Problems with new Sterling Battery Charger

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Did I read it right, that everything works fine 100% when running off shore power?

Yes correct 220-240V dockside ran just fine. But I am only at a dock less than 5% of the time The rest of the time at anchor using the Honda to run the BC.

[sailorboy1]

Are you running the charger off only 1 leg of the shorepower for the 115V? I don't think the Honda really puts out 115/120V it puts out +60V and -60V (my short experience with an inverter generator did this and was an issue for my boat). When are the common and ground wires for the charger connected?

I since the above read the whole thread and I feel it's an input power problem. The question whether it has now caused a charger problem. Have you repeated your test of using a cable and directly connecting the charge to the Honda?

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Are you running the charger off only 1 leg of the shorepower for the 115V? I don't think the Honda really puts out 115/120V it puts out +60V and -60V (my short experience with an inverter generator did this and was an issue for my boat). When are the common and ground wires for the charger connected?

I since the above read the whole thread and I feel it's an input power problem. The question whether it has now caused a charger problem. Have you repeated your test of using a cable and directly connecting the charge to the Honda?

First thanks for your response. Note sure what you mean by running the charger off 1 leg of shorepower as the BC will work both on 110V and 220V without any changes to the charger.

I have run repeated tests with both Honda's (new and old) with a direct wire to the charger and experienced identical results as when I ran it thru the ships 110V wiring and running the charger from the breaker at the panel.

This morning Sterling agreed to supply me with a new charger so I will report back when it arrives the end of May.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by chouliha

Yes correct 220-240V dockside ran just fine. But I am only at a dock less than 5% of the time The rest of the time at anchor using the Honda to run the BC.

Yes, my point is that means the charger itself may be fine, but something about the combination with the Honda is the problem.

Try running off other gennies?

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Yes, my point is that means the charger itself may be fine, but something about the combination with the Honda is the problem.

Try running off other gennies?

Great idea. I will keep looking for another type of portable generator to try.

Interesting that the older model of the BC that looks identical ran fine on a Honda 1000.

Chuck

[JiffyLube]

I've also been experiencing a problem with my Sterling Power -ProCharge Ultra 60 Amp charger, going into the 00V 00A mode like yours with the fan at full speed. Unlike you our boat is on shore power the majority of the time, and it will work correctly for many days before doing the 00V 00A thing. Sterling has offered me a couple of things to try, but to date nothing has resolved the problem. Tomorrow I've going to take every wire connection off for inspection (outputs and grounds), and check for continuity, corrosion, and check voltage at all three charger outputs. When I reset the charger it works, but sometimes within a week it goes off again.

[Zil]

When you use 110, from genny or outlets, it doesn't behave? Sounds like the charger is stuck on 220 volt.

[JiffyLube]

I think I've found a way to correct this problem. On the Sterling Power USA site there are videos about their products, and trouble shooting. One is called "Sterling Power Pro Charge Ultra 0 0V A Display Troubleshooting"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_J__fPRiP4

, and it explains three things to try. I checked out the wiring part, and all was good there so I went to the next one. The next one was for the newer charger I don't have, so I went on to the third option. This option was for restarting the charger, and that's where I think I found the problem. I have the remote option installed, and I was trying to restart the charger from the remote. I couldn't get the remote to restart the charger, so since the charger circuit breaker was close by I just turned off the circuit breaker which shut the charger down. Then I would turn the circuit breaker back on, and the charger would start back up, but that appears to be 'not' the way to restart the charger. The charger needs to be restarted 'at the charger', so I did that, and so far the charger has been working like it's suppose too, and I'm not getting the 00V 00A problem.

[john61ct]

Great news!

Their DC-DC units may not be relevant, but this https://youtu.be/qXW47g6npms came across my YT feed recently, about their BB line.

[chouliha]

Just wanted to follow up from my original post a few months ago. After limping along with a Sterling charger I had to reset up to 5-6 times every charge cycle we have a new Sterling replacement. We spent at least 40 hours trouble shooting things as Sterling blamed the Honda until they realized it was the charger.

Our cousins carried a new Sterling replacement down on the plane and we are happy to say it is working perfectly. We are into our 5th full charge cycle and have not had to touch it expect to setup the custom charge cycle when first installed. Its working just fine off the Honda 1000. Maybe by saying this here its the kiss of death?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments

Chuck
Jacaranda
Raiatea, French Polynesia

[john61ct]

Excellent, certainly better late than never!

What convinced them to stop blaming the gennie?

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Excellent, certainly better late than never!

What convinced them to stop blaming the gennie?

I think it was having the same issue with the new Honda Generator plus the countless hours of various data points that I provided during the charging cycle. Everything pointed to the charger. Also when I asked them what else I could provide them to help pinpoint the problem - I had given them test results of everything they could think of.


Chuck

[john61ct]

Ya, replacing the genny, forgot you'd done that 8-(

[JiffyLube]

In my situation the restart at the charger has worked, and it's been working flawlessly for almost 5 weeks.

[nigel1]

Just had the same issue with a new (purchased last month) 12V/60A Procharge Ultra.
I phoned Sterling, and they said this is a very rare fault (but on their video they say they have had quite a few similar faults reported)
I went through all the trouble shooting, tried in both BC and PS modes, tried various battery option setting and the custom settings, resets etc but the fault persisted.
Sterling have now agreed to replace the unit. I'll be asking them to bench test the replacement before sending it out.