The battery charger on my 2000 Beneteau 331 is dead! According to the marina service department, I need to shell out $400 for a new charger plus install! Do I have any other option? Is warranty only 1 year? Thanks.
- Status
electronics and salt water
don't mix. You didn't say what kind you had. Before you put in a new charger, it might be nice to figure out what happened. Rust/a short/etc? so you can avoid the same thing in a few years. Maybe you need to move the charger to a better spot on the boat. I replaced a battery charger that looked to be from the late 70s or 80s. It still worked, but it did not have enough regulation for my taste. (I couldn't set it and forget it.)
don't mix. You didn't say what kind you had. Before you put in a new charger, it might be nice to figure out what happened. Rust/a short/etc? so you can avoid the same thing in a few years. Maybe you need to move the charger to a better spot on the boat. I replaced a battery charger that looked to be from the late 70s or 80s. It still worked, but it did not have enough regulation for my taste. (I couldn't set it and forget it.)
Similar situation
Warren - I just replaced the Pro Mariner charger on my 2001 Hunter 320. It also had a 1 year warrantee, but Pro Mariner is very good about standing behind their product. My replacement unit was pro-rated so it cost me less than $200. (Retail was almost $600.)! I could have mailed the defective unit in for repair, but chose instaed to replace with a brand new larger unit. I was a little discouraged to be replacing things on a 2 year old boat, but I did appreciate the pro-rated price. Their tech support was very helpful in guiding me to determine that the charger was in fact bad (after I had already replaced both batteries, which also had 1 year pro-rated warrantees). None of this stuff lasts forever I suppose. I would recommend the Pro Mariner Pro-Tech series as a fairly low cost solution. Good luck . . .Steve
Warren - I just replaced the Pro Mariner charger on my 2001 Hunter 320. It also had a 1 year warrantee, but Pro Mariner is very good about standing behind their product. My replacement unit was pro-rated so it cost me less than $200. (Retail was almost $600.)! I could have mailed the defective unit in for repair, but chose instaed to replace with a brand new larger unit. I was a little discouraged to be replacing things on a 2 year old boat, but I did appreciate the pro-rated price. Their tech support was very helpful in guiding me to determine that the charger was in fact bad (after I had already replaced both batteries, which also had 1 year pro-rated warrantees). None of this stuff lasts forever I suppose. I would recommend the Pro Mariner Pro-Tech series as a fairly low cost solution. Good luck . . .Steve
Sentry SM Series
..is the charger installed on my boat. It has a 2-year warranty and mine is already 3 years old
. I have to call them up and see if they will do a pro-rate thing. I'm just so disappointed that it broke so soon considering that it's only plugged in 5 months out of the year.
..is the charger installed on my boat. It has a 2-year warranty and mine is already 3 years old
. I have to call them up and see if they will do a pro-rate thing. I'm just so disappointed that it broke so soon considering that it's only plugged in 5 months out of the year.Replaced mine this weekend
I had to replace mine this weekend. I have a 98 36cc that had a 120v/20a Dolphin charger. When I called the number for technical assistance, Taylormade answered the phone. When I described the symptom, they said I had to call the actual company in France. I decided, instead, to just buy a new charger. I knew this one was broken, probably 5 years old, and wasn't about to get involved sending it to France for repair.
I had to replace mine this weekend. I have a 98 36cc that had a 120v/20a Dolphin charger. When I called the number for technical assistance, Taylormade answered the phone. When I described the symptom, they said I had to call the actual company in France. I decided, instead, to just buy a new charger. I knew this one was broken, probably 5 years old, and wasn't about to get involved sending it to France for repair.
Relatively easy
I recently replaced my OE charger with a 3 stage Zantec in about one hour. If you can follow directions, you can do it. The most difficult part is removing the old one and mounting the new one which will allow direct replacement of the wire rather than running new cable(s). Tyhe Zantec manual was pretty thorough about electrical safety and wiring cautions. Don Illusion
I recently replaced my OE charger with a 3 stage Zantec in about one hour. If you can follow directions, you can do it. The most difficult part is removing the old one and mounting the new one which will allow direct replacement of the wire rather than running new cable(s). Tyhe Zantec manual was pretty thorough about electrical safety and wiring cautions. Don Illusion
Dead Charger
Having your charger die may be the best thing that's happened to you. Depending on the kind you had, it may have been killing your batteries. You need to purchase and install a true three stage charger, especially if you leave it plugged in 5 months of the year, although why anyone would want to do that is beyond me. The best is Xantrex, old Stat Power, Truecharge. See the link below for a detailed discussion of chargers. Replacing it is EASY and spending $200 for the yard to do about a half hour of work is unnecessary. The West Marine Advisors have a very good writeup on how to install a battery charger. Good luck, Stu
Having your charger die may be the best thing that's happened to you. Depending on the kind you had, it may have been killing your batteries. You need to purchase and install a true three stage charger, especially if you leave it plugged in 5 months of the year, although why anyone would want to do that is beyond me. The best is Xantrex, old Stat Power, Truecharge. See the link below for a detailed discussion of chargers. Replacing it is EASY and spending $200 for the yard to do about a half hour of work is unnecessary. The West Marine Advisors have a very good writeup on how to install a battery charger. Good luck, Stu
- Status