Charger won’t turn off

[twig]

I just replaced my 2 4D batteries with 4 6 volt for a total of 460 amp hr. I wired two pairs of 6 volt in series then the 2 banks together in parallel. My charger is a Xantrex true charger 2 20 amp. The old batteries had a positive lead for each battery to the charger. I put both those leads on one parallel post. Everything works fine but the charger will not go to standby mode. I draw about 5 amp/ hr with fridge etc. I hooked all this up yesterday around 3 pm and charger was still going at midnight when my C.O. detector went off. Am I expecting too much for this charger? Is it normal to keep running trying to keep up with demand and keep batteries topped off?. Thanks for any input. 1999 Morgan 381

[jstevens]

Xantrex provides a formula for charging time as

Charging time = CAP x DOD/(CC x 80%). If your batteries were 100% discharged (DOD) with 460 AH (CAP) and 20A charging current (CC) the formual yields 29 hours charge time.

Do you have the manual? My copy is here; http://www.svsarah.com/Sarah/Manuals...%20Charger.pdf

John

[twig]

These are brand new batteries

[johnserr]

Do you have the charger correctly connected to the the 6 volt batteries ? . Like he said. That is a lot to charge. HE said 29 hrs !

[hellosailor]

It is unlikely that simply changing batteries would be coincidental with the charger failing, but that's possible. Was there a separate voltage sense lead, by any chance, that wasn't reconnected?

If the connections all look right, the next step would be to use a multimeter to check the charger's output and the battery condition. After making sure the charger is set up to deliver all 40 amps to the one new bank, if that's how it has been wired. (If it was set to two x 20, it is possible you're just using one output and capped at just 20A from it.)

[john61ct]

60A is the bare minimum current I would use for that size a FLA bank, 80-100 would be better, even higher if AGM.

Measure volts and amps output over time.

A 12-18 hour cycle would be expected if very depleted.

Or just hooked up wrong.

[Cadence]

You said just. Batteries that come off the shelf are often not charged to capacity. You may not have a problem depending on the just time frame.

I hope you checked the dates such that you did not buy some that had been on the shelf forever.

[jstevens]

twig,
Has the charger finally gone into float mode? I assumed from your original post that you stopped charging after 9 hours. Have you resumed charging? Per Cadence, new batteries can be significantly discharged unless they were topped off at the time of purchase.
Using that same Xantrex formula. if the charger was working properly, the batteries could have been nearing a full charge after 9 hours if they were 70% charged at the time of installation.
If you resumed charging for several hours without success then you probably do have a problem with the charger, one or more of the battery cells, or your wiring.

John

[twig]

Thanks for info. I have charger off but I’ll turn it back on and let it run thru night. If still on in morning I’m calling xantrex tomorrow. I’m thinking I need a larger charger

[smac999]

20 a charger is probably barley keeping up with fridge and lights if you are on the boat. Leaving nothing to charge with. It might take days to charge if only say 5a of the 20a is going to the battery. 20a is for a boat sitting at dock with nothing on and nobody on it.

You should be in the 60a+ range.

A battery monitor like a victron 702 would tell you how many of those 20a are actually getting to the battery.

[MarkSF]

The problem with the TrueCharge 2 is that it's kind of dumb. Any load at all on the batteries has it constantly going in and out of float. Sometimes starting a whole new charge cycle. Mine would do it when you turned on a light.

It was a happy day when it finally gave up the ghost. I have the Sterling now, which has a smarter "shore power mode" so that it will continue a charge cycle, and stay in float, despite loads being turned on and off (as long as they don't exceed available current).

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by twig

Thanks for info. I have charger off but I’ll turn it back on and let it run thru night. If still on in morning I’m calling xantrex tomorrow. I’m thinking I need a larger charger

If you do, don't buy another Xantrex.

This is the one :

Marine Battery Charger - Power Factor Controled (PFC) ProCharge Ultra- PCU

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

It is unlikely that simply changing batteries would be coincidental with the charger failing, but that's possible. Was there a separate voltage sense lead, by any chance, that wasn't reconnected?

If the connections all look right, the next step would be to use a multimeter to check the charger's output and the battery condition. After making sure the charger is set up to deliver all 40 amps to the one new bank, if that's how it has been wired. (If it was set to two x 20, it is possible you're just using one output and capped at just 20A from it.)

A Truecharge 2 20A has 20A altogether. Whether one bank, two, or three are connected. The total is 20A.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

If you do, don't buy another Xantrex.

This is the one :

Marine Battery Charger - Power Factor Controled (PFC) ProCharge Ultra- PCU

Promariner pronautic p is very similar, shared design.

Excellent both.

Xantrex gear is fine but their CS really svcks

[twig]

That is what I was afraid of that it is to small. With my battery bank of 430 amp hr what would be recommended if I want to have an inverted charger combo