450: Battery charging by engine

[smac999]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Definitely a delay, like I said, nothing happens until I flick the switch and then 30 seconds later revs drop and load comes on from the charger.

you probably have an inverter charger. when they lose power, and regain power, they have a 30 sec delay before they accept power, and pass it through to the boat again.

[dkenny64]

I might be way of base here..
but for those that say you cannot get the full voltage out of an internally
regulated alternator..do you have isolation diodes between the alternator
and the batteries? if you do have you adjusted the alternator output for
the isolation diodes? fyi those diodes cost about 0.6v of output
I do understand the difference between the stages..but cars and trucks don't have
3 stage chargers..and have just about the same system..
I do like the idea of bypassing the generator impeller using an AC pump..

-dkenny

[Houston450]

Along these lines of discussion:

Electrical Systems are my weakness.

2016 L450, 3 start batteries and 6 Exide Gel House, currently in Texas.

I believe it's time for batteries!

questions: if I have stock Exide's can I have AGM start batteries for the engines and genny? Do the start batteries need to match each other, and/or match the house batteries for the charger to work correctly?

How do I know if my battery monitor has failed? It seems like a pain to program and has warnings about changing from factory settings.

Would it be prudent to load test each of the 6 batteries with a tester from Harbor Freight as someone mentioned?

My associate claims AGM's are superior to Gel, however the prices don't reflect it; if I go AGM all around, I assume I'll need to change settings on charger and Battery Monitor?

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Houston450

Along these lines of discussion:

Electrical Systems are my weakness.

2016 L450, 3 start batteries and 6 Exide Gel House, currently in Texas.

I believe it's time for batteries!

questions: if I have stock Exide's can I have AGM start batteries for the engines and genny? Do the start batteries need to match each other, and/or match the house batteries for the charger to work correctly?

How do I know if my battery monitor has failed? It seems like a pain to program and has warnings about changing from factory settings.

Would it be prudent to load test each of the 6 batteries with a tester from Harbor Freight as someone mentioned?

My associate claims AGM's are superior to Gel, however the prices don't reflect it; if I go AGM all around, I assume I'll need to change settings on charger and Battery Monitor?

New batteries needed for a 2 year old boat? Something is very wrong with your charging system or you are doing something to seriously abuse your batteries. I get 7 years out of my start batteries and got 10 ears out of my house batteries the first time around and 6 years out of the second set full time cruising. The second set only died because they were murdered by a charge controller with an improper setting that fried them.

[dkenny64]

I'm with Captian Bill here..
sounds like you have something wrong with the charging system..


why?
I don't the life that he's claiming..I'm working on it.
a little over 2 yrs ago we bought our boat..
1 house bank was dead. starting battery almost dead.
replaced the house bank..using CHEAP deep cycle from... Walmart..
and the starting from Walmart..
still going strong... I'm not expecting to get 4yrs from them since they are 3yr batteries.. for us that's ok.. that'll be about the time to replace them with GOOD deep cycle batteries. not cheap ones from Walmart.. with good ones I expect 5-10yr of life..


-dkenny64

[Houston450]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

New batteries needed for a 2 year old boat? Something is very wrong with your charging system or you are doing something to seriously abuse your batteries. I get 7 years out of my start batteries and got 10 ears out of my house batteries the first time around and 6 years out of the second set full time cruising. The second set only died because they were murdered by a charge controller with an improper setting that fried them.

Thanks Capt Bill!

it's a 15/16, with battery date codes of 14E. It still seems odd; I'm thinking of starting with a load test on each battery? any recommended testers?

The Exide Gel's are a strange dimension and not available in the US; I'm considering options: AGM, Gel, Lead/Acid;

For charging checks: both alternators are good; what are the other common items and the diagnostic tests?

Chris

[Ulstue]

Hi Warren
The standard in Lagoon450 are the Cristec chargers. They are normally set for the battery type you ordered. They charge AGM batteries then depending on the device e.g. 2 hours with a boost function of 14.6 V, afterwards with 13.6 V. For more details, please have a look to the manual for the exact type of charger you are using.

[Ulstue]

Sorry, mixed it with the thread to the Cristec chargers. So unfortunately not helpful.

Your charging curve when charging under engine is similar to mine - under engine I charge a maximum of 10% per hour, mostly less. But I have wet batteries. In order to improve the charge from the alternators, external charge regulators are needed for the altornators - and batteries that can take that.