Cristec 12V 25Amp charger killed my batteries

[Jack C]

The Cristec CPS3OEM 12V25 Amp charger that was installed in my 2011 Jeanneau 36i killed my sealed lead acid starting battery and boiled away the liquid in my lead acid open batteries. (2 Trojan 6V 110AH).

I returned to my boat after a couple of weeks and found that the starting battery dropped from 13.1 V to less than 4V with a tiny load.

The house bank needed over 3 liters of distilled water.

I replaced the starting battery and filled the domestic bank. I found that the charger was set to setting 0, suitable for open lead acid, so I changed it to 1 for sealed lead acid as all three circuits use the same setting. The starting battery was connected to the D connector. The boost was on.

I returned to the boat after a few hour to hear the voltage alarm. The engine battery was at 14.8 Volts! It should have never got anywhere near there. The domestic battery was drawing 22 Amps and its voltage was above the specified level for the #1 setting.

My conclusion is that the charger is not limiting the voltage as it should. I doubt than turning off boost mode will help and I am not taking chances.

The Cristec manual clearly states that they are not responsible for damages to batteries. The don't appear to have overcharge protection and they are not intelligent chargers. Mine is the OEM model for Jeanneau.

I just ordered 2 10Amp 7 stage intelligent microprocessor chargers. This allows me to have different programs for each bank. Total cost for both including shipping from China $58.

I have 480Watts of rigid solar panels through a Renology 40Amp controller charging only the house bank. I may add a VSR so that the panels also charge the engine battery.

The alternator only charges the engine battery.

So the chargers will only be used to keep the starting battery charged and to reduce domestic battery cycles when at the dock.

For those who have a battery charger that does not have intelligent protection, like the Cristec I had, its a lot cheaper to replace the 25 Amp charger with two separate controllers before you kill expensive batteries.

[smac999]

what is the temp? 14.8 is totally normal in winter if the charger has temp compensation. a setting of 14.4v (at normal room temp) will hit 14.8 in the cold for bulk / absorb. it should still drop to float though after so long.

though probably won't drop to float if the batteries are still taking 22a.

[Jack C]

I am in sunny and warm Tel Aviv where the temperature today is 20 deg C.

So temperature is not the issue. The Cristec also does not have temperature compensation. The output suggested for the starting battery is mean't to be 0.2 or 0.4V less than the program depending on the current.

I think that 14.8V boiled the batteries over time. The wet cells are coming back to life after I added 3 liters of distilled water and used the solar panels with the renology controller to charge them. The refractometer now shows fair to good.

This is what I have ordered for the infrequent days when 480 watts of the solar panels are insufficient. One for each bank.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...67b54c4doPTBYY

[Compass790]

Originally Posted by Jack C

I am in sunny and warm Tel Aviv where the temperature today is 20 deg C.

So temperature is not the issue. The Cristec also does not have temperature compensation. The output suggested for the starting battery is mean't to be 0.2 or 0.4V less than the program depending on the current.

I think that 14.8V boiled the batteries over time. The wet cells are coming back to life after I added 3 liters of distilled water and used the solar panels with the renology controller to charge them. The refractometer now shows fair to good.

This is what I have ordered for the infrequent days when 480 watts of the solar panels are insufficient. One for each bank.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...67b54c4doPTBYY

Thanks for your post.
No experience with the charger you bought but have experience with a few aliexpress chargers. Some good, some junk, some good charging but very noisy fans & not long lasting.
The actual smart chargers seem to do a very good job.
Please report back how they perform.

[Redline452]

I think that by the time they needed 3 litres of water, your batteries were already finished. The charger wasn't able to recover them, not sure any charger could. 14.8 wasn't out of line for an equalization charge, but there comes a time when shouting "clear" and putting the defibrillator paddles on the patient won't bring them back.

[Jack C]

Originally Posted by Redline452

I think that by the time they needed 3 litres of water, your batteries were already finished. The charger wasn't able to recover them, not sure any charger could. 14.8 wasn't out of line for an equalization charge, but there comes a time when shouting "clear" and putting the defibrillator paddles on the patient won't bring them back.

The Cristec charger does not have an equalization mode so there is no reason for 14.8 volts.

I was very surprised that the batteries appear to have recovered. The refractometer reading is just over the good line. A pleasant surprise. If they don't recover completely I'll try equalizing using a good controller and making sure that there is enough water.

[OS2Dude]

We lost two 98Ah AGM batteries due to an issue with the ProMariner PorSport charger. They use(d) a screw-in plug to set the battery type. I came to the boat after some time away and the batteries were DEAD. Bought two new ones, and called ProMariner. They sent a new plug. Put in new plug but a few days later had trouble starting the engine. Batteries were low again. Called ProMariner again, they offered to send a new one because this was a known problem. (The charger would not 'read' the plug right, so it did nothing at all.) Asked them if the new one would have the same issue or not, their response was "We don't know, we have no record of when the fix was implemented". Huh? I opted to return the charger and went 100% solar.

[roverhi]

Originally Posted by Jack C

I replaced the starting battery and filled the domestic bank. I found that the charger was set to setting 0, suitable for open lead acid, so I changed it to 1 for sealed lead acid as all three circuits use the same setting. The starting battery was connected to the D connector. The boost was on.

What does 'boost was on' mean?? Is that an increased amperage for starting?? If that's the case may been the cause of the problem. Wouldn't have much hope of reviving the batteries. Had the solar charge controller screw up and failed to cut back on charge level depleting the water.

[SaltyMetals]

My Jeanneau 2004 43ds was fitted with a Cristec 50A charger which failed after 14 years at about the same time as my batteries. I have no idea if the batteries failed due to the Cristec. I got a Victron 40A charger and new Victron AGM batteries and never looked back. Perfect 3 stage charger.
Andrew

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Jack C

The Cristec charger does not have an equalization mode so there is no reason for 14.8 volts.

I was very surprised that the batteries appear to have recovered. The refractometer reading is just over the good line. A pleasant surprise. If they don't recover completely I'll try equalizing using a good controller and making sure that there is enough water.

Equalization voltage is over 15 volts, close to 16 volts even.

14.8 is what Trojan wants to see for bulk/absorption voltage on T-105 batteries.
Of course after a timed absorption a drop to a float voltage of about 13.5 volts.

If the house batteries were accepting 22 amps they were not very close to full.

I regularly install Promariner PronauticP chargers with GC batteries and on the proper setting the bulk voltage is 14.7 volts.

Not sure what you mean by "refractometer reading". If the batteries had their plates exposed for long the surface will be in bad shape and they are likely at end of their life because of it.