First Impressions on our new Analytic Systems charger....ugh!

[egaito]

I would suggest Angela email this guy and point out her disappointing experience and any one else on the forum who feels the Company needs a reminder...

I'm going to reserve going postal until the situation is resolved. As I stated earlier, they have expressed concern over the failure and a desire to make it right. It just comes down to what that means in terms of turn-around time and additional cost to us to remain a customer. Once resolved, I will likely write up the story for the perusal of someone that might have an interest in maintaining or growing their marine market.

That said, with your example above, providing a presumably "marine grade" product without at least conformal coating the boards seems very odd. Perhaps they weren't actually intended for marine use.

I also wonder if the "new" distributor he is referring to is MDS Power, who responded to our issue with a somewhat cryptic "one liner" indicating that they weren't aware of our issue and we should deal with the manufacturer directly. That was in response to our email making them aware of our situation.... No support there, and I'd already called Analytic Systems directly at that point, so we just ignored it. I don't believe MDS stocks either as this one was drop-shipped from Analytic.

I wouldn't put myself in the category of disgruntled just yet. Disappointing is a better word for it thus far.

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

I bought a Dual Pro PS 12/24v 2 bank water proof charger at a local marine flea market 2 yrs ago for $40... I have it wired in as a back up "just in case".......

 

[egaito]

That said, with your example above, providing a presumably "marine grade" product without at least conformal coating the boards seems very odd. Perhaps they weren't actually intended for marine use.

Well, crap! I just checked the specs, and even on this "marine" charger, conformal coating is listed as an option rather than standard.

 

[Boatnut]

Posted this past July

Re: original battery charger and it seems to be cooking the batteries

I spoke with Analytic Systems here is their response to my questions.

In regard to your question about our chargers, the answer is yes, they are isolated (ground is isolated from the input and the output). I’ve attached spec sheets for the most commonly used models. The BCA310 is ABS certified; the other units are not individually certified as yet, however, they are manufactured exactly the same as the BCA310 here in our facility".

The rep also explained to me, their process of dipping the board for further environmental protection, at an additional cost, my opinion is dipping the board is worth it, especially for those in the salt water environment.

 

[wsdemmer]

I also have a independent 24v inverter system and experienced a gap in my system when both generators went out this summer in the Bahamas. I realized that I need to install an additional alternator (24v) on the backside of the 1271 to be able to charge the inverter bank as an ultimate backup. I am in the process (while I am at it I might as well replace this and that) of replacing the generators in Florida so I should not have a problem with 2 new generators but you never know so I am going to go ahead and install the alternator as peace of mind. My La Marche is on the list tto be replaced now that all my batteries are AGM and not a mixture of wet cell and glass matt.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

It just seems very stupid that Hatteras picked an obscure voltage of 32 vdc for their larger boats. I know they wanted to use smaller wire, but all their wire is way too big anyway. What was the matter with using something standard like 24 volts. Our 36 uses 12 and that works fine. A 53' Hat is larger for sure, but not so much that 12 volt electrics wouldn't work.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

It just seems very stupid that Hatteras picked an obscure voltage of 32 vdc for their larger boats. I know they wanted to use smaller wire, but all their wire is way too big anyway. What was the matter with using something standard like 24 volts. Our 36 uses 12 and that works fine. A 53' Hat is larger for sure, but not so much that 12 volt electrics wouldn't work.

It was not obscure when they started using it. Chris Craft and others used it for their larger boats in the late 1960's and into the 70's. Hatteras was just the one who held onto it the longest. That was typical Hatteras, however. It seems that they were very reluctant to change something that worked. Most of their boats changed very little over time.

 

[GJH]

As Sky said, it wasn't very obscure back in the day at all. Probably more common than 24 volt on big boats back then. There was/is a fair amount of 32volt in the railroad industry amongst others. I wish I could wave a wand and have my boat be 24 volt, but am glad it is not 12.

 

[Fanfare]

I have to say that my 1966 50MY has 12v and it works great. I still think the original Hargrave design is the best.

I do have a few heavy gauge wires here and there, but it's not that 50 lbs or so extra wire on a Hatteras would even be noticed.

 

[egaito]

Update:

Analytic got the charger on Wednesday and went to work on it almost immediately. They found several failed components, but haven't said what actually went wrong yet other than to confirm that it was nothing we did on our end.

