I bought a DieHard 20/15/10/2 Amp Automatic Battery Charger at Sears. It
has both 12 and 24 V output, a choice of three charging rates, automatic
and manual modes, and settings for different types of batteries - regular,
deep cycle, and gel cel. In the automatic mode it stops charging when the
battery is fully charged but will cycle back on after the voltage sags. It
also has a maintenance mode for batteries that are stored for longer
periods.
The first charger I bought was defective and had to be returned, but this
one works as it is supposed to.
One thing about the Riptide saltwater version. Although the motor has been
specially treated and coated for salt resistance, the cables are not
tinned. Perhaps they decided flexibility was more important than corrosion
resistance. I used Ancor tinned cables for the boat wiring. The motor
cables were terminated with eye terminal lugs so I made my own junction box
behind a transparent Beckson access plate in the horizontal face of a
cockpit seat. The motor cables feed into a small hole at the port quarter
and are connected at the junction box to the battery cables, secured by
wingnuts, so I don't have any exposed cables in the cockpit. I clip the
battery charger to the same junction box so I don't have to worry about
arcking near the battery fumes or acid on the charger clips. I would have
used a plug-in connector instead of a junction box but couldn't find one
locally that was adequate for the 45 A that the motor uses at full
throttle. I installed a 60 A fuse in the 24 V line from the battery.
Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA