Do I have to scrap this battery charger?

[Roger Long]

My Schumacher SS-210A or SE=210A (Manual is for both, not sure which.) isn’t one of the Ship N Shore ones you’ve been warning people about. It checked out as having no back leakage when off. It’s a dual 10 Amp charger and so now a single 20 Amp as I have it hooked up to my two battery bank. It has temperature compensation at the charger which is on the opposite side of the engine room from the batteries.

I picked up my new Deca Sea Mate AGM’s and had them first put them on the store’s charger so I could synchronize my Victron monitor with them at 100% SOC to start. When I made the final hook up, the Victon read 12.56 volts which seemed a bit low since I would have expected some surface charge. When I came back in the morning, it read 12.60 volts.

I plugged into AC today and turned on the charger. After doing it’s diagnostics, it turned on the LED indicating bulk charge and the Victron read 14.8 volts. That’s a bit high but it quickly started dropping back to 13.2 – 13.4.

Previous behavior with my old batteries near full charge has been to go quickly through its three stages to float over a period of only a couple minutes.

I looked up about 5 minutes later and was surprised to see 15.43 volts. The charger LED’s indicated it was on stage 2. The voltage went down a couple minutes later to mid 14’s and I figured it was doing some final diagnostic before switching to float.

A few minutes later it was back up to 15.46. After about 5 minutes of watching it wandering around close to that number and remaining in stage 2, I decided it was time to pull the plug and come home to write this.

As soon as I turned off the charger, the Victron went to 13.36. I turned on about 3.5 amps of lights to bleed off any surface charge and it dropped quickly and steadily to 12.66 over just a couple minutes. The Victron indicated 99.99% SOC.

I turned everything off and voltage came back up to 12.76 about 5 minutes later and 12.81 about 5 minutes after that.

Time to rip this thing out before I fry my expensive new AGM’s?

 

[Maine Sail]

My Schumacher SS-210A or SE=210A (Manual is for both, not sure which.) isn’t one of the Ship N Shore ones you’ve been warning people about. It checked out as having no back leakage when off. It’s a dual 10 Amp charger and so now a single 20 Amp as I have it hooked up to my two battery bank. It has temperature compensation at the charger which is on the opposite side of the engine room from the batteries.

I picked up my new Deca Sea Mate AGM’s and had them first put them on the store’s charger so I could synchronize my Victron monitor with them at 100% SOC to start. When I made the final hook up, the Victon read 12.56 volts which seemed a bit low since I would have expected some surface charge. When I came back in the morning, it read 12.60 volts.

I plugged into AC today and turned on the charger. After doing it’s diagnostics, it turned on the LED indicating bulk charge and the Victron read 14.8 volts. That’s a bit high but it quickly started dropping back to 13.2 – 13.4.

Previous behavior with my old batteries near full charge has been to go quickly through its three stages to float over a period of only a couple minutes.

I looked up about 5 minutes later and was surprised to see 15.43 volts. The charger LED’s indicated it was on stage 2. The voltage went down a couple minutes later to mid 14’s and I figured it was doing some final diagnostic before switching to float.

A few minutes later it was back up to 15.46. After about 5 minutes of watching it wandering around close to that number and remaining in stage 2, I decided it was time to pull the plug and come home to write this.

As soon as I turned off the charger, the Victron went to 13.36. I turned on about 3.5 amps of lights to bleed off any surface charge and it dropped quickly and steadily to 12.66 over just a couple minutes. The Victron indicated 99.99% SOC.

I turned everything off and voltage came back up to 12.76 about 5 minutes later and 12.81 about 5 minutes after that.

Time to rip this thing out before I fry my expensive new AGM’s?

Roger,

I suspect you know the answer. Deka's can't be equalized and those 15+ volt readings are equalizing voltages or beyond. You can to irreparable damage to GEL or AGM batteries by charging at a voltage that is to high.

I was unaware that the older Ship-n-Shore chargers did that but I guess we now know that even the old ones are a poor choice..

 

[Roger Long]

I was unaware that the older Ship-n-Shore chargers did that but I guess we now know that even the old ones are a poor choice..

Damn. I just got the whole electrical system buttoned up. I bought that charger right after I got the boat in 2005. I ran it a lot in the marina slip the first three years but my batteries still gave me good life. However, it always seemed to qo quickly into float mode. When I plugged into shore power last fall to put a top up charge and this spring when we were going to test my old batteries, it went almost immediately into float mode.

Why, when feeding two brand new batteries that had just been fully charged, did it go so high and not go to float? There is no equalization mode on this charger. Is there any reason to suspect a problem with the new batteries?

What would you suggest for a replacement? I'm thinking that perhaps my money might better be spent for some solar considering my new cruising and life style. I just don't have any good place to put the panels.

Say, I never would have known this was happening without the battery monitor. It's unlikely I would have stood there for 20 minutes watching with my hand on the spring loaded battery selector switch for the old analogue voltmeter. That Victron may have just saved me half a boat buck and a lot of hassle way downeast.

 

[Roger Long]

I just realized that I do have to install another battery charger, and soon. I've got to run the FW pumps for quite a while to flush out the anti-freeze and my fuel polishing system. I need someway to get the batteries back to full charge.

Xantrex TrueCharge2 with AGM setting? $300 ouch!

 

[Maine Sail]

I just realized that I do have to install another battery charger, and soon. I've got to run the FW pumps for quite a while to flush out the anti-freeze and my fuel polishing system. I need someway to get the batteries back to full charge.

Xantrex TrueCharge2 with AGM setting? $300 ouch!

Roger just grab one of the small Guest or even a single bank Promariner that has an AGM setting you don't need big amps for your use nor a dual bank charger. I use a 6 AMP portable Guest and the thing is bullet proof. They also make it in a 10A version but they are a little pricey for a portable and I guess you're paying for the ruggedness.

Here's a simple fixed mount Guest:
http://www.manventureoutpost.com/products/Guest-12-Amp-Battery-Charger-(16102).html


The TrueCharge 20 from Defender is less money @ $240.00:
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|328|985|316473&id=1723742

 

[Roger Long]

Roger just grab one of the small Guest or even a single bank Promariner that has an AGM setting....

Thanks.

Getting that damn thing out was one of the most physically brutal and thankless things I've ever done on the boat. Does it have any utility for someone who is running wet cells or do I owe it to the world to landfill the &^%#%*()) thing?

I'd still like to know your theory as to why it always seemed to work properly with my old batteries, going fairly quickly through it's three stages to float. Mine is that the Ship N' Shore damaged the batteries long ago and I didn't find out because of my light usage. Broad Ray Batteries said my old ones were bad because their charger went almost directly to float mode even though their tester said they weren't fully charged.