Batteries

[MuskyMaven]

I'm on my first season running Cabelas AGM batteries and I love em. I have found I am able to fish for 2 full days and still have over 80% charge remaining, but I usually plug in the onboard each night and leave it run until the next morning. When doing that the batteries never go below 95% charge when fishing for 8-10 hours.

I run 2 batteries for a 24 volt system.
I'd say if your only charging for 3-4 hours your probably not getting a full charge back into the battery. Rather than use the bars on the motor I'd check it with a volt meter. I'd suggest just running the charger overnight, most will automatically switch to a trickle charge when battery is full so you dont have to worry about overcharging.