1. Minn Kota
  2. Battery Chargers
  3. Portable and Alternator Chargers

Using the Portable Chargers (2007-present)

Updated

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With a digital design and your choice of power levels, our Portable chargers let you bring the action right to your boat. And they feature Automatic Temperature Compensation and fully automatic multi-stage charging to give your batteries the right charge every time you hook up.

Supported Battery Types

  • 12v AGM
  • 12v Flooded Lead Acid

Lithium Batteries

If you would like to use your portable charger with your lithium battery, you will need to contact your battery manufacturer. The Portable Charger has Multi-Stage Charging and provides either 5 or 10 amps for charging the battery. Your battery manufacturer can tell you if the Portable Charger will work to charge your lithium battery.

Multi-Stage Charging

The multi-stage charging has 3 stages, Bulk, Absorption, and Maintenance. The Maintenance stage has 2 modes, Maintenance Mode and Long Term Maintenance Mode.

  • Bulk Mode: During this stage, the charger delivers full current until the battery reaches ~75% charge. The charger will have a solid YELLOW LED to indicate the battery is charging in Bulk Mode.
  • Absorption Mode: The charging current tapers don while the battery voltage is held at 14.4 V (when the air temperature is at 77° F). The charger will have a flashing YELLOW LED to indicate the battery is charging in Absorption Mode.
  • Maintenance Mode: When the battery reaches full charge, the charger voltage is reduced. The charger will have a flashing GREEN LED to indicate the battery is in Maintenance Mode and ready to use.
  • Long Term Maintenance Mode: The charger will turn of automatically after 24 hours of the being in Maintenance Mode. The charger will have a solid GREEN LED to indicate the battery is in Long Term Maintenance Mode and ready to use. While in Long Term Maintenance Mode, the charger will automatically resume charging if the battery charge drops below 12.6 V.

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Connecting Batteries

Precautions:

  1. Set any switches to Off and unplug the charger before connecting the clips to the battery.
  2. Do not plug the AC cord in until the charger is connected to the battery.
  3. Do not let the clips on the charger touch each other

Determine which post of the battery is grounded.
If the negative post of the battery is grounded:
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  1. Connect the Positive (Red) clip from the battery charger to the ungrounded positive battery terminal.
  2. Connect the the Negative (black) clip to the vehicle chassis or a heavy gauge metal part of the frame.
  3. Do not clip to carburetor, fuel lines, or sheet metal body parts.

If the positive post of the battery is grounded:
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  1. Connect the the Negative (black) clip from the battery charger to the ungrounded negative battery terminal.
  2. Connect the Positive (Red) clip to the vehicle chassis or a heavy gauge metal part of the frame.
  3. Do not clip to carburetor, fuel lines, or sheet metal body parts.

Connecting the Charger to Power

An extension cord should not be used unless absolutely necessary. Use of an improper extension cord could result in a risk of fire and electrical shock.
If you must use an extension cord, make sure:

  • that the pins on the plug of the extension cord are the same number, size, and shape as those on the plug on the charger.
  • The extension cord is properly wired and in good electrical condition
  • the wire size of the extension cord is large enough for the ac ampere rating of the charger as specified in the table below.
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Disconnecting the Charger

Precautions:

  1. Set any switches to Off and unplug the charger before disconnecting the clips from the battery.
  2. Do not let the clips on the charger touch each other.
  1. Turn off the charger.
  2. Disconnect the AC cord.
  3. Remove the clip from the vehicle chassis or a heavy gauge metal part of the frame.
  4. Remove the clip from the battery terminal.

LED Indicators

The LED Indicators on the Portable Charger, lets you know the state of the charger. mceclip6.png

  • Solid RED LED: indicates there is an issue with the battery connection.
  • Flashing RED LED: indicates an error, please see the troubleshooting section of the Owner's Manual.
  • Solid YELLOW LED: indicates Bulk Charging mode.
  • Flashing YELLOW LED: indicates Absorption Charging mode.
  • Flashing GREEN LED: indicates the battery is fully charged, in Maintenance Mode, and is ready to use.
  • Solid GREEN LED: indicates the battery is fully charged, in Long Term Maintenance Mode, and is ready to use.

Troubleshooting

  • RED LED is lit.
    1. Check connection.
    2. Check polarity of leads to battery.
    3. Check connections to battery and fuses in output cord.
    4. Check voltage at battery. The bank will not charge a battery below 4 volts or above 18 volts.
    5. If you still have issues, contact Minn Kota Technical Support.
  • RED LED is flashing. Temperature sensor error.
    1. Reset the charger by unplugging the AC cord. Wait for all LEDs to turn off.
    2. Plug in the AC cord.
    3. If you still have issues, contact Minn Kota Technical Support.
  • RED LED & GREEN LED is flashing.
    1. Battery may be damaged.
    2. Check to make sure there are not any loads on the battery.
    3. Check the fluid in the battery and add fluid if necessary.
    4. If the battery voltage does not rise above 10.5 volts in 3 hours, or if the absorption voltage does not increase to 14.4 volts (at 77F), the charger bank will shut down and will not charge. The battery should be tested.
    5. If you still have issues, contact Minn Kota Technical Support.
  • Indicator LEDs will not illuminate.
    1. Check the AC power at the outlet.
    2. Make sure the GFCI(Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) for the outlet has not tripped.
    3. If an extension cord is being used, check the AC power at the end of the extension cord.
    4. If you still have issues, contact Minn Kota Technical Support.
  • Charger powers up and then turns off.
    1. If an extension cord is being used, check the AC power at the end of the extension cord.
    2. Extension cord AWG is too small - refer to chart in the Safety Instructions section.
    3. Very low AC voltage is applied to the charger.
    4. If you still have issues, contact Minn Kota Technical Support.

Resources

Portable Charger Product Manual

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