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Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Drawing power from your boat's alternator, these units can charge up to three trolling or secondary batteries when the main motor is running. They turn off when the motor is not in use. Output up to 20 amps total output depending on alternator output. Waterproof, corrosion-resistant, inconspicuous low-profile design. Easy hookup ? Just connect power leads directly to starting battery. FCC compliant.

Average Customer Rating:

4.4 out of 5

17 of 18 (94%) customers would recommend this product to a friend.

Customer Reviews for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Onboard Engine Output Charger, August 13, 2009
By lt1z28 from Louisville,KY

"The alternator charger keeps my trolling batteries charged, after fishing 10 - 12 hours on the weekend.

I keep my boat in the water at the lake on the weekends. I do not do a great deal of running with the big motor. I run the outboard 10-15 minutes twice a day. I run a 24V Minnkota 74 Maxxum and have never had a problem with the batteries running low since installing the onboard alternator charger.

I have used the Dual Pro Extra II and it is just as good.

I pull the boat out and top the charge off with a Dual Pro SE onboard charger when I go home.

Caution !!!....if you ever need to jump your starting battery from one of the trolliing batteries, make sure to disconnect the alternator charger first....."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 2 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

3 out of 5

could have been beter, July 29, 2009
By chas49 from Wisconsin

"Could have had better information on how charger works. Had to call Minn Kota twice to make sure it was working properly. Not that easy to get ahold of them."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 3 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

1 out of 5

Don't buy Minn Kota MK-1 On-Board DC Alternator Ch, June 26, 2009
By ripper1 from Virginia

"Don't buy this charger unless your an expert in marine electronics. You could really mess up your boats starter and ignition system. Installation is not as simple as advertised. Supporting documentation on where to install special wiring to ignition circuit on I/O boat is pathetic/non existent. Minn Kota customer service girls don't know jack about boats or wiring; Minn Kota reps won't provide any assistance in install other than "connect to ignition switch" which is too far away for my boat. Connecting to ignition coil is definite non starter according to MerCruiser reps. Don't mess with the engine wiring in any way! If you don't know wiring/marine electronics pick another method of recharging your trolling battery."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? No

Review 4 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Super, June 15, 2009
By DickyDo from Littleton, Colorado

"I hooked to 12 volt batterys together to get longer run time for my Minn-kota and the charger kept them both in full charge when I ran up and down the lake . Great unit!!!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 5 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

On board DC charger 2 banks, June 11, 2009
By GatineauGuy from Gatineau Qc, Canada

"This is a great product. I'm using it to charge my 2 deep cycle batteries and it's working perfectly as advertised. I have a 115 hp Outboard 4 strokes and when I get home both batteries are at 85%-90%. I then only have to charged them for about 15-30 min each and they are full charged.

I can also plug my charger on my starting battery and ALL of them are charging at the same time.

Hook up was more than easy with the instructions (It's almost as easy as plugging a toaster !!!.

Really glad I bought this product and would highly recommend the product."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 6 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

this product has been put to the ULTIMATE test, April 23, 2009
By mnsgreatestfisherman from minnesota

"i purchased the dc alternator because I was going on a weeklong fishing trip(no power for 30 miles). so i decided to purchase the alternator, going on this trip was the first time i used it!!! and you know i was worried at first(if this didnt work out then i would not have a trolling motor for a week)...but by the end of the 4th day, both of my batteries were completely charged( and i used the trolling motor all the time) the most amazing thing about this product is that you can actually see the alternator working( with the lights on it showing what it is charging at the moment), when your engin is running.....but there is one small downfall on this and that is the intial setup( were the single purple wire goes) which actually hooks up to the ignition....but once you figure that out it has to be the best product ever.....why are people wasting their money on on-board charging stations that require power from an outside source and that also cost up to $300....ill tell you the truth...everyone who had purchased one...wasted there money, and time.....they should have researched and purchased the DC ALTERNATOR.....i recomend this product for the novice to the pro fisherman........HANDSDOWN......so guys strip your old charging stations from your boat and replace it with a DC alternator. i wonder why Minn Kota dosnt push this product on advertising and etc....fyi it is hard to find at smaller sporting goods stores for best buy it online or at cabelas retail store....
if this product dosnt satisfy you...then i dont know what will....buy this .....you have nothing to lose.....the only people who are losing are the ones who dont have the DC alternator"

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 7 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

DC alternator charger, March 9, 2009
By basstracker98k from Northern Illinois

"This charger seems to work very well. I haven't had a chance to fully put it through the test of a whole season yet and am looking forward to trying it out, that is why I only gave it four stars. I have found that I can also use this charger to convert my single bank on board charger into a triple bank on board charger by connecting the single charger to the starting battery and turn on the key (or power up the sensing wire to the alternator charger, so it is dual purpose for me. This charger will work best if you make frequent long runs in between fishing spots."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 8 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

min kota, March 9, 2009
By reddogmuskie from sioux lookout , canada

"very easy to install,it seems to be exellent product and knowing how good every other product is from minn kota.I would recommend it to anyone."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 9 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

COMPLETELY SATISFIED, February 9, 2009
By millman10

"Completely satisfied. Just hook it up and forget about your batteries.I fished all day,and when I got done all 3 batteries were still fully charged."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 10 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Minn Kota On-Board Alternator Charger, September 29, 2008
By wfm2886 from Coastal SC