They were kind enough to dip it in conformal coating at no charge, and shipped it Friday afternoon for Saturday delivery.

By 2:30 yesterday afternoon, I had it re-installed and running. Almost 24 hours later, all seems well, but I haven't crawled back down there to see how hot it is running yet. It sure is nice to have the DC lights back on in the boat!

 

[Canuck Dennis]

Maybe some of the bitching at them helped..that was a fast turnaround...

 

[Boatnut]

Maybe some of the bitching at them helped..that was a fast turnaround...

I respectfully have to disagree. I think Ed's patience and professional manner did more to expedite the turn around, than all the bitching in the world would accomplish.

The avreage non technical person has little knowledge of new electronics. Infant mortality is a major cause of component failure. That's one of the reasons you get a warranty.

It's unfortunate to Ed that this happened, however it looks like Analytic, covered the problem in a good manner. Glad it turned out well Ed, and I hope it lasts forever. IMO the coating of the board was the best way to go.

 

[dcate]

I try and keep mine as cool as possible and use it only on mostly charged batteries. Before turning on the Analytic, I recharge the house bank on the hook using the Outback while cooling the starboard room (where the Analytic is) with the ER cooling fans. Only once house bank is charged and the starbard room has cooled do I turn the starboard room Analytic Charger on. This keeps it cool and runs it as little as possible. Keeping an eye on Starboard Battery bank water levels too.

 

[jim rosenthal]

It does not say much for the Analytic unit that you have to baby it the way you've described. You would think a charger made to go in a boat would be more rugged than that....

 

[SKYCHENEY]

It does not say much for the Analytic unit that you have to baby it the way you've described. You would think a charger made to go in a boat would be more rugged than that....

I run mine in the hot ER. The only time I hear the fans running on the Analytic are with a hot ER, otherwise it is perfectly quiet.

 

[dcate]

It does not say much for the Analytic unit that you have to baby it the way you've described. You would think a charger made to go in a boat would be more rugged than that...

Maybe it's just me.

 

[dcate]

I run mine in the hot ER. The only time I hear the fans running on the Analytic are with a hot ER, otherwise it is perfectly quiet.

Can you charge the starting bank with your Outback? My installer said the boat isn't set up to let the current flow that way. That my Analyitc will charge both banks but the Outback house only. ??

 

[Pascal]

Like most inverters the outback can only support one bank, whereas the Analytic is a 3 bank charger.

Btw, speaking of 3 bank chargers when using only two banks most chatgers require a jumper from one of the two used outputs to to unused third output . I ve had 2 4D AGM (generators) fail praturely on the boat i run and double checked everything. Turned out the factory installed 3 bank Pro mariner requires the jumper which was missing. Apparently it s a common mistake by installers. Check your manuals

 

[Angela]

I think Ed's patience and professional manner did more to expedite the turn around, than all the bitching in the world would accomplish.

That is the absolute truth. I was there to hear most of the telephone conversations he had with the folks at Analytic, and it is this kind of problem-solving at which Ed utterly shines. He very politely made them understand the urgent situation in which failure left us, and got the message across that they needed to return this thing to us no matter what their cost was, but all without saying it like that. It left Canada on a Friday night after 8PM our time, and arrived at our marina at 9:30 a.m. the next morning. This is why I leave things like this for him to deal with. He will get far greater results that I will. He has a lot of patience, but if one crosses that line and makes him "take his hat off", oh boy...I've only seen that once - by a SeaRay dealer at a boat show several years ago.

Pascal, our Analytic charger is only 2 bank, so no worries for us in that regard. They will make a 3-bank charger if you ask for it.

 

[Angela]

Revisiting our inverter selection, I'm fairly convinced that I want to stay with a 32v system, rather than a 24v separate system, so that I have a redundant battery charger for the house bank - something I never really thought of prior to having to go a week without DC power. Thank goodness I had put all those Vacuflushes on their own separate 12v system with their own dedicated charger, so we were really only using the 32v shower sump pumps from our 32v supply all week. So, back to the Outback - is this the unit we want (with the Mate, of course)? http://www.solar-electric.com/vfx3232m.html And for those of you who have it, where did you install it? Is it OK in a hot genny room which is subject to the Florida humidity?