New Battery Charger???

[DaveP]

About three years ago I needed to replace the original old ferro-resonant battery charger on my 45C. After looking around I went with the Statpower Truecharge 40 . The Statpower website recommended this unit for heavy duty diesel applications. Since it is electronic it is much smaller, lighter, and easier to install than the big Charles units. I never noticed any problems with the unit but starting my engines seemed harder and I actually had to jump battery banks a few times. I thought the batteries (2 8-D's per engine) were maybe getting old and losing their integrity. A load test last week said otherwise and that leaves the battery charger.

Before I spend a lot of money I would like to get your collective opinions of the best battery charger to install. I don't want to have to worry about starting the engines after a night of sitting fishing with the electronics running. It seems to me that the Statpower can't keep up with the amperage draw from my electronics. I usually run my radar (12KW) fishfinder (1KW), SSB, both VHF's, and my two GPS plotters, along with numerous 12 volt lights and gear. The genset is running all night to keep the charger, Air, and 120 lights going but in the AM it seems that I usually have barely enough amps left to start the motors.

What types and manufacturers is everyone using? I want a unit that can keep my batteries up even with the 12 volt draw. Is 40 Amps enough? Thanks for the input..:)

[bamshee36]

I went with a Sentry Battery charger!!! It is fully automatic and I leave it on all the time. I am on my third season with the same battery's and i put a little over 225 hours per season on my Rig. I was not that expensive I think about $550.00, and charges 3 banks of battery's with a 30Amp output. I also run a generator and it was not let me down yet.
hope this helps.
JW

[Genesis]

They make a 40 Amp that is claimed to be "output grade" (meaning it can serve as a 40A power supply with no batteries connected!)

My guess is that the StatPower is turning itself off after what it thinks if the bulk/absorbtion/float phase, and not tripping back online to bulk when the batteries start to go down. That's pretty serious if it is happening; the original ferro chargers were only rated for 40A! I have one in my 45C...

I was considering the StatPower - if its causing this kind of trouble I guess its off the list, and perhaps NewMar is on it.... The Newmar is (considerably) more expensive though....

[DaveP]

My educated guess is that the unit is somehow sensing too much temp increase or a full charge. It seems like the fan runs (when putting out more than 20 amps.) then shuts off pretty quickly. The led's indicate a low charge rate most of the time which I assume is right but it seem like the batteries have barley enough amps to turn the starters. Even after running my electronics for a while without the engines the charger does not indicate an increased charge rate. My unit does have a switch for a 12 volt 40 amp power supply mode. I doen't know if it works or not, never tried it.

Maybe I need to upgrade to a 24 volt starter system to get more power to the starters? It seems like the problems started after changing engines from 8V71's to 8V92's both using a 12 volt system.

I guess I'm asking for opinions on "electronic" chargers. It seems like they are much smaller, lighter, and able to handle a wide assortment of battery types. But the question is are they as good as the old ferro-resonant type? One of the main reasons I bought the Statpower was it's reasonible cost and great flexibility of being able to change battery types and only having to change a switch setting. I was hoping maybe someone would comment that they had a Statpower unit and it works flawlessly and that maybe my problem is unrelated to the charger. I have been leaning towards one of the new Charles Electronic units in either 60 or 80 amps. But I'm not sure about electronic units in general.

[Roger]

Dave- I have a battery charger that was intended for 50' Hatteras with 2 banks of 8D's. It is posted on parts swap. This charger probably costs over $1200 today, and supplies 50amps. This is original equipment used by Hatteras. If interested send me e-mail to rwlehm@aol.com

Battery Charger for late model Hatteras with 24 volt sytem, in original box. Dytek (charles Marine) model VHD24 volt-50 Amp., input 115/230volt AC, output to charge (4)12 volt batteries @ 50 amps. asking $500 plus shipping, New jersey

[jim rosenthal]

I have had this charger, which is identical to yours, for two years at least and it has worked well. Before you get rid of it- have you asked StatPower/Xantrex about the problems you are having? I had a problem with the remote display and they replaced it for free, even though it was out of warranty. Mind you, I have two 4D batteries, but I have talked to other owners with 8Ds and it has kept up alright. Is the water level in the batteries up where it should be...and have you checked the batteries with a hydrometer?
You might also check the cables that feed DC to the starters. Even a small amount of corrosion can cause a voltage drop to the starter. Finally, when installing a new charger, boaters sometimes neglect to provide an adequate return path for the charger. The StatPower unit has a lug for the return cable, and there should be a complete set of charging returns of the same cable AWG size as the charging leads. High resistance in the charging circuit return will decrease the chargers performance.
I have heard good things about the Charles Marine chargers and the Sentry, and think you would be happy with either one. I wonder, thought, why a 40amp charger won't do the job. I would make sure everything else is shipshape before replacing the charger.

[jim rosenthal]

I forgot to mention that one upgrade I put in my boat was to replace the alternator regulators with Balmar multistage regulators. What I found was that after running the boat for a few hours, I would put her back in the slip, tie the boat up, plug in the shore cord etc---and the charger would come on and begin putting out 25-40 amps!!! It turned out that the built-in, 'dumb' alternator regulators on my Caterpillar engines were set to charge at 13.7 volts- period. It would have taken forever to fully charge the batteries- actually they might never have gotten to full charge. Replacing the regulators with Balmar programmable ones made a huge difference. I didn't need higher output alternators- what I needed was to use the output I had more efficiently.
Your situation may have something in common with mine- if you run out offshore, and your engine alternators are running all your electronics and having to charge your batteries as well, their output may not be equal to the task if the regulators are set too low, or are single-stage regulators. Once you shut the engines down, the charger has to make up the charge deficit in the batteries, PLUS run all your 12v equipment as well.
The piece of equipment that really showed me what was going on was a Link 20 electrical systems monitor, one of the most valuable items I have ever bought for a boat. It is simple to install, very accurate, and maintenance-free. Most powerboaters don't anchor out, so they don't worry about making sure they have enough battery left to start the engines, but the trawler crowd swear by these units, and now so do I. If you want more info, email me at jimbo1907@comcast.net and I'll be happy to share it with you.

[DaveP]

Thanks guys. I don't think there is a return path from the batteries to the charger, I'll look into that. I am also pretty sure that my alternators are just single stage 13.7 volt units (that's what my voltmeters show anyway) and you explanation Jim is sounding like it could be my problem. She always starts up first thing but later on I sometimes have to jump banks to get started. I though maybe the Statpower wasn't up to the task of 4 8D's but maybe it's more the alternators and the return lead. Funny, I didn't recall anything on the installation instructions saying anything about that, just grounding the unit. I'll look into the Balmar's and add a return path to the charger and see what happens. No sense buying a bigger most costly unit if I only need a couple of cables and regulators.