I am not able to store my boat on my propery...

I have been looking into getting an outdoor timer, so that after 8-10 hours of charging, the thing just turns off...

My problem is all the available outdoor timers I've seen at different places have this problem where the timer will eventually turn back on at some interval...I can get a 7 day timer, so hopefully I'll be back to unplug everything, but the typical outdoor timers I'm seeing aren't ideal.

The ideal timer in my mind would allow you to say, I want X amount of hours and after that, turn off completely, and don't turn back on again...

Anyone have any suggestions or know of any good solutions here?

I either have to drive up and unplug my boat, or call the guy who manages the storage facility and ask a favor...I'd rather just be able to automate this...

Thanks for any help here!

Matt

Matt,
One thing you might want to consider is buying an onboard charger that will go into the "float" mode once the batteries are charged. This way you won't overcharge your batteries and ruin them. Check BPS or Cabela's they have several to choose from. I bought the Bassmaster 2 bank, 20 amp charger last year and it works great. You just plug it in and leave it alone until you're ready to go fishing. One other feature it charges your batteries very fast, I believe it will charge a depleted battery in less than 4 hours.

Hey Bassapillar:

My boat has an onboard 3 bank charger....it claims that after the batteries are charged up, it will just sit in idle...

I'm not really too thrilled to just have that thing sitting in idle for 5-6 days inbetween trips...I get the impression the onboard chargers are sorta cutting corners to get the job done...ie they don't provide the quality of charge like a manual charge system, and not so sure how well the idle/float piece works.

I do know, my 3 bank will stay warm/hot even during the idle period, which is not ideal...I just would rather kill the power altogether...

MP

I stand corrected.

I just called the Dual Pro guys, and they assured me that I can leave that thing plugged in. The lights remain green just to show its at full charge, but from their perpective, its totally fine to just plug it in an leave it.

Well, that settles that!

MP

The ideal for the health of the battery is to keep it on a float charge.
This keeps the voltage on the battery at all times and as it needs current the float charger will supply it. All battery manufactures recommend using this procedure while the battery is in storage, even just between trips.
If you don't want to buy a charger that switches to float automatically, you can also buy a seperate float only charger.

Matt,
I keep mine plugged in pretty much all the time. Even if fishing trips are weeks/months apart. I live in MD so our fishing season pretty much ends in late Nov. until early March. Anyway, my charger is hot while it's charging but cools off somewhat during the "float" mode. It still is warm during the float mode, but is not hot to the touch. I have never had a problem with my current charger over charging batteries. Some other models do have problems with overcharging. If you have hatches on your boat which the batteries are covered I would leave them cracked a bit for ventilation. I keep my boat in a garage so it's much easier for me to do. But if you keep yours outside, I would keep the hatch cracked open a bit and put in a few mothballs in a bowl or something to keep unwanted critters from roaming into your boat's hatches. Just a thought, hope this helps.