Detaching the battery to get charged at automotive store

[Josh7711]

Thank you in advance for reading this.

I have a 2018 Malibu MLX.  I have ran the #2 battery down pretty good from using radio on it.

I then ran the #1 battery down a little as well.  I was thinking it would be wise to charge the batteries before my next trip.

Is it ok to take batteries out and take them to say a O'Reilly's automotive store so they can charge them?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

[hethj7]

That will take a while to charge and doubt the parts store just wants your battery there sitting on a charger.  Either buy an onboard charger for the boat or pull them and charge at the house if the boat doesn’t normally get parked near power.  

[MLA]

Yes, charge them ASAP. its not good to let low batteries sit. Makes it harder to get them to recover. 

For the future, if the boat sleeps where there is access to an outlet, consider an on-board charger to plug in.  

[ahopkins22LSV]

Buy one of these, turn your battery switch to off and charge each battery. 
 

Schumacher SC1281 6/12V Fully Automatic Battery Charger and 30/100A Engine Starter with Advanced Diagnostic Testing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BLLRM8R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P4FUEbN3G5BZ6

[23LSVOwner]

I picked up a battery charger that has reconditioning and everything pretty cheap.

 

Best solution would be to install an onboard charger and plug it up when you are not using the boat. Keep them topped off before you go out.

[Josh7711]

On 5/11/2020 at 6:40 PM, ahopkinsVTX said:

Buy one of these, turn your battery switch to off and charge each battery. 
 

Schumacher SC1281 6/12V Fully Automatic Battery Charger and 30/100A Engine Starter with Advanced Diagnostic Testing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BLLRM8R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P4FUEbN3G5BZ6

Thank you for the recommendation. I purchased the charger and have been charging batteries individually over past 2 days. Each seem to be stuck at 12.5 volts. Manual says should be closer to 13 or more. Will I have to leave charger on for longer? So far each battery has had approx 16 hours of charge time.

[ahopkins22LSV]

3 minutes ago, Josh7711 said:

Thank you for the recommendation. I purchased the charger and have been charging batteries individually over past 2 days. Each seem to be stuck at 12.5 volts. Manual says should be closer to 13 or more. Will I have to leave charger on for longer? So far each battery has had approx 16 hours of charge time.

Manual of what? Sounds like they are fully charged to me. 12.6 is generally considered standard voltage for a battery at rest.

[shawndoggy]

Holding 12.5v at rest is very reasonable for a battery that's in decent shape but not brand new.  Brand new a lead acid battery will generally hold 12.6-.7.

 

[UWSkier]

What are you using to measure the voltage?  If it's at the gauges, a reading of 12.5 with the key on is great.  If using a multi-meter at the battery terminals, are you measuring with the power completely switched off, or is the boat power supply turned on feeding low current consumers like stereo memory, etc?

I wouldn't worry at all about 12.5 regardless.

[Josh7711]

15 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

Holding 12.5v at rest is very reasonable for a battery that's in decent shape but not brand new.  Brand new a lead acid battery will generally hold 12.6-.7.

 

Ok great thanks! I’m still learning about all this. 

[Josh7711]

16 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

Holding 12.5v at rest is very reasonable for a battery that's in decent shape but not brand new.  Brand new a lead acid battery will generally hold 12.6-.7.

 

Ok great thanks! I’m still learning about all this. 

[Josh7711]

1 minute ago, UWSkier said:

What are you using to measure the voltage?  If it's at the gauges, a reading of 12.5 with the key on is great.  If using a multi-meter at the battery terminals, are you measuring with the power completely switched off, or is the boat power supply turned on feeding low current consumers like stereo memory, etc?

I wouldn't worry at all about 12.5 regardless.

Ok cool sounds good! It’s 12.5 with the boat power on. I’ll turn the pergo switch to each battery and they each will read 12.5. Sounds like I’m good to go. I’m still learning how all this works. Thank you!

[RedWakesetterVLX]

52 minutes ago, Josh7711 said:

Ok cool sounds good! It’s 12.5 with the boat power on. I’ll turn the pergo switch to each battery and they each will read 12.5. Sounds like I’m good to go. I’m still learning how all this works. Thank you!

Did you buy a “smart charger”?  Something like this? 

https://www.overtons.com/noco-g1100-ultrasafe-smart-battery-charger-321452.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuMDBguq26QIVSeDICh1yQwVXEAQYFCABEgLPyfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

Those you can leave on at all time and will keep them charged but not over charge them.  The charger will indicate when they are fully charged. 

Edited May 15, 2020 by RedWakesetterVLX

[Bozboat]

Here is the Shawndoggy  Battery chart

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Bozboat

[Josh7711]

3 hours ago, RedWakesetterVLX said:

Did you buy a “smart charger”?  Something like this? 

https://www.overtons.com/noco-g1100-ultrasafe-smart-battery-charger-321452.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuMDBguq26QIVSeDICh1yQwVXEAQYFCABEgLPyfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

Those you can leave on at all time and will keep them charged but not over charge them.  The charger will indicate when they are fully charged. 

Yes I bought this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BLLRM8R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P4FUEbN3G5BZ6

 

[Josh7711]

2 hours ago, Bozboat said:

Here is the SD Battery chart

 

Perfect thanks for the chart! I think I’m good