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Battery Charger Advice

Czech Mate

Member II
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Cbill%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]-->[FONT=&quot]Looks like I am in the market for a new battery charger and am hoping that somebody out there can give me some good advice. It appears that bank three of the old Ray Jefferson Model 155 Regulated D.C. Battery Guard has taken a crap. Imagine that after 35 years! Anyway, I'm a little confused as to what I should be looking for. Our 1975 E32-2 has three batteries, one for starting, one for house and one dedicated to refrigeration. The batteries are are a group 24 wet cell deep cycle battery for refrigeration, 130 min. @ 25 amps, rated at 75 ah @ a 20 ah draw, the two other batteries are group 24 wet cell dual-purpose, 120 reserve capacity.

The boat is used primarily for day sails or 2 to 3 day trips but usually can be hooked up to shore power overnight when on a trip. When at our home slip we always have shore power available.

What I am looking for is an economical but reliable solution. Size is an issue because I'd like to put the new charger in the same compartment as the old Ray Jefferson unit (pretty small) which is on the port side of the boat over the battery compartment under the port side rear quarter berth.

I would appreciate advice on what brand charger might be a good choice and how to select what size (amperage) I need. Also, should I be looking at dry-mount or water-proof, even though the charger will be located below? Sorry for the lengthy diatribe but this one's got me a little stumped. Thanks guys.

Bill
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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Choices and Options

I recently replaced my (still working) 15 year old Statpower 20 with a new ProMariner 1220i.
I am using it for two banks instead of the three it has outputs for, per their install instructions to parallel two of the three output terminals for wiring to a two bank system.

Seems to be working just fine.
Unlike my old charger this one has charge curves for flooded, agm, or gel.

My dealer tells me that it is sized just right for my system consisting of a two-golf-cart house bank and the one starting/emergency group 24 battery.

There are probably lots of good chargers out there that will do what you need.

Only caveat maybe worth passing along is that Xantrex (who evidently acquired Statpower) gets very poor marks these days from insiders in the industry for customer service after the sale.

That was the main reason I decided to change brands as well as chargers.

Regards,
Loren

ps: these sell for about $300. to 330. at usual discount, and I paid $270. on sale thru a local vendor at the boat show.
 

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jmcpeak

Junior Viking
I have been very happy with my Guest charger for the last 4 years.

Model 2621A - 20 Amp Triple Battery Cruising Charger

Best price is around $280 at Jamestown Distributors.

http://www.google.com/products?q=guest+2621A&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hl=en&scoring=p

2621A-CMYK-04%20copy.jpg
 

Rocinante33

Contributing Partner
I recently replaced my (still working) 15 year old Statpower 20 with a new ProMariner 1220i.
I am using it for two banks instead of the three it has outputs for, per their install instructions to parallel two of the three output terminals for wiring to a two bank system.

Loren,

My Statpower 20 is a little bit newer (~7-8 years), but it does have the wet cell, AGM, or gel settings. It is for only two banks, though, IIRC.

Bill,

Have you considered re-wiring your batteries into a two bank system, like Loren described? It would give you a bigger house bank (but include the refer on that bank). What is the advantage of having a separate battery for the refer?
 

Czech Mate

Member II
Keith:

The boat was wired the way is by the previous owner. I'm obviously not an expert in batteries/chargers hence the need to post for advice but the one advantage I can see using this arrangement is that I can power the refer from a true deep cycle battery which from my understanding is a better application for refrigeration than a dual purpose battery. Also if I've been out for a few days and I've drawn down the deep cycle battery, I figure I can go buy some ice and still be assured that I'm going to have cabin lights, instruments, etc.

Also, the cost of a three-bank charger vs. two-bank charger doesn't seem that significant compared to the time and work it would take to convert to a two-bank system. Make any sense?

Bill
 

Czech Mate

Member II
Loren:

The ProMariner 1220i was a charger that I was seriously looking at because of it's size, weight and price (I found it at Hodges Marine for around $235.00 plus shipping). What do you think - pull the trigger? By the way, if you've only got two battery banks, why did you choose the 1220i -because it's a 20 amp charger vs. 15amp?

