Okay I have read Maine Sail's 101 on Installing a Battery Charger which includes information regarding choosing a charger. However, information contained in that article and information that I have received from a battery charger manufacturer conflicts somewhat . . . I think.
Background: As part of the purchase agreement the new boat dealer replaced a stock single 12v 110AH house bank with 4 x 6v golf batteries 232AH each. Thus, totaling 464AH (or there abouts) for my house bank. The stock charger is a dual output 20A (ie 10A/10A) charger. So IMHO the starter battery is all set. The house bank maybe not so.
Conflict: Maine indicates the general rule of thumb in selecting a charger is 10% of the banks capacity give or take plus a few caveats thrown in. However, the charger manufacturer is stating 25% of bank capacity and is recommending a 10/10/100AH charger. (to the tune of $1,500 by the way - ugh). His position is that the smaller charger would run steady for 24 hours or more to bring the house bank back from 50% state of charge. He says they recommend 6 - 8 hrs maximum to recover the battery bank. He also stated "your batteries would not want to be in a charge state for prolonged periods." I may agree with his first statement as charger inefficiencies and additional loading of the batteries such as refrigerator, CO monitoring and other stuff along with the charger switching to the absorption stage will add many hours to getting the house bank back 100% capacity. If the boat is alongside for a couple of days and empty this is not a problem. But what about the statement that the batteries would not be happy charging for this length of period. That kind of conflicts with Maine's position that deep cycle batteries like to be charged slowly.
To cut to the chase: would any harm come to the batteries if I continue to use the 10A charger? Is there any risk to the charger if it runs for extended periods of time like in the order of 24 - 36 hours straight?
Background: As part of the purchase agreement the new boat dealer replaced a stock single 12v 110AH house bank with 4 x 6v golf batteries 232AH each. Thus, totaling 464AH (or there abouts) for my house bank. The stock charger is a dual output 20A (ie 10A/10A) charger. So IMHO the starter battery is all set. The house bank maybe not so.
Conflict: Maine indicates the general rule of thumb in selecting a charger is 10% of the banks capacity give or take plus a few caveats thrown in. However, the charger manufacturer is stating 25% of bank capacity and is recommending a 10/10/100AH charger. (to the tune of $1,500 by the way - ugh). His position is that the smaller charger would run steady for 24 hours or more to bring the house bank back from 50% state of charge. He says they recommend 6 - 8 hrs maximum to recover the battery bank. He also stated "your batteries would not want to be in a charge state for prolonged periods." I may agree with his first statement as charger inefficiencies and additional loading of the batteries such as refrigerator, CO monitoring and other stuff along with the charger switching to the absorption stage will add many hours to getting the house bank back 100% capacity. If the boat is alongside for a couple of days and empty this is not a problem. But what about the statement that the batteries would not be happy charging for this length of period. That kind of conflicts with Maine's position that deep cycle batteries like to be charged slowly.
To cut to the chase: would any harm come to the batteries if I continue to use the 10A charger? Is there any risk to the charger if it runs for extended periods of time like in the order of 24 - 36 hours straight?
