Battery Charging Brands

[VMocco]

I need some reliable charger that won't fry my starting batteries and that will crank my engines when I push the button.

The current draw problem stemmed from incorrectly wired isolators from my two engines which instead of "isolating" the banks, actually connected them all, they were corroded as hell too. So I hope that was what was killing all my banks (house + stbd engine + port engine).

Now I've got to locate which bank is getting the current draw problem and trace back from there.

[jim rosenthal]

I would try Charles Marine also. Their series 5000 units are very good. I have a Statpower unit, and it has held up fine, but their customer service IS awful- they could care less, they are indifferent in the extreme.

I would start, as they said, by isolating the current drain. This is going to take you a while, but you cannot have a healthy DC system with that occurring, any more than you yourself could be healthy if you were always bleeding somewhere. (sorry) Once you isolate the current drain, you can correct it and then get a new charger and new batteries if you need them.

[Jim saco]

I agree with post #6 from GJH stay away from the xantrex family. I myself would not use another, they have terrible tech support. I had charger trouble a few months ago with a pro mariner and there tech support was good but I wish I could say the same for there products. I had 2 of there 12/40 chargers burn up in less than a year. After the 2nd one went I wasn't about to install another even if it was under warranty. I purchased a charles 12/50 HQ series. 5 year warranty and american made. Its still very new to my boat and I hope it works out I've heard good things about their tech support and the products.

[REBrueckner]

For those avoiding XANTREX products beware we have discussed several other brands that have been bought by XANTREX. I haven't noticed any discussions about them here as Sam's recently.

One brand Xantrex bought was TRACE Engineering and we have discussed several others in the past....Anybody know what other brands XANTREX currently owns and whether those other names are also supported by XANTREX rather than the named company???

Anybody know who makes the West Marine line of chargers, inverters,etc???

[MikeP]

"Anybody know who makes the West Marine line of chargers, inverters,etc?"

Mattel?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[jim rosenthal]

West Marine gets their stuff made by a different company (ie low bidder) every year or so. You get what you pay for with WM- more accurately, you DON'T get what you pay for, because they can't stand behind their stuff, because they don't make any of it. Buyer beware applies in spades here.

Stick to the reputable manufacturers: Charles are good, the newer Sentrys are said to be good, Mastervolt is good but very expensive. MikeP has an inverter charger that I think was made by Outback which I think he likes. None of this addresses your basic problem- you have a current leak in the wiring system which needs to be found and removed before you do anything else. I forgot to mention above that such a leak also has the potential (no pun intended) to eat up your underwater hardware electrolytically if the leak is reaching your boat's bonding system, or any of those underwater fittings.

We have a number of members here who are obviously trained as electricians and can speak to this quite a bit better than I can. But the basic procedure for finding a DC leak is that you insert an ammeter in the circuit which supplies all the DC loads, and read the current leak with all the DC draws shut off (lights, pumps, etc etc) and then begin shutting off all the breakers one by one until the parasitic load disappears off the ammeter reading. That tells you what DC breaker the load is on- then you just have to find it. This isn't easy, and you may want to get a marine electrician to do it all for you, but that is the method used.

Additional comments are welcome and please remember that I make no claims to being an electrician myself, folks.

[luckydave215]

I got tired of fooling around with the old and corroded stone age ferroresonant Sentry charger and Instavolt power supply/charger OEM setup I have and yesterday ordered the only smart 32V charger actually for sale, the Newmar.
Other brand 32V smart chargers are listed in catalogs, but contacting the companies reveals them to be "catalog fillers" - they don't really make them anymore. Even the Newmars are made to order, they don't stock any.

[GaryNW]

As others have stated, the current drain comes first. But start with Calder's book. He covers battery systems well and also lays out a procedure for tracking down leaks. Also speaks of what to look for in a charger.

Too bad about Xantrex quality because their XC series does have all the desirable features: (3) independant programmable outputs (which can even accomodate different battery types for each output), can deliver full rated output to whatever bank is in need, (4) stage charging, digital remotable panel included (not extra option), etc, etc. Maybe they reached too far into the future.

Folks here like the Charles, they are well priced (ignore list prices) and have that (5) year warranty. I would look at the (3) bank output models and insure that they can deliver full rated output to any bank. (You do not want a 60A charger that will only do 20A to your house bank).

IMO, get one and only one charger! You are a single voltage boat. The idea of say (3) chargers for your (3) banks to obtain "redundancy" is really saying that the quality of the chargers is bad and you need a bunch of them for when they crap out! You can get (1) good charger for a lot less $$$ than (3) bad chargers.

Since the quality chargers seem to be relatively "dumb" compared to the Xantrex XC, spend some of the money you saved by buying (1) charger for a remote panel that will tell you exactly what the charger is up too and how happy the (3) banks are.

Gary

[yachtsmanbill]

I installed a new Charles unit (32 vdc) and it runs 24/7 in the water and usually 8hrs/day in winter when working on the boat. I check the water 4-6 times a year and usually have to add a full pint to each cell at that time. ws

[fissioneng]

I had a Xantrex XC short itself out on month 25, just out of warranty. For 12 volt chargers, I have looked at all the offerings and will probably buy a Victron. Mastervolt would be my second choice. Hatteras uses Mastervolt now.

I would also recommend some kind of pulse desulphating device like the BatteryMinder.