thus they tend to be a bit limited in rate for full recharge which can be improved by the "smart charger regulators" but this is all very different to a mains charger. olewill

 

[MoodySabre]

I bought one of the small automatic ones from Towsure which seems to be a re-badged Cetrek and works the same.