I have a Hunter 37.5 ( 1991) My 20 amp hard wired charger quit. I have 3 deep cycle flooded batteries ( 2 and 1) on a 2 position switch. I run the refrig all the time which is about a 4/5 amp draw. I'm a little bewildered at all the choices in chargers , but seem to be narrowing in on a 15 amp Charles or Guest in the $200.00 range. I'm concluding that the big difference between 200 bucks and 500 bucks is charging time which isn't really a problem to me. Any thoughts out there....
- Status
Charger considerations
I'll start with a shout-out on manufacturers. I won't waste my money on any product from Guest. I've had their fans and a charger onboard (from the p.o.) and they failed miserably. It's just MY personal experience so all you Guest devotees don't get all excited
I don't have any experience with Charles. I have a Xantrax Trucharge 40 and it works great but the cooling fan is noisy as hell. You might consider the Trucharge 20 as a possibility. All other things being equal, charge time is a function of the ratio of charger output/battery capacity. A 10 amp charger will charge my 500 amp/hr. house bank just as well as a 100 amp charger, it'll just take longer and within reason it isn't injurious to the batteries. Once the battery charging reaches float stage it doesn't care whether the charger is capable of 10 amps or a gazillion because at a maintained float voltage little current is going to flow. Even if the battery is completely discharged, a mega capacity charger may not stay at a high current for long because current will be a function of voltage which is (or better be) tightly controlled by the charger's programs. Which brings me to my final point... What you should look for at a certain price point (besides capacity and build quality) are features. Must haves are three stage charging (bulk, acceptance, float), equalization mode and battery type capabilities (flooded, gel, AGM.) Most of the better chargers that you're looking at probably have all this but check and be sure.
I'll start with a shout-out on manufacturers. I won't waste my money on any product from Guest. I've had their fans and a charger onboard (from the p.o.) and they failed miserably. It's just MY personal experience so all you Guest devotees don't get all excited
I don't have any experience with Charles. I have a Xantrax Trucharge 40 and it works great but the cooling fan is noisy as hell. You might consider the Trucharge 20 as a possibility. All other things being equal, charge time is a function of the ratio of charger output/battery capacity. A 10 amp charger will charge my 500 amp/hr. house bank just as well as a 100 amp charger, it'll just take longer and within reason it isn't injurious to the batteries. Once the battery charging reaches float stage it doesn't care whether the charger is capable of 10 amps or a gazillion because at a maintained float voltage little current is going to flow. Even if the battery is completely discharged, a mega capacity charger may not stay at a high current for long because current will be a function of voltage which is (or better be) tightly controlled by the charger's programs. Which brings me to my final point... What you should look for at a certain price point (besides capacity and build quality) are features. Must haves are three stage charging (bulk, acceptance, float), equalization mode and battery type capabilities (flooded, gel, AGM.) Most of the better chargers that you're looking at probably have all this but check and be sure.- Status