Xantrax Truecharge 40 Batt Charger.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by TOM

It is obvious the product has problems , and to keep replaceing them cannot be cost effective why don't they just fix the problem .

Actually it just may very well be cost effective. With no disrespect to Charlie, these units are very cheaply designed and manufactured with inexpensive components. They are designed as throw away products. The profit margin on them are huge while still maintaining a price point more favorably than better built chargers. And the distribution is very wide - including West Marine and all other larger chandleries.

Given this, it is likely that it is less expensive for Xantrex to simply replace faulty ones than to put quality components and designs into every single unit.

In this business model, not all units fail, but a large number do. Those that do not fail most likely last for years. You sound extremely unlucky in consecutively getting 4 units that failed, because I doubt the failure rate is 100%. Hopefully your luck changes this time.

Originally Posted by TOM

A point worth noting is that thruout this whole saga i have never delt directly with xantrax once .I have always delt with the person who sold me the product. I have found the service to be first class.

This is also the advantage of Xantrex distributing through places like West Marine that simply exchange the units with no questions asked as many times as one needs. I know that Xantrex's instructions to West Marine is to just destroy all units returned for failure (Xantrex isn't the only company who does this - you would be surprised). This is good all around for Xantrex, but my personal experience with their technical support is atrocious - no response to multiple emails, put on hold for hours on the phone only to get a bubblehead with no technical knowledge, then being passed from bubblehead to bubblehead with long waits on hold between. And the final answer is always "buy another one".

Mark

[colemj]

Originally Posted by colemj

Our main Victron shuts off to measure voltage parameters to determine whether to shift into a different charging mode. But it only does this once near the boundary between bulk and absorption charging and it only lasts 2-3 seconds. It may also do it on the float boundary, but we rarely ever get to float.

Off topic:
As I think about this more, I need to amend the above statement about our Victron charging behavior.

The Victron doesn't always do this - it just occasionally does it when we are pulling high loads concurrently with charging. Mostly when our watermaker is running. It may also be occurring with high solar input or a combination of the two.

So I think it goes through a charging algorithm, reaches a point where something doesn't add up to it, turns off for a 1-3 seconds to see what is happening in the system, then readjusts its charging algorithm and continues.

When no loads and no solar are present, the Victron never exhibits this behavior.

Mark