Looking to purchase a Stat Power True Charge battery charger. It's a 10 amp three stage charger. I have gel batteries. Without going into all the specifications does anyone have any suggestions / comments about this charger. How about any other recommendations? Thanks. Joe M
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Doug
I installed same
I installed the same charger last season. While it does the job, I should have gone for a higher amp rated charger. Charging two bateries with this unit takes too long.
I installed the same charger last season. While it does the job, I should have gone for a higher amp rated charger. Charging two bateries with this unit takes too long.
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Derek Rowell
They are great chargers, but,,,
I agree with Doug, spend the extra money and get a larger capacity. What size are your gel cells? I have a TrueCharge 40 for two 4D's and leave it on continuously without fear of overcharging. Derek
I agree with Doug, spend the extra money and get a larger capacity. What size are your gel cells? I have a TrueCharge 40 for two 4D's and leave it on continuously without fear of overcharging. Derek
I have a 40+
Joe: I also have a Statpower 40+. I am charging 4 batteries in 3 banks. Runs very quiet and is good and compact. I purchase this unit based on expert advise from a fellow that works on lots of boats (power and sail). Lots of good features and can handle all batteries types. You can still NOT have different battery types on a single charger.
Joe: I also have a Statpower 40+. I am charging 4 batteries in 3 banks. Runs very quiet and is good and compact. I purchase this unit based on expert advise from a fellow that works on lots of boats (power and sail). Lots of good features and can handle all batteries types. You can still NOT have different battery types on a single charger.
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Guest
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Joe Mullee
Battery Charger - Part 2
I will return the charger (Stat Power True Charge - 10 Amp)and save a little more money to buy another. Doug mentioned that it takes too long to charge the batteries with the one I have now. How long should it take? I currently have two batteries. One has 205ah and the other 155ah. I use the boat once a week, sometimes more. I overnight about every other time out. In between sails she sits for an average of five or six days. I still don't understand amps and volts. I've read different info about them but it's not sinking in. If anyone can give me a quick and simple explanation (if that's possible) I'd appreciate it. Thanks. Joe
I will return the charger (Stat Power True Charge - 10 Amp)and save a little more money to buy another. Doug mentioned that it takes too long to charge the batteries with the one I have now. How long should it take? I currently have two batteries. One has 205ah and the other 155ah. I use the boat once a week, sometimes more. I overnight about every other time out. In between sails she sits for an average of five or six days. I still don't understand amps and volts. I've read different info about them but it's not sinking in. If anyone can give me a quick and simple explanation (if that's possible) I'd appreciate it. Thanks. Joe
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colin
battery charger
Still confused here too...what does the chrger do (or should I say NOT do)which is fitted by Hunter...when is the charger most important...when on engine or shore power ...presumably different amp/hour batts ok as long sa same type??When is fitting eg a Link 2000 necessary??
Still confused here too...what does the chrger do (or should I say NOT do)which is fitted by Hunter...when is the charger most important...when on engine or shore power ...presumably different amp/hour batts ok as long sa same type??When is fitting eg a Link 2000 necessary??
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Daniel Jonas
Chargers
The charger recharges your batteries when you are on shore power. It has no function while away from the dock (unless you have a genset to supply shore power equivalent voltage to it). The advantage of a larger capacity charger is that it will return the power used from the battery quicker than a smaller capacity charger. If you park the boat for days at a time between sails, it may be fine to use the smaller capacity charger. If you have been out a few days, make a short stop somewhere that allows you to plug in, getting all the amp hours you can back in the battery is a good thing. Many have replaced the Hunter supplied chargers with better multistage chargers. You can read information on multistage chargers in many places on the internet. Suffice it to say, they are better for your batteries. Colin, if your 356 comes with a Freedom Marine Inverter/Charger, then this is taken care of for you. You do not NEED a Link 2000, unless you want to really know what is going on with your batteries. Many, in fact most, do just fine without it. I like having mine. Batteries should all be the same type in your system. They do not need to be the same capacity. Does not hurt if the age is similar also. The DC electrical system supplies power to the boat for most components. It does not supply power to the charger, microwave, water heater, or ac outlets. Pretty much everything else is DC either 12 or 24 volts. Each DC electrical component pulls the power necessary to run, expressed in amp-hours. Amp-hours is the amount of energy that the component would use if it ran for an hour. A refrigerator might use 4-8 amp hours. So if it runs for 15 minutes, you will use 1-2 amp hours out of your battery. A numer of cabin lights turned on can use as much as 10 amp hours or more. So leaving them on all night could really go through some battery capacity. If you have a 200 amp-hour battery capacity, you want to not use more than 50% of that, or 100 amp hours, prior to recharging. The battery will likely take a fairly fast charge (such as off the alternator) to 85% capacity and the final 15% will take a lot longer. So, when sailing multiple days, you really have that 35% of your battery capacity as the real usable amount. Now you can see why so many of us add more capacity. If your alternator is 55 amps, then it can return something less than 55 amps for each hour it runs. Actually it may be quite a bit less, I would count on about 35 amps out of a 55 amp alternator. Same issue with chargers (on shore power remember). A 10 amp charger is putting back about 10 amp-hrs per hour. Chargers tend to work near rated capacity. Hope this helps and was not to complicated. Dan Jonas
The charger recharges your batteries when you are on shore power. It has no function while away from the dock (unless you have a genset to supply shore power equivalent voltage to it). The advantage of a larger capacity charger is that it will return the power used from the battery quicker than a smaller capacity charger. If you park the boat for days at a time between sails, it may be fine to use the smaller capacity charger. If you have been out a few days, make a short stop somewhere that allows you to plug in, getting all the amp hours you can back in the battery is a good thing. Many have replaced the Hunter supplied chargers with better multistage chargers. You can read information on multistage chargers in many places on the internet. Suffice it to say, they are better for your batteries. Colin, if your 356 comes with a Freedom Marine Inverter/Charger, then this is taken care of for you. You do not NEED a Link 2000, unless you want to really know what is going on with your batteries. Many, in fact most, do just fine without it. I like having mine. Batteries should all be the same type in your system. They do not need to be the same capacity. Does not hurt if the age is similar also. The DC electrical system supplies power to the boat for most components. It does not supply power to the charger, microwave, water heater, or ac outlets. Pretty much everything else is DC either 12 or 24 volts. Each DC electrical component pulls the power necessary to run, expressed in amp-hours. Amp-hours is the amount of energy that the component would use if it ran for an hour. A refrigerator might use 4-8 amp hours. So if it runs for 15 minutes, you will use 1-2 amp hours out of your battery. A numer of cabin lights turned on can use as much as 10 amp hours or more. So leaving them on all night could really go through some battery capacity. If you have a 200 amp-hour battery capacity, you want to not use more than 50% of that, or 100 amp hours, prior to recharging. The battery will likely take a fairly fast charge (such as off the alternator) to 85% capacity and the final 15% will take a lot longer. So, when sailing multiple days, you really have that 35% of your battery capacity as the real usable amount. Now you can see why so many of us add more capacity. If your alternator is 55 amps, then it can return something less than 55 amps for each hour it runs. Actually it may be quite a bit less, I would count on about 35 amps out of a 55 amp alternator. Same issue with chargers (on shore power remember). A 10 amp charger is putting back about 10 amp-hrs per hour. Chargers tend to work near rated capacity. Hope this helps and was not to complicated. Dan Jonas
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Joe Mullee
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Colin
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