Un-"acceptable" Charger?

[Starbuck]

Doing an electrical system upgrade. Have been pouring over literature/fora on a steep learning curve, trying to match new components that will play well with each other.

I thought I understood the rudiments of charging, and that I should be looking for a three-stage charger that will deliver bulk, acceptance, and float charging to my battery bank (4 six-volt deep-cycle batts). I run into that maxim often from seemingly knowledgeable people, from Calder to BTrayfors.

Xantrex is a big player, and very popular. But when I looked at the specs. reproduced by this retailer for the TrueCharge2, I only see two stages: bulk and float. The only other voltage it output seems to be the equalization function.

Their Freedom HF inverter/charger is very slick, and seems to actually charge in three stages, but it's way more inverter that I would need, and the budget cannot support it.

Should I be concerned about this? Do my flooded cells need true three-stage bulk/acceptance/float charging? Am I reading the information wrong? I only have the resources to do this once, and it has to be done right.

[David M]

Don't worry too much about it. Most modern chargers have at least a charge and a float level. Some have an equalize feature.

If you get a good brand name one made specifically for marine use, then you will be fine. Xantrex, Professional Mariner, Guest, Newmar, Charles Marine, Blue Seas and West Marine store brand all make decent chargers. Buy one with a good warranty. If it does not work for you then you can always return it for one that is more suitable

[CharlieJ]

Starbuck-
Page 1-9 of the TrueCharge2 manual says:

Charger Mode Select button
• Press and hold the button for three seconds to select either of two
settings. An indicator LED corresponds to each setting. Each
setting optimizes the charging sequence differently in charging the
batteries by stages.
•Three-stage - Bulk, Absorption, and Float; default setting
•Two-stage - Bulk and Absorption only

All's well.

[camaraderie]

Ditto that...and absolutely get one with an EQ setting like the Truecharge so you can EQ once every couple of months for longer life.
BTW...Trayfors and others are big fans of the IOTA line of chargers with the IQSmartCharge option and they are very good values.

[neilpride]

Balmar sale their alternators with a 3 stage external regulator option.
I have 2 alternators in my perkins , a motorola 55 amps and a balmar 100 amps with the 3 stages external regulator ,and is posible to adjust the setings in the regulator like equalize time, equalize volts, bulk time etc... work like a true batery charger.
Cheers

[Starbuck]

Thanks, Charlie,

I stopped at the spec sheet, which only lists two levels, and didn't dig deeply enough into available online literature. You had to do my research for me. I'm grateful.

Jeff