True charge 20

[fkittson]

Has anyone had any experience with the TrueChange 20. I just purchased this unit for my starting batteries on are power boat. They are stackable units and will be adding a second unit for our house bank in the next month or so. We also got the remote panel for control and monitoring. We will also be getting a 3000W inverter for 120V systems onboard.
Thank in advance for your time.

[motion30]

I own the truth charge 40 junk junk. Junk. ,
typical zantrex

[fkittson]

What was junk with it?

[colemj]

We also had a TruCharge 40 with remote panel. Junk, pure junk. It never worked well, would reset itself to default (incorrect) settings frequently, lots of RF noise and other problems.

Replacing it with an Iota was like night and day. If you have the chance to return your Truecharge, I would take it and buy an Iota.

Mark

[motion30]

Originally Posted by fkittson

What was junk with it?

It.working properly for a short time and then ran and would not shut off eventually cooking a 600 dollar battery it was replaced under warranty but the replacement did the same. thing I also replace it with iota charger money.well.spent

[fkittson]

Bump!!!

[MarkSF]

What my Trucharge 20 does, is forget the temperature settings. So on a hot day you'll find it set to "cold", merrily boiling the batteries, or on a cold day set to "hot" and undercharging.

Like they say, piece of crap.

I installed the battery temp sensor, which seems to get around this problem.

If you decide to keep the POS, get the battery temp sensor.

[colemj]

I think a battery temperature sensor should always be used regardless of which charger. It should be considered mandatory if your batteries are gel or AGM.

I am curious why the OP felt it necessary to "bump" this thread. Is he waiting for a good response? In another thread, someone was praising Xantrex's service because they replaced 3 battery chargers that died on him. That speaks volumes outside of the service...

Mark

[marine1]

I stopped using Xantrex in Canada 3 years ago due to their failure rate and lack of response to problems. One of the marinas I service had me install two last year and both where bad out of the box. Mastervolt has really great chargers and they back what they sell.

[fkittson]

I bumped it because I wanted more the three opinions. The people that I have talked to have all had good experiences with them. As well if you fallow the marine industry they have been bought out and are under new management. Just looking for more opinions on them. I will be installing it this weekend as we will be going in the water on the twelfth in Lake Ontario. Last out first in.

[Maine Sail]

The advice you have received about the TC2 is spot on.. There are better chargers out there. Take a look at Mastervolt, the Sterling ProCharge Ultra or the the ProMariner Pronautic P..

The PC2 has been one of the most trouble prone chargers I've seen since the old "Fly Back" chargers which affectionately became known as the "Fry Back"...

My input is not based on an n=1, I install, trouble shoot & repair this stuff daily....

[fkittson]

So if everyone on here has nothing but trouble with the TC20 then how is it that everyone that I talk to say that they are great and have had no problems at all

[sartorst]

Because they have not left there boat unattended for a long period and came back to burnt out battery banks several times YET!!!!

[lancelot9898]

I've never had a problem with the True Charge 20. I did replace one about 8 years ago when I took a near hit with a lightening strike that also knocked out the VHF and ham tuner. That prior one worked well on gel's and now the current one is working on AGM's, 8D's. I do have the temp compensator and if I had to do it over, I'ld go with a much larger unit. It's probably why I haven't had a problem since a 20 amp charger is way too small for the 500 amp hour bank that I have.

[Caribsailors]

Sell it fast or return it if you can.

I've had two with remote panel and temp sensor.
One smoked itself after killing the 400ah house bank on two separate occasions. ouch.
After getting ZERO support from Zantrex they finally shipped a warranty replacement, didn't follow my shipping instructions, and I ended up having to pay import duty.
Installed and all was happy UNTIL it killed the house bank again and include the start battery on that massacre.
I'da thrown it overboard, but I have too much respect for mother ocean.
Replaced it with a TrippLite inverter/charger, remote panel & temp sensor.

Just my experience.

Cheers