Newbie needing replacement charger advice

[boatbod]

You can do the 2-3hr/day thing, but you best be doing a full charge every couple weeks or you will kiss those AGM's goodbye rather prematurely.

[HopCar]

Nobody has mentioned Newmar chargers. I think that is because they don't market to recreational boaters. Their main market is commercial vessels.
Newmar chargers are just plain reliable. Their Phase Three chargers have a sophisticated control system. Their customer service is excellent. They aren't cheap but they are a good value. I have a Newmar PT-40 on my own boat.
Newmar Phase Three Battery Chargers

[sainted]

I recommend 40 amp version of the Blue Sea P12 charger. It's more expensive than the Pro Mariner, but my experience with the Pro Mariner products has not been positive. The P12 is very configurable and has a great LCD screen that tells you exactly what is going on with the charger.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by sainted

.......................... but my experience with the Pro Mariner products has not been positive. ......................

Would this be with the old or new ProMariner material?

The new Promariner chargers, identical to the Sterlings, unfortunately share the same name as old Promariner chargers which were utter rubbish and dangerous. Completely different equipment and the new ones, made by a different company, are just fine.

[motion30]

I bought an iota battery charger from Arizona wind and solar.
6 years zero problems. Great price for a solid product. Buy one with the smart charger feature

[Dave22q]

Went through that a year ago. Replaced 20a charger with 40 a charger that does not limit each channel. My year old ProSport 40 will feed each of 3 banks as needed up to the full 40 a. It makes a big difference as one bank is my starter battery and if one of my house batteries fail I will have at least one fully charged.

[Souzag818]

I second the Mastervolt reply. Found them to be reliable and stand behind their product.

[mikecambrai]

You have not mentioned the AH of your batteries, but as a rule of thumb between 10 and 20% charging rate would be OK. Each battery manufacturer however, has his own figures so I would go back to the manufacturer and ask for his recommendations.
The charger must be of the smart type with at least 4 stages and be capable of charging the type of batteries that you have. This means having a switch on the charger which enables you to alter the charging rate for your particular type of battery. Mixing battery types in a bank is likely to lead to shortened life of one of the types of batteries within the bank as there are differing charging patterns for different types and different manufacturers.
When charging rates are higher than 10% of the AH it is wise to have temperature sensors on the battery.
Avoid deep cycling if possible (>50% discharge) and if using wet cells, monitor the levels in each cell. It is also wise every month to check the SG in each cell to see if equalising is necessary. I don't think that you can equalise gel batteries.
Finally when leaving the boat always go 'dead ship' and turn off the battery main switch. Virtually all the batteries that I have lost over the past 50 or so years have been because something was left on somewhere or I had forgotten to fill up the cells!

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by Vasco

What is your daily usage? AGM's need to be topped right up. Can two hours a day on the Honda do that? I found it very difficult to get the last 15% into my 500 ah bank (flooded) when using the EU2000i and a 100 amp charger so I ended up using the band from 50% to 85%. I had AGM's and they only lasted two years because of this. My usage was under 100ah per day.

Vasco, it's diffucult to calculate my daily useage. Reason being the every few days I anchor in a different place. And it isn't uncommon for me to lately be pulling up 250' of 5/16 chain & 35lb Manson out of 50+ feet of water. Naturally, when the windlass (900W) is operating so is the generator.
Depending on daily weather my Engel 38L freezer (-15 C.) is pulling about 40ah / 24h period.
Sometimes my TV (5ah) runs 5 hours, sometimes 12.
Always, always, I run the generator until the charger has cut back to float = 2.2 amps, but of course the float rate is greater when freezer &/or tv are running.
Yes, sometimes, maybe often, I'm charging for nearly 3 hours because as you know, "bulk" takes a long time.
Bottom line is, I never partially charge the batteries and I always recharge when SOC gets down around 70% (with a load drawing). I keep 'em topped right up.
I do have a 135W solar panel which is often a bit useless. Where I'm presently located, Sydney Aust, the latitude is 34 deg south which means that clouds are common and the sun is never overhead. Further south in Tasmania I'm expecting increased cloud especially in winter & the sun angle will be greater also.
Unfortunately, no more room for solar.

[boatbod]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Nobody has mentioned Newmar chargers. I think that is because they don't market to recreational boaters. Their main market is commercial vessels.
Newmar chargers are just plain reliable. Their Phase Three chargers have a sophisticated control system. Their customer service is excellent. They aren't cheap but they are a good value. I have a Newmar PT-40 on my own boat.
Newmar Phase Three Battery Chargers

From a reliability standpoint Newmar have been good for me too, but generally they are more expensive than an equivalent capacity Mastervolt.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by daviddiscenza

Hello,
The 13 y/o Xantrex TrueCharge 40 amp battery charger on my boat (33' Newport, 31 y/o) needs to be replaced. I have 3 flooded-type marine batteries on board. I need to replace the charger, but I'm not sure that I need a charger that puts out 40 amps. I'd appreciate any advice on how to figure out what I should buy as a replacement.

Thanks for all replies.

1. Why does the current charger require replacement? Is it suddenly not working? How so. Are we sure it's a charger problem? How so?

2. We need to know what your batteries are. Lets assume 1 x 12Vdc starting battery, and a 2 x 12Vdc grp 27 FLA house bank (~200 A-hr total, 100 A-hr usable).

3. Lets assume you have a minimum 35 A alternator.

4. Lets assume you have no generator and your charger runs on shore power.

Based on these assumptions, the maximum acceptance rate of your house bank is about 50A. (This is when your battery is near dead.)

When your bank is at ~ 75% SOC (state of charge) the charger will change from constant current (Bulk) mode to constant voltage (Absorption mode). The amount of current your batteries will accept will fall off significantly, until finally at around 95% of charge, the charger will drop into float mode.

So if you go with a 40 A charger, your charge time (from 50% SOC) will be about 10 hours.

If you have a 20 A charger, your charge time will likely increase to about 15 hours.

If this is no big deal to you, the 20 A charger will work fine for your needs.

I use 20A smart charger on a 250 A-hr bank. No problems. When ever I plug into shore power, it is normally at least 18 hours. (e.g. pull into a marina at 4 pm, leave around 10 am the next day.)

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Would this be with the old or new ProMariner material?

The new Promariner chargers, identical to the Sterlings, unfortunately share the same name as old Promariner chargers which were utter rubbish and dangerous. Completely different equipment and the new ones, made by a different company, are just fine.

Dunno. Our ProMariner charger is 14 years old, and I think there was a Sterling version of it too. Anyway, the PM inverter we just installed has a Sterling clone.

Old ones might not matter to OP anyway.

-Chris

[GordMay]

That the Sterling ProCharge Ultra resembles the ProMariner ProNautic is no accident - they were co-engineered and are jointly manufactured - the labels are the only difference.
Until recently, the ProMariner chargers were sold in the North American market and the Sterling ones were sold in Europe and the UK.
Sterling has begun marketing in the U.S.

[kellymj]

Check Iota chargers and second a recommendation of Arizona Wind and Power.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by kellymj

Check Iota chargers and second a recommendation of Arizona Wind and Power.

Good basic non-marine chargers suitable for flooded batteries only.