Which battery charger

G

geek_guy

.
Dec 29, 2012
148
Hunter 37 Jacksonville
My old battery charger/inverter has given out. Looking for advice on which brand and size to look at.

The boat sits all week at the slip with electric from the dock. I had someone tell me that I HAD to have at least a 40 amp. I have 6 batts. But seems a smaller one just would take a few days to charge, which would be OK. I have a little 6 amp now that does keep them charged.

But would appreciate opinions on brands and sizes of chargers.

Looked at:

Professional Mariner: 20 amp list price: $329

Xantrex truecharge : 20 amp list price: $329

Charles Marine : 20 amp list price: $289

Would like to be in the 2-300 range, unless I'm being short sighted.....
 
Jeff

Jeff

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Sep 29, 2008
195
Hunter 33.5 Carlyle Lake in Central Illinois
My boat sits on the charger like yours all week. I've had the Xantrex Truecharge 20 for about 10 years. It's served me well. I have 4 group 31's split into two banks. We got a bit over 6 years from the last set of deep cycle batteries. I opted to buy the battery temp sensor and later the remote display panel for the charger.
 
Sailgunner

Sailgunner

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Jun 4, 2004
1,085
Mainship Piliot 34 Punta Gorda
Don't recomend Xantrex. Replaced two of those over the years. Charles is good and I really like Magnum, which I have now.

If you are only weekend sailing then 20 amps will work. If you are cruising then a bigger charger would be better.
 
splax

splax

.
Nov 12, 2012
694
Hunter 34 Portsmouth
I got a refurbished 30 Amp Pro Mariner, the power cable ends had been changed and I had to change them to a 110 three prong plug. It has worked well, but I haven't used it since I got the solar panel working back in May. I keep it just in case I need to charge up new batteries due to catastrophic failure of something.
 
ttac

ttac

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Aug 9, 2010
114
Hunter Passage 42 Kemah, TX
I just had a Magnum charger/inverter installed along with the remote control. We have the MS 2000 unit. It is a 100 amp charger and a 2000 watt inverter all in one. With the remote it cost us $1850. I know this is over the cost of just a charger. But you had said that you had an Invertor/charger.
Dean
 
A

artboas

.
Jun 1, 2009
1,822
Hunter 49 toronto
Magnum is amazing

ttac said:
I just had a Magnum charger/inverter installed along with the remote control. We have the MS 2000 unit. It is a 100 amp charger and a 2000 watt inverter all in one. With the remote it cost us $1850. I know this is over the cost of just a charger. But you had said that you had an Invertor/charger.
Dean
Click to expand
I had the Xantrex unit installed from the factory.
After the second one died, I switched to Magnum.
Great unit
 
Bob 04 H260

Bob 04 H260

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May 16, 2007
1,509
Boatless ! 26 Ottawa, Ontario
We have a 50 amp Sterling and have been very happy with it. I like battery temp probe.
I had an Xantrex and on our last boat and it gave trouble after one year. The original 40 Amp Promariner on our boat overheated when we installed the AGM battery bank, the Sterling has been fine. We have a 400 AHr house bank.
Bob
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

.
Feb 6, 1998
11,701
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
geek_guy said:
My old battery charger/inverter has given out. Looking for advice on which brand and size to look at.


Looked at:

Professional Mariner: 20 amp list price: $329
Click to expand
If this is the new Pronautic "P" it is a tremendous charger, one of the best chargers made in terms of actually being "smart". The Sterling ProCharge Ultra is the identical charger jointly developed between Sterling and ProMariner... When looking at a Pronautic charger be 100% sure it is the "P" version!

geek_guy said:
Xantrex truecharge : 20 amp list price: $329
Click to expand
Take the posts about Xantrex reliability seriously..

geek_guy said:
Charles Marine : 20 amp list price: $289

Would like to be in the 2-300 range, unless I'm being short sighted.....
Click to expand
This is a typical "egg timer" charger which means it is using antiquated charging methods.... I remove more of these chargers than I can count, and guess what the owners batteries last longer.


Not all chargers are created equal and there are vast differences.. Be aware that the term "Smart" is beat around like a tennis ball at Wimbledon but with many chargers is a long way from accurate...


Installing A Marine Battery Charger (LINK)
 
G

geek_guy

.
Dec 29, 2012
148
Hunter 37 Jacksonville
Wow,

Such great info. You guys are the best.

I tend to dislike things that do multiple jobs. Like a combination Battery charger and inverter. The one I'm replacing was in the boat when I purchased it.

So my preference is to have a dedicated battery charger......I like the pro unit referenced in several posts. But glad for the specifics, as I was looking at the i model, not the p. I had seen some disparaging remarks on it. Broadened that poor opinion to the whole companies offerings.

Now is there similar opinions on a 2000 watt inverter?

Thanks to all.
 
G

geek_guy

.
Dec 29, 2012
148
Hunter 37 Jacksonville
Splax,

Can you share your specs on the solar panels you are using.

What is the wattage of the panels, and the amphours of your battery back?
 
A

artboas

.
Jun 1, 2009
1,822
Hunter 49 toronto
Sorry, but disagree

geek_guy said:
Wow,

Such great info. You guys are the best.

I tend to dislike things that do multiple jobs. Like a combination Battery charger and inverter. The one I'm replacing was in the boat when I purchased it.

So my preference is to have a dedicated battery charger......I like the pro unit referenced in several posts. But glad for the specifics, as I was looking at the i model, not the p. I had seen some disparaging remarks on it. Broadened that poor opinion to the whole companies offerings.

Now is there similar opinions on a 2000 watt inverter?

Thanks to all.
Click to expand
Having a combined charger / inverter has significant benefits versus separate charger & inverter.
The internal switchover is far less complicated than trying to integrate yourself.
Plus, on a well designed charger / inverter (Magnum) the current monitoring, etcetera is invaluable.
 
splax

splax

.
Nov 12, 2012
694
Hunter 34 Portsmouth
geek_guy
I have a 100 Watt solar panel to a solar charger, then to the house bank (2 batteries in parallel, 29s). My fuel polishing system runs for a couple hours when the panel stops charging. I have the panel on my bimini frame, which works OK, but I am thinking it would be nicer to have another panel for greater capacity and shade.
I would stay away from the combined inverter/charger. Two good units for a reasonable cost vs. a more complex unit for elevated cost and if one part fails you lose both.
 
J

James10016

.
Sep 12, 2005
34
Hunter Legend '45 St Claire Shores
geek_guy,

I just replaced my old battery charger on my Hunter Legend 45 with a Pro Mariner 50 Amp unit.

The size (amp) of your charger is based upon the formula "House battery amp capacity/10 + an additional 10 Amps. So, in my case it was: 400 amp hr/10 = 40 then add +10 Amps which equals needing a 50 amp charger.

It is a 'smart charger'. You select the type of battery (wet cell, gel & etc.) and it then automatically monitors individual battery voltage and battery temperature to charge and maintain them per a pre set profile to keep them conditioned and topped off.

What I also like about it is that it will carry the load of any DC appliances being used while it is charging the batteries. Meaning that appliances like the DC refrigerator are running off the battery charger while the boat is tied up at the dock using shore power.

I got mine via e-Bay for about $275.00 (reconditioned). I have had it running since April 2014 and have had no issued with it al all.

Good luck,

James
 
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