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My battery charger, went crazy. I think it was a victum of lightning prior to me buying the boat, cooked a pair of 4D's that were only a sixteen months old! I ordered a pair of GEL cell batteries from the local NAPA store, they are made by Exide, 1250 CCA. They gave me a discount, or so they said, $327.50 each..Ouch!! It will be a few days before I get them. Now, I need some advice on a new battey charger. I have the two 4D's and a smaller 12v battery to start the generator. We have a West Marine store and a Boaters World that stock several different brands. Need some advice.

To charge batteries properly, they should be of like kind. All gel or lead acid or AGM, etc.
Most modern chargers have switches that will address the needs of each battery type.

While they all generaly work the same, to get the optimum performance and life out of batteries they all have different charge rates and voltage needs.

That being said, West has a few models that will work. Generally a 30-40 amp charger will work unless you are using the batteries in a deep cycle situation as in with an invertor.

Multi stage charge rates are the best for giving the battery its optimium charge.

When selecting, plan for any future changes now.

I've had a Xantrex Trucharger on my Exide Orbital AGM's for 7 years and they are still good!!

I have a Xantrex, too. I would suggest not mounting it in the engine box but under the dinette where it's dry and you can always see the state of the charging. It's one of those "smart" chargers. Walter

Thanks guys for all your comments. I'm off to the West Marine store. Thanks for the heads up about the "all gel status" of my battery banks. I will change the generator battery to a gel.

I added the auto temperature sensor and remote status panel to mine. I have a FBC and I installed the status panel on the back of my lower helm seat, where I can see it from the dock. That way I can verify the battery status before unplugging from the shore without making the extra steps of getting on board first. I leave mine plugged in all winter, so the auto temperature sensor is nice.