This will be our fifth season since graduating to our present E-32 "Czech Mate" and I can't tell you how informative this forum has been.

By the way Mr. McPeak, I believe I met you at our marina in Sturgeon Bay a couple of years ago (CenterPointe) on your way back from the Mac. Thanks also for the advice. Are you doing the Mac this year? It would be great if you want to stop in and see us again!

Bill
 

Mort Fligelman

Member III
Ctek Battery Chargers

Bill: Just a thought.....last fall before leaving the cold north for sunny climes, I needed to have a way to keep two batteries charged through the winter on my Mercedes......the car, like boats has a two battery system.....one is the "engine" battery, and the other the "Accessorie" battery.

I make great use of a similar (uses the same software as Sean uses here) information exchange on Mercedes......keeps you from going broke at the "Stealership", and makes owning the car a bit less expensive....but only a bit....

At any rate, I learned that Mercedes sold a specific charger, with the three pointed star for about $140.00. Through the exchange I learned that the charger was made by Ctek....in Sweden.....they have a US distributor, and I called and was able to get the same charger for $60.00. In Looking over the site www.ctek.com and talking to one of thier techs we discussed using it for a boat with multiple batteries....but that was not my priority at the time so my knowledge is lacking....

Take a good look....might just work out fine for you

Regards
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Yup! Nope!

Loren:

The ProMariner 1220i was a charger that I was seriously looking at because of it's size, weight and price (I found it at Hodges Marine for around $235.00 plus shipping). What do you think - pull the trigger? By the way, if you've only got two battery banks, why did you choose the 1220i -because it's a 20 amp charger vs. 15amp?
Bill

Bill, Our house bank is a couple of Trojan T-145's (about 240 to 260 AH) and the 20 amp was the minimum size for this, we were told. That lines up with advice I got all those years ago when the previous charger was installed.
I cannot advise you to buy or not to, altho regarding the price I would only add that when the total 'net price with shipping is within, say, 10% of the local price from a servicing dealer I always keep the money local. These are the guys I go to for install advice and any needed trouble shooting later, and of course any warranty concern.
Matter of fact the initial ProMariner had (as I figured out later...) a bad cooling fan right out of the box. Made a loud buzzing noise and the case got really hot. I called Promariner and they said to exchange it and I did. No shipping and no hassles.

FWIW, this charger is a smaller footprint than the one it replaced. It has a cooling fan, whereas the larger Xantrex 20 amp charger with its larger heat-sink fins did not (evidently) need a fan. The old Xantrex line had cooling fans on the chargers larger than 20 amp.

Sorry to seem so ambivalent about your question, but the longer I live the more I realize that I know less and less about more and more! :rolleyes:

Regards,
Loren
 
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Czech Mate

Member II
Loren:

I appreciate the advice. What I'll probably do is talk to West Marine because we have a Port Supply account. Although they're not technically "local" I know the guys at West Marine in Sturgeon Bay and they have been very good to work with and usually match prices of what ever I can find on the internet. I think I am going to give the ProMariner a try though. Does the cooling fan Make much noise?

Bill
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Loren:
Does the cooling fan Make much noise?

Bill

It's not very noticeable at all to me, and it only runs when (rarely) the charger is putting out max amps for a little while. Being a multi-stage charger, this is not too long.
I believe that it's a muffin fan; those are not, by design, very noisy anyhow, IMO.

Loren
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Loren:
Do you camp out on this site? Your response time is amazing.
Bill

:rolleyes:
LOL!

This site is set as the home page on the Mac. Being retired, I get up and turn on the computer when the Admiral gets up at 0630 to get ready for work.
The computer is on any time we are home throughout the day/evening.

"The internet: the Black Hole for time."
;)

LB
 

Lawrence B. Lee

Member III
Battery charger

Bill,
This reply is a bit late to the discussion but FWIW I too have an Ericson 32 and like you I am forced to use 24's because the TAFG is built to hold them and nothing bigger. You might squeeze a couple of six volters in but I don't have enough height to get them in. I have a single starter battery (space found in lazerette under the hot water heater) and two 24's wired together for the house.