"Used only once to date, but my trolling batteries were as strong after a 1/2 day on the water as they were leaving home. I have two AGM Cabella's for trolling. I did not use the trolling motor as much as usual and I did run maybe 15 to 20 miles roundtrip. I am looking forward to a full day using the trolling motor to see if the outcome is the same."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 11 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Great Product, August 14, 2008
By HavingFunInNowhereLand from Indiana

"Unlike others who use this product on their boat, I have this installed on my Silverado 2500 to charge a deep cycle marine battery under the hood of my truck. The Silverado 2500 has a location under the hood for a secondary battery once the secondary battery tray is installed (the tray can be bought at any dealer). This charger quickly restores the power back to the deep cycle battery that I have powering a Coleman 12volt Thermoelectric Cooler. Before having this system in place, my truck battery would die on me when I would forget to unplug the cooler. I called Minn Kota and asked them if the heat under the hood would affect this charger and they said that it would not. I have had no problems with the charger."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 12 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

2 bank charger, August 12, 2008
By Honeycutt from Garfield,NJ

"I fished the St. Lawerance river at least 3 times a year,as you know this river is huge and this product helps me charge my trolling moter while I'm on the water.I recommend this unit to anyone who fishes large body of water.Set up was easy,had to buy extra 15 feet of cable to reach my main battery.I have a Bass Pro Tracker 16'. Great buy, love minn-kota products."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 13 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Onboard charger, July 21, 2008
By JimVW from Page, Arizona ( Lake Powell)

"I highly recommend this charger! After 7 hours of bass fishing( trolling and manuvering), the two battery banks never went below 75% charge. Upon returning to camp ( about 25 minutes of boating) the next morning the battery bank was fully charged ready for another day of fishing."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 14 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

On-Board DC Charger, July 3, 2008
By jjfishes from Ottawa, Canada

"I do not have electricity available at my dock and I frequently go on extended fishing trips into northern Canada. Extra batteries in the back of the truck was normal, but a tiring process. I'm very pleased with the product. It performs as advertised and has kept my trolling battery charged since installation a few months ago. Installation went fine also, although finding "a 12 volt source that is only live when the ignition is on" is easier said than done. All my accessories (sounder, lights, pumps, etc) are fed from my starting battery and are live all the time (even with the main motor off). I spent a few hours studying my ignition circuit wiring diagram to find the best and most accessible point to tie into. (I settled on the lighting circuit for the trim and tach gauges.)
With a 10 amp charger you willl need a good 1/2 hr run to get the auxillary battery charged if you run it down to 12 volts, but the the good news is that it also charges well while trolling on the main motor.
Boat manufacturers need to offer this product as an option on their fishing models - it is long overdue!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 15 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

MK-DC-2, June 29, 2008
By ShallowInvader from Upper Penninsula, MI

"Just returned from a 1 week vacation camping in the national forest where electricity is not available to recharge my deep cycle batteries. Over the week I did not notice any loss of power on my trolling motor. Typically on a trip like this, I need to use a higher power setting on the trolling motor to maintain a given speed as the batteries get depleted. This becomes quite noticeable after about 3 days of fishing. I cast for muskies and while fishing am generally using the trolling motor at all times. I only use the main motor to run from spot to spot. I used about 1/4 tank of gasoline during the trip (MK charger runs any time the main motor is operating).

I measured the voltage on my deep cycle batteries when I returned home and had 25.6V across the two batteries (12.8V on each battery). According to the charts that I could find, that translates to a full charge!

After putting my boat away, I did plug in using my Pro Sport charger (standard plug in type) and final voltage across the two batteries was 26.1V. The charger ran for a few hours which tells me that I was not fully charged, but apparently not enough of a charge loss to affect performance of the trollingn motor.

I am very satisfied with this product. I can extend my fishing time on trips like this without havign to take downtime to charge up the batteries. Even if you are not making long runs with the main motor, you can idle the motor between runs to keep a charging current on the batteries while you fish. I did this about 2 to 3 times a day to keep the batteries up to nearly full charge."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 16 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

DC Alternator Charger, May 5, 2008
By PullingCranks from IA

"The Minn Kota on-board DC alternator charger was easy to install and works great. In the past have we trolled crank baits with our 115 Johnson with a trolling plate. Now with the price of gas we use our 80# electric trolling motor in the morning, as long as it last which depends on the wind and then troll with our gas motor the rest of the morning. After fishing the rest of the morning and tubing with the kids in the afternoon, the trolling motor batteries are more then half charged up. We troll in the evening the same way and charge the batteries over night and are ready to go in the morning. However, this will not charge your batteries enought motoring to and from dock to give them a full charge. With our 20 amp alternator on the Johnson it takes 8 to 10 hours to charge the batteries to a full charge just like a 10 amp AC charger. For us this works, our motor is running 5 to 6 hours before we fish in the evening and gives us another 1 or 2 hours of use with the electric motor. At the end of the day we have used the gas motor 3 to 4 hours less then we use to, which saves gas."

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 17 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

minn kota on-board dc alternator charger, April 21, 2008
By blueplatespecial from Chicago Il

"was ans easy install (with the help of the local boat dealer).
but seriously I went away for the weekend early April and I did not bring the regular battery charger. Ran the boat solid for 3.5 days using the trolling motor alot, never had to switch battery cables 1 time. the real test comes next month. Hopefully will only have to charge the batteries in the winter.....
I rate this product 4 stars currently, will keep all updated"

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

Review 18 for Minn Kota On-Board DC Alternator Charger

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

On the go!!, April 1, 2008
By GadgetMan from The Woodlands, TX

"The system work great, i can spend more time on the water without running out of juice.
(my wife hates it.....)"

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes

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