Battery Charging Brands

[ThirdHatt]

I just got rid of a Charles 5000 SP Series charger and upgraded to a Mastervolt. Mastervolt is highly respected worldwide and there are many selectable settings, options, etc. Multiple chargers can be linked together and viewed on one display screen, etc. Overall, it looks like Mastervolt is head and shoulders above the competition.

[VMocco]

I'm looking at Charles, Victron, and Mastervolt. Those seem to be the best.

I really like the monitoring capabilities of Victron and Mastervolt.

Oh, and found my current draw..some of the wiring to one of bilge pumps was just hanging in the bilge bleeding me out..

[GJH]

I'd look at NewMar first. They have remote monitoring. Owned and made in the USA and with US customer service. Very high quality.

By the way, my older Sentry, which I loudly complained here about, has given me excellent results the past several months since I replaced the control board (around a $300 part, easy fix) and my new Rolls batteries have been "broken in". Have to give Sentry credit too for being field serviceable with US support. Most authorized CruiseAir techs are also trained to service Sentry. I can now more wisely invest the Boat Unit + of savings in diesel fuel.

[spcoolin]

I'd look at NewMar first. They have remote monitoring. Owned and made in the USA and with US customer service. Very high quality.

By the way, my older Sentry, which I loudly complained here about, has given me excellent results the past several months since I replaced the control board (around a $300 part, easy fix) and my new Rolls batteries have been "broken in". Have to give Sentry credit too for being field serviceable with US support. Most authorized CruiseAir techs are also trained to service Sentry. I can now more wisely invest the Boat Unit + of savings in diesel fuel.

Thank you George !!!

Steve~

[GJH]

On the contrary Steve, thank YOU. You patiently and selflessly set me on the right path. Fortunately we have a counterpart to you here in Eastern NC named Burt Ferebee.

[spcoolin]

On the contrary Steve, thank YOU. You patiently and selflessly set me on the right path. Fortunately we have a counterpart to you here in Eastern NC named Burt Ferebee.

Well Then...Send my thanks to Bert too !

Sentry has gotten a bad rap around here & from what I have seen...It's mostly misunderstanding...Knowing how batteries charge, and how a Sentry is supposed to do it's job (and when it's not doing it as designed) is the key to long battery life.

Steve~

[Boatnut]

I have been lookng into a new charger, and have a couple of questions on the subject.

I have no come across any battery charger with multiple outputs where the charging leg is monitored and controlled individually. Most charges I see charge all banks whenever one needs a charge. If anyone knows of a charger that works like I am looking for, please let me know.

My other question involves isloators and combiners. Seems to me they do entirely different jobs.

My understanding is an isolator prevents a weak or bad battery from draining a good battery. When multiple batteries are wired in parallel.

A combiner is a relay or other electronic device added to allow multiple batteries to be charged via a single source. My question here is, when the combiner is activated and a bad or weak battery is in the system, what stops the good battery from over charging, and boiling of the battery.

As for where to hook the sense lead, read Steve's explanation on his web site. One note on sense wires, make sure they are all the same length, if they are too long coil the longer one up.

[MikeP]

"what stops the good battery from over charging, and boiling of the battery. "

To my knowledge, nothing. It seems like a distinct possibility. OTOH I used a combiner for several years on my 53s 12V system that starts the genny and also provides additional 12V power source for a few items. I had two batteries with a combiner and it worked perfectly. But since the circuit combines the batteries when charging, it could overcharge/ruin a good battery while trying to charge one with - say - a bad cell.

[GaryNW]

Boatnut, The catalog and website info on chargers is frustrating; these basic questions are not answered. As far as I'm concerned any charger that calls itself "multibank" had better be monitoring each bank and providing appropriate voltage/amps based on that bank's need. Otherwise it is just a one bank charger with $2 worth of terminal board and jumper wires. I would email or call your candidates (Charles, Mastervolt, Newmar have all been lauded for their great support). Another few requirements: charger should do bulk, absorb or float at the same time based on what the bank needs (so bank #1 may be getting bulk with auto-switching to, say float for bank #2); and as Calder makes clear, the charger full output should be available to any bank based on need- a 60amp charger may be giving 55amps to bank one and 5amps to bank two. Hatteras wired our boats for this, BTW. My original Sentry 40amp had wire gage to support full output to either bank.

For lack of an industry standard for the term "smart charger", I will offer that in addition to the above requirements, a smart charger will query each bank automatically and continually and taylor the charge profile (bulk, absorbtion, float) to that bank's need. And of course the low bank will get most of the charger's time.
Gary

[Boatnut]

Boatnut, The catalog and website info on chargers is frustrating; these basic questions are not answered. As far as I'm concerned any charger that calls itself "multibank" had better be monitoring each bank and providing appropriate voltage/amps based on that bank's need. Otherwise it is just a one bank charger with $2 worth of terminal board and jumper wires. I would email or call your candidates (Charles, Mastervolt, Newmar have all been lauded for their great support). Another few requirements: charger should do bulk, absorb or float at the same time based on what the bank needs (so bank #1 may be getting bulk with auto-switching to, say float for bank #2); and as Calder makes clear, the charger full output should be available to any bank based on need- a 60amp charger may be giving 55amps to bank one and 5amps to bank two. Hatteras wired our boats for this, BTW. My original Sentry 40amp had wire gage to support full output to either bank.

For lack of an industry standard for the term "smart charger", I will offer that in addition to the above requirements, a smart charger will query each bank automatically and continually and taylor the charge profile (bulk, absorbtion, float) to that bank's need. And of course the low bank will get most of the charger's time.
Gary

Gary, Thanks for your confirming my findings with your own experiences. In fact it brings to mind a couple of points. If you have a multiple output charger, a combiner is not nececcary the banks are already combines. You only benefit from a combiner if you are combining more bmanks than the charger allows for. Of course by combining in this fashion, you no longer are providing the rated current of the charger to both banks.

Remember we are talking about banks where the batteries are in parallel, the 32 volt systems with mutiple batteries in series introduces a new set of circumstances to deal with.

Obviously multiple chargers are the ultimate answer. If I were to invest the amount of money into batteries that the Rolls batteries cost, I'd go the 2 charger route.

I consider checking and filling batteries the same as checking the oil, coolant etc., heck here in Florida owners get the bottom cleaned every month.

Water usage in the battery will differ on every boat, depending on load, installation techniques, age of battery etc. If the water usage is consistant you most likely do not have a problem. It's when you get an increase of water boil off that checking is in order.

When a battery increases water usage due to a weak or bad cell, using what most of us have for charging circuit any battery in that bank can and normally used water, have both battteries checked with the propper test equipment. A digital meter will give you surface charge but will not always show a defective battery.

Wow, I did it again a wordy post, applogoies again.