I too have an ProMariner 1220i and have had the same for about a year. Got it from Hodges. So far I have no complaints. It has a three step charge process and keeps the little dears basking in "Float Charge Heaven" when I am away.
I was very interested in your statement that you run refrigeration from a single 24. Could you share what sort of reefer you have and how you keep it's battery charged. Solar? Wind? and what size alternator is your 25XP driving? The admiral would be very interested in your reply.

Thanks,

Larry Lee
Annabele Lee E-32-200
Savannah, GA
 

Czech Mate

Member II
Larry:

Our boat is a 1975 32-2 with an Atomic Four and unfortunately I have no idea of the alternator size. I'm toying with the idea of heading up to Sturgeon Bay this weekend to do a little work on it before our launch later this month, so I can maybe take a look. That's assuming we don't get the four to six inches of snow the weatherman is now predicting for tonight - It must be nice living in Georgia this time of year!

Anyway, the refrigerator is an older Alder Barbour unit (I would guess very old). I would also guess that it was not original equipment but rather added after the previous/original owner purchased the boat. I'm owner no. 2.

Up until now the three batteries on board have been kept charged using an ancient Ray Jefferson charger having three positive leads and one ground (one positive lead to each battery). Seems to have worked well until last summer when bank three on the charger, which is connected to the deep cycle battery for the refrigerator, started putting out insufficient charging voltage.

The system works pretty good for me because we're generally not on the water for extended periods and if we happen to take a trip for more than a few days, we're usually able to hook up to shore power at night to refresh the batteries for the next days sail. The single group 24 house battery works for us because we just don't use that much 12 volt for lighting, etc.

I have pretty much settled on the promariner 1220i based on the comments from you and Loren. I called the West Marine guys in Sturgeon Bay because they have treated me very fairly in the past and they said they would match the price. I know that West Marine is not technically a local business but the guys that work there are. And I've got someone to cry to if I happen to get a faulty unit. The only thing I've got left to do is get to the boat and make sure the charger will fit where I intend to put it before plunking the money down.

Bill
 

Lawrence B. Lee

Member III
Useful Information

Bill,
Thanks for your nice reply. Your sailing trips sound like ours so maybe I should go ahead and look at installing one of these new really low amp fridges. See what happens. Sure would make the Admiral happy.

Six inches of snow. Wow! What's snow? Actually north GA gets snow in the DEAD of winter but not now. We see it every decade in Savannah. Right now the temp is 85 F and wind is light and Lord the birds are chirping.
icon7.gif


Fair Winds!

Larry
 

Mort Fligelman

Member III
More Probably Worthless Information

Back at the beginning of this thread I gave reference to a Ctek battery charger that I had put on a Mercedes with two batteries.....one for starting, the other for "Accessories"......

There is a complex memory system on the car which is a real bear to ititialize from what I have been told.....SO....reference that aforementioned post...

Bottom Line.....connected the charger October 8, 2009......disconected no accessories..... returned Tuesday evening May 4......the LED's on the charger showed fully charged......twisted the key and was off to the races...

When it comes to new charger time for A Capella I will really give it an in depth assesment.....

FWIW .000002 cents worth.....
 

Czech Mate

Member II
Larry/Loren:

One question. Does the 1220i really generate a lot of heat? Promariner recommends 6" clearance on all sides and top. In the compartment that I'd like to mount it, if I mount it vertically as recommend, I would be fine on the sides and face but would only have about 1"-2" on top and bottom. What do you think? I could easily mount it horizontally and be fine on the "top and bottom" and have about 3" to 4" on the "sides". Gentlemen, I really appreciate your help.

Thanks,
Bill

By the way Larry, it's a little after midnight in Sturgeon Bay and no snow yet!
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Regarding the question about heat generated from the 1220i, none worthy of notice. I have about 2" clearance on one side and completely open on the other.

Loren
 
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