Charging batts in off season

[islandrunner70]

Is it ok to parallel my two house bank batteries for float charging in the off season? They are out of the boat and I only wanted to purchase one float charger.

Thanks

[noelex 77]

Generally yes its OK.
There is a risk if one battery drops a cell that the good battery will discharge into it and so both batteries will be ruinined.

Adding some cheap diodes to the leads will eliminate this risk, but will reduce the charging voltage. Sometimes for long term storage during the off season this is OK, or even desirable.
What kind of battery charger are you planning to use?

[islandrunner70]

I have been reading the post and have looked at the battery tender model and the Schumacher models. I am using the ($7) Harbor Freight version on my tractor batteries and wondering if that is OK to use for the paralleled house bank.

Thanks.