Sterling Procharge Ultra Battery Charger Problems

[Yofy]

We bought a new Sterling Procharge Ultra battery charger, installed it and set it according to the instructions. For the first few months it seemed to charge okay and then it stopped. The charger was on but it didn't charge voltage and the indicator showed 00. The only way to get it working again was to turn it off and on again.

After going through this a couple of times (each time it was after a month or two of what seemed to be normal charging), I contacted Sterling (the company) and the battery charger was replaced under warranty.

Now the replacement battery charger is going through exactly the same behaviour. It stops charging. Charger is on but doesn't charge voltage and indicator shows 00. I "reset" the battery charger by turning it off and on and then it goes back to working again.

Does anybody have any ideas as to what the problem is?

Here is a picture of the charger indicators when it stops charging.

Manny

[Celestialsailor]

I'm sorry for your charger woes. I just bought an old stock "phase three" charger. I had looked on ebay and noticed that almost all of the new high tech "smart chargers were re manufactured. That told me something. The Phase Three is a smart charger with old school electronics. True, it is some what larger but not a problem so far.

[Pete7]

Yofy,

This is the second Sterling Pro Ultra thread I have read in 48 hrs, seems you are not alone with problems with this particular product.

I have the Sterling Digital charger which has worked perfectly for 3 years, so perhaps its a problem with that particular charger.

Here is the other thread on a different forum:

Moody Owners Information Exchange: Sterling Procharge Ultra Problems

Pete

[Yofy]

Thanks so much for that link Pete. I don't think we have any problems with our anodes, I check the zincs regularily, but I will check again. And this is a newer version so the micro chip doesn't seem to me to be the problem...

But it does seem that several boat owners are having problems with this series of chargers. I really hope I haven't bought a dud because getting my money back over here isn't going to be easy...

Manny

[AbenF]

Yofy - I know it's ancient history, but curious how it worked out for you.

- Alan

[FlyingCloud1937]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I'm sorry for your charger woes. I just bought an old stock "phase three" charger. I had looked on ebay and noticed that almost all of the new high tech "smart chargers were re manufactured. That told me something. The Phase Three is a smart charger with old school electronics. True, it is some what larger but not a problem so far.

You just bought one of my preferred chargers, from one of my preferred manufactures.

I have recommended that charger to all of my commercial clients for the past 9 years.

Todate I haven't seen one failure in over 100.

lucky you.

Lloyd

[Yofy]

We had it replaced once. The second charger has the same problem. What we've done is every time the problem ocurrs we switch the charger off and on to reset. That seems to work well for now... although it shouldn't be behaving this way.

We only have the problem if the charger is on for a long period - several weeks or up to a couple of months. If we go to sea regularily, and the charger is off, then when we come back to shore it works fine. The problem comes up when we are dockside for a stretch.

So if we have to leave Yofy at the dock, unattended its a worry.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I'm sorry for your charger woes. I just bought an old stock "phase three" charger. I had looked on ebay and noticed that almost all of the new high tech "smart chargers were re manufactured. That told me something. The Phase Three is a smart charger with old school electronics. True, it is some what larger but not a problem so far.

That's a Newmar charger. My boat came with two of those as part of the original build. The large one (24v) died in 2011, after 10 years of faithful service. I still have it -- someone said it just needs a capacitor or something and it will work for another 10 years. The small one (12v) is still plugging away. They have a very good reputation -- as you said, solid, old school.

The electronics wizard of Cowes advised me that the Sterling chargers are very reliable, more reliable than the much more expensive offerings from Victron and others. Despite their budget price and appearance. I didn't believe him and bought a Victron Multiplus. Those who have read my other threads know that I have had some reason to regret that decision.

[FlyingCloud1937]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That's a Newmar charger. My boat came with two of those as part of the original build. The large one (24v) died in 2011, after 10 years of faithful service. I still have it -- someone said it just needs a capacitor or something and it will work for another 10 years. The small one (12v) is still plugging away. They have a very good reputation -- as you said, solid, old school.

The electronics wizard of Cowes advised me that the Sterling chargers are very reliable, more reliable than the much more expensive offerings from Victron and others. Despite their budget price and appearance. I didn't believe him and bought a Victron Multiplus. Those who have read my other threads know that I have had some reason to regret that decision.

The big diff Is,

NewMar is a commercial product designed to be repaired and serviced, not just replaced.

That's why I stand behind Newmar.

Lloyd

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937

The big diff Is,

NewMar is a commercial product designed to be repaired and serviced, not just replaced.

That's why I stand behind Newmar.

Lloyd

I guess I need to get mine repaired for the next time the Victron carps out.

[Saltyhog]

I've been looking at both the Newmar (80 Amp) and the Sterling (60 amp) to replace the ageing charger on my boat. I'm only considering chargers with worldwide supply abilitys (ie 115V - 230V 50-60 Hz.). I really like the features, configurability, and price of the Sterling. I like the apparent robustness of the Newmar. I wonder if the Newmar can be adjusted internally to provide different charge voltage profiles. I would think so as I don't believe it's processor controlled. I want a charger that will work with my existing flooded LA bank for now, but like others, I plan to move to LiFePO in a few years, and the charge voltages are a bit different. Newmar sure is proud of their stuff. I can stomach the price for the charger if it truly is bulletproof and field repairable, but the prices for the accessories is crazy. The remote panel is over $100. It's a plastic plate with some LEDS and a pushbutton for crying out loud!

[Maine Sail]

The original "problem" with the Sterling is likely not a problem at all. When the current has been low for a long time in float it drops to a "maintenance mode" which is just slightly over the resting voltage of the batteries so you may only see it blip on every few hours for a few seconds then the current stops again. You can also create a custom program..

It should fire back up if you apply a load to the system or, as has been done, cycle it on/off. It has probably just put itself into "maintenance mode'..

[Yofy]

Maine Sail, I have seen the charger in maintenance mode but this is different.

The outgoing voltage shuts off completely and the fans go full force (you can hear the fans blasting away). This will go on for days and doesn't stop until I do a reset by turning it on and off. I have tried to see if it will come back on its own and waited till all the lights go dim and the battery voltage falls way down before I do a reset.

Manny

[ericoh88]

I am having Sterling Power 12v 60A. I switch on the charger after taking out about 50ah from a gel trojan house bank of 675 ah.

after 4 hours, I had 0.3 v and 0.0 a on the display. The charger did not put anything out while it was on. The fan was on full blast.

This happens several times in the past. I do not like to leave the charger on for days, it is always on once or twice a day.

Wrote to tech support. Will see what they say.

Eric

[Pine Painter]

Hi Ericoh88, I was looking at buying a Sterling Pro Charger 60A but found this thread. Did you get an answer from the tech support guys and has your unit been fixed? When did you buy your charger and did it work correctly for a while before malfunctioning?