Battery Charger Replacement

[buddybear]

Looking to replace my old battery charger. Have been looking at the Promariner PronauticP series. Has anyone installed one in the same place the original charger was installed, cockpit portside. Will probably go with the 40Amp model. House bank is 450 Amps.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Yes, several of the C310 owners have and they fit.

One owner is in the middle of this install right now but having a problem running the temp sensor.

I assume you have read Maine Sail's article on how to install a battery charger.

More importantly you might want to consider going up in size. Sizing is recommended at 10% of your batteries capacity. At 40 amps you are under that. Going to 50 amps might make sense.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

We replaced our charger a couple of years ago. We have a 50 A. Sterling. Very pleased with how it performs. We have a 400 Ahr house bank, AGMs. We live aboard for 5 months or so of the year. Works well in a slip, it sits on float while the fridge, freezer etc. are turning on and off while it keeps a constant float voltage.
Bob

 

[rpwillia]

Went with the ProNautic 12:20

... One owner is in the middle of this install right now but having a problem running the temp sensor.

I went with the 20 amp model as that what was there from the factory and the way we use our boat the existing one was more than sufficient. It fit in the space where the old Charles did. If I had a little more slack in the wires I would have rotated it 90 degrees and put a bulkhead there so it would be easier to view in operation, but it is not that big a deal.

I still have to route the temp sensor wire but I can use it without it. I was able to re-use the factory cables as the ProNautic has terminal blocks for connections.

FWIW I understand the ProNautic is the Sterling charger, and both are recommended by MaineSail.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

Yes both these chargers are the same is my understanding as well.
Our original charger was 40 amps, it had two outputs going to the two battery banks, house and start. I put a copper bus across the 3 outputs on the Sterling charger and connected both original battery feeds to it. They terminated at the two battery connections on the battery selector switch. I connected both feeds to the house battery bank. The start battery bank is charged with an Echo charger off the house bank. So we just leave our battery selector switch on the house bank. When on shore or our generator power both banks are automatically topped up.
Good luck on the installation, Bob

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

I put a copper bus across the 3 outputs on the Sterling charger and connected both original battery feeds to it.

I would double check the specs. I don't believe you needed to do that. I believe the charger splits the 40 amps over how many legs you have. So if you remove the bar and all but one leg you will get 40 amps to the house bank.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

I know it will output it all on one terminal but it is much easier on the output components if they each are only conducting 1/3 of the current. I got the idea from Maine Sail and it made a lot of sense to me.

Bob

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

I know it will output it all on one terminal but it is much easier on the output components if they each are only conducting 1/3 of the current. I got the idea from Maine Sail and it made a lot of sense to me. Bob

Interesting.

 

[Alansails]

How difficult is the install?
Do the instructions come with it or when you replace the Charles does it hook up the same?

 

[rpwillia]

That's the beauty of it

Since the charger has a terminal block, you undo the old leads (120vac input and 12vdc output) and connect them up to the new one. You will need to run a separate ground wire to the bus bar behind your power panel and the included wire with the RF-11 (?) and terminal lug (that I understand is a thermistor).

BTW, my ProNautic looks nearly identical to the Sterling in the picture.

On my 310 I needed to splice in 5' of wire. There are only two wires inside the wire and I just happened to have some similar wire on the boat. Pays to be a pack rat sometimes.

Ran the temperature sense wire on the port side under the rear bunk. Note there is an extra 1" tube outboard of the tube where the wires from the battery charger are run that goes under the head. Pretty simple.

 

[Alansails]

What would the reason be to replace my charger now if it still works OK?
and with my gel batteries would this be better done in the winter on the hard, before it gets REALLY freakin cold or wait until spring? Or new batteries and do it all at once?

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

What would the reason be to replace my charger now if it still works OK? and with my gel batteries would this be better done in the winter on the hard, before it gets REALLY freakin cold or wait until spring? Or new batteries and do it all at once?

The old charger can fry the batteries. It did that to one of mine. But if you system works at the moment than I would sail now and switch in the fall. I always liked to do projects in the fall because when they took longer than I thought, no big deal.

Did you read Maine Sails article on installing the charger?

I ran my case ground to the engine, not the grounding buss behind the electric panel.

 

[KZW]

"I ran my case ground to the engine, not the grounding buss behind the electric panel."

Was this for convenience or for some electrical reason?

I just checked the boat this evening. One of the two 4D wet batteries is fried. Four of the cells were devoid of water. I check the water on the first of the month every month. Hard to believe it went bad so quickly.

It is my understanding that if one battery is changed, they all should be changed. Might as well get a good charger at the same time.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

"I ran my case ground to the engine, not the grounding buss behind the electric panel." Was this for convenience or for some electrical reason? I just checked the boat this evening. One of the two 4D wet batteries is fried. Four of the cells were devoid of water. I check the water on the first of the month every month. Hard to believe it went bad so quickly. It is my understanding that if one battery is changed, they all should be changed. Might as well get a good charger at the same time.

Yup. That's what happened to me.

On the case ground, why go past the engine to ground to a buss that grounds to the engine?

Also one of MS advice on grounds was to eliminate the multiple grounds on one bolt at the engine. So I installed a grounding bus there and grounded to that.

 

[KZW]

Yup. That's what happened to me.

I consider myself to be in august company!

 

[2 OLD PIRATES]

Now I'm looking at replacing my Charles Charger. I found this model here in Canada. Does anyone happen to know this Make and would it charge 4 Trojans 105's in a parallel setup.

NOCO Genius G4 40A or

NOCO Genius G4 4.4A

CHEERS
2 OLD PIRATES

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Now I'm looking at replacing my Charles Charger. I found this model here in Canada. Does anyone happen to know this Make and would it charge 4 Trojans 105's in a parallel setup.

NOCO Genius G4 40A or

NOCO Genius G4 4.4A

CHEERS
2 OLD PIRATES

There is no info there to review to see if it would work. But really, why not just stick with the Sterling/ProMariner chargers that Maine Sail has already recommended? A 50-60 AMP would be perfect for your use.

 

[rpwillia]

That was what I thought of ...

"I ran my case ground to the engine, not the grounding buss behind the electric panel."

Was this for convenience or for some electrical reason?...

 

[rpwillia]

Maine Sail said it ...

Now I'm looking at replacing my Charles Charger. I found this model here in Canada. Does anyone happen to know this Make and would it charge 4 Trojans 105's in a parallel setup.

NOCO Genius G4 40A or

NOCO Genius G4 4.4A

CHEERS
2 OLD PIRATES

MS said the Genius was a case of good marketing and not much else. FWIW I have a friend with a Pearson 30 who got a Genius charger and is happy with it. I spent about 2x based on Maine's recommendation and am happy with the choice.

One other thing that sold me was the the ProMariner had terminals so it was a simple swap out, while the Genius has pre-wired cables. I just wanted a simple swap out.