Xantrax Truecharge 40 Batt Charger.

[TOM]

Has anyone had problems with there Xantrax bat chargers ? . We live onboard and charge our batts with a xantrax truecharge 40 using a . Honda generator 2kva. We have had 4 chargers fail on us normally after a year of use . Xantrax have been very good and have replaced 3 .

Would like to hear from anyone who has exsperienced similar problems.

[btrayfors]

A better question might be "who has NOT had problems with Xantrex chargers?".

Next time you replace yours, try another one. The Iota series chargers work very well with Honda gensets, and the EU2000i will handle an Iota DLS-75/IQ4 which will give you 75 honest charging amps for faster battery charging.

FWIW,

Bill

[S/V Illusion]

My dock neighbor and I both bought Xantrex 40 chargers over 6 years ago and neither of us have had a problem with them.
I also have a Honda 2000e.
Generalities are never smart...

[btrayfors]

While I agree with the thrust of your point, I'd have to say that it's an illusion to believe that generalities concerning Xantrex are "not smart".

There are hundreds of posts on this and other boards delineating the problems with Xantrex products, including prominently their battery chargers and, especially, their lack of responsiveness and product support.

Hopefully, this may be changing. Still, there are lots of professionals around who wouldn't touch these products with a 10ft boat pole!

Bill

[Sailor Doug]

My third on in 12 months is still working!!

[colemj]

Ours failed. It was only a backup and never really used. It failed on the 3rd yearly test to see if it still worked. I suspect that if it was the primary charger it still would have failed on the 3rd time it was used.

If one is pretty much stationary with their boat, then I guess replacing it 3 or 4 times each year is doable if you do not mind the bother. Frankly, I think that is nuts - do you have any other examples in your life where you accepted a product that failed 3-4 times in a single year?

However, if one is cruising, sending back or exchanging a unit is pretty much impossible and a major imposition. You do not see many Xantrex chargers out cruising. You definitely do not see boats with failed units going back to Xantrex again, regardless of the return and exchange policy.

Mark

[btrayfors]

I'm glad, Doug. Hope it continues.

FWIW, I have two Iotas (DLS-45/IQ4 and DLS-55/IQ4) which are eight years old, run 24/7, and are still working fine.

I also have a Victron 120/1500 inverter/charger which is about the same age and also runs 24/7 and is flawless.

Also have various battery chargers in my shop and on my boat which are upwards of 20+ years old and still work perfectly. Two of these are running right now in my shop, including an old Heart 1500 watt inverter/charger and a slightly newer Guest 10A model.

I only very rarely run into battery chargers on friends and customers' boats which are defective. Most of these are Xantrex units.

Battery chargers should not go bad in a year or two. They should be among the most reliable electrical devices on your boat. And, thankfully, they generally are!

Bill

PS>>> Mark is Right On!

[TOM]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

My dock neighbor and I both bought Xantrex 40 chargers over 6 years ago and neither of us have had a problem with them.
I also have a Honda 2000e.
Generalities are never smart...

Hi S/V Illusion, Your post would indicate that you are running off shore power and not using your Honda to charge ,at least not as a primary charger. How many hours per week do you think you would use the charger?

[Sailor Doug]

I do not except 3 times a year. Just my comment on how reliable Xantrex was. Bought a Back charger after first failure keep sending failed units back.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

The Iota series chargers work very well with Honda gensets, and the EU2000i will handle an Iota DLS-75/IQ4 which will give you 75 honest charging amps for faster battery charging.

I like the Iota chargers and have a 90A model. However, they are not corrected for power factor and their current draw is higher. Yes, the Honda 2000 will JUST run the DLS-75 in most cases, but it will scream like a banshee doing it, and there is a good probability that it will not run it if the Honda is not in top shape or the batteries are very low.

The specs for the DLS-75 input current is 18A, which is more than the Honda output spec. If one is charging a very low SOC battery bank, more than likely the Honda will fail with this model.

I would recommend the DLS-55 instead if one planned to run it off the Honda.

But in general, these are excellent chargers and a whole different ballgame than the Xantrex.

What is most strange, is that the Iota 45A charger is half the price of the Xantrex 40A charger, yet people still flock to the Xantrex. I guess it is because West Marine doesn't sell Ioata?

Mark

[Sailor Doug]

What are you charging? Crappy Xantrex (40 amp) hot water heater and house load will run easily off my Honda 2000.

[evm1024]

A dockmate gave me a trucharge 40 that got the lower 1/3 dunked in salt water. Xantrex replaced it for a flat rate repair that was about a third of the new cost.

I used that charger 24/7 for at least 10 years to charge 4 golf cart batteries. The charger was still working fine when I sold the boat.

I've heard the stories of both Xantrex service and products. My experiences were positive.

Regards

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Sailor Doug

What are you charging? Crappy Xantrex (40 amp) hot water heater and house load will run easily off my Honda 2000.

Is this in response to my post? The Xantrex is power factor corrected and your water heater is probably a 600-700W unit. The house loads are not counted in the Honda output because they are powered by the Xantrex.

So you should easily be able to handle all of that within the Honda 13.5A output.

Mark

[Sailor Doug]

Old statpower units are great that was why a bought a Xantrex. Units sold recently are crap.

[TOM]

Originally Posted by colemj

Ours failed. It was only a backup and never really used. It failed on the 3rd yearly test to see if it still worked. I suspect that if it was the primary charger it still would have failed on the 3rd time it was used.

If one is pretty much stationary with their boat, then I guess replacing it 3 or 4 times each year is doable if you do not mind the bother. Frankly, I think that is nuts - do you have any other examples in your life where you accepted a product that failed 3-4 times in a single year?

However, if one is cruising, sending back or exchanging a unit is pretty much impossible and a major imposition. You do not see many Xantrex chargers out cruising. You definitely do not see boats with failed units going back to Xantrex again, regardless of the return and exchange policy.

Mark

Hi Mark,
Yes I may sound a little bit nuts, however the story goes like this. We bought the unit when we left on our circumnavigation from Sydney three and a half years ago. The charger cost us $780.00 a lot of money for us. The charger failled three months later whilst in Southport QLD. The QLD agent replaced the charger within a week. The second charger failled some 15 months later in Papua New Guinea. Xantrax replaced the charger via Fedex within a week. So we did have to spend a couple more days at the anchorage than was planned. This particular charger lasted for two years and failed whilst we were in Brazil. Once again Xantrax replaced the charger at no cost to us without delaying our plans. We do sometimes find that as circumnavigators we have to wait for my daughter's school work to arrive from Australia. We do not consider this an inconvenience but more a part of the cruising lifestyle. If and when you ever start to cruise you will learn that waiting for spare parts in a particular place is part of the norm. Our experience with Xantrax support has been first class so far.