Sterling 32v charger ?

[Aussie Mike]

Upgrading to a new 32v charger for the start banks of 12v71's. Nothing available in Australia so
I am thinking to import a Sterling 32v 20amp unit from the UK.
Batteries are Golf Cart lead acid, about 18 months old

Anyone have comments on Sterling chargers reliability and performance?

Thx in advance

 

[carolinacoast]

I just installed one of these.
https://analyticsystems.com/product/bca1000-220-32/
Robert found me a unit at a distributor.
roberth@analyticsystems.com

 

[carolinacoast]

He's at HQ in Canada.

 

[scottinsydney]

Hi Mike,

I installed an Analytic Systems 32volt 2 bank charger for our 32 volt banks nine years ago. Has worked flawlessly.

Scott

 

[neildeb2]

I bought a sterling 32/20 some years back. Works great, lots of options for charge profiles, battery types, etc. Not super intuitive in the setup, but I used the manual, it's very simple. I just wish it could do more that 20 amps. I had 3 banks booked to it, one was the port engine start bank, one for the stbd start bank, and the other for the bow thruster bank. I recently upgraded to AGM batteries, so it was nice to know the charger is programmable for AGM.

 

[cww]

The age of enormous battery chargers seems to be on the way out. With LED lighting and modern electronics that draw 10% of what they used to, the house bank gets next to nothing for load compared to what it was designed for. It's getting hard to find 70A chargers anymore in any voltage. If my original one ever breaks, I'm just having it fixed as many times as I have to. Besides if you want to run high-load stuff on a DC bank these days you just put in an inverter, they usually operate in both directions at whatever rating you buy. Obviously $$$$$$$$$$ compared to a charger though.

 

[Boatsb]

We sell 70 to 100 amp chargers all the time. 24 and 48 volt versions. Also inverters in 12/24 and 48 volts.

It's not the load that you use but the battery size (AH) that dictates the charger size.

FYI a smart charger and an inverter with the same charge parameters are probably close in price. It's the cheap China crap that seems to cost less.