Anyone using a Premium Caravan and Leisure 60A Battery Charger

[kasay]

We need to replace the charger on our canal boat as the old one is no longer working. We had a Numax 50amp charger which we used to keep our 1 work battery and 3 leisure batteries charged when the boat is not in use, this means we need two outputs.

We do not live aboard so make day trips to the boat to charge the batteries when we are not out on holiday or leave it hooked up for a night or so at the start or end of a holiday. We need something which will charge the batteries quite quickly. A trickle charger is not an option for us as we would have to pay the marina a monthly fee of over £30 to be permanently hooked up so it isn't cost effective.

We've been looking on the internet and found the following, which is on sale at a very reasonable price, £220.00.

http://www.caravantechnology.com/Premium-Caravan-and-Leisure-60A-Battery-Charger-P151.aspx

Has anyone used this charger of know anything about it?

I'm not a technical person so aim for dummy level in any responses .

Many thanks

 

[duncan99210]

Given that you already have a 50 amp charger, the one you link to looks fine.

However, as you mention that you often visit the boat just to charge the batteries, have you considered fitting a solar panel to the boat to keep the batteries topped up? Assuming the boat is a narrowboat, you could fix a semi flexible panel to the roof where it could be walked on if required. You wouldn't need a massive array just to keep things topped up and you could then use a smaller capacity charger.

 

[GrahamM376]

My battery chargers are from the same supplier although different models. One failed and was replaced very quickly - good service. As Duncan says, solar may be way to go to avoid having to visit just to charge the batteries. When we were mainly weekend boaters, I had a small semi-flexible 25w panel which during the week recharged the batteries fully, ready for the weekend.

 

[theoldsalt]

kasay,

My first thought is why do the batteries need topping up so frequently. Batteries in good condition can be left for many weeks without any significant decay in charge. Maybe yours are old and need replacing.

 

[findus]

I just installed that very one last week after the second Victron 50A died. They look quite nice and are small, probably made in China or somewhere Asia.
The fan is busy and noisy when charging full blast (because it is so small and I had to install it horizontally) and I did measure 60A going into my battery set (800Ah). You can follow the loading cycle on the display showing the voltage (14.4V at bulk and 13.7V at float at default setting 1) and the current dropping over time.
I was amazed how warm it is even when it goes into float charge. I expected it to cool down. So there seems to be quite a current draw in float mode. There is a switch on the display to put it into stand-by mode. This may reduce the energy consumption when idle, but I haven't checked yet. This may not be relevant to you.
I wasn't quite sure whether the fan was generating interferences in the FM radio. Need to double check that.
You also get the second connection for an engine battery with the 60A charger, which I wired in.
One thing I did not like are the wire sizes. They are fitted (probably 10sqmm) and I think a bit on the small side. I should have fitted larger wires before fitting the unit. The wires get warm when the unit pumps 60A out.

Overall I am happy. Nice piece of kit especially for that price. Was thinking about buying a second one. You would usually pay around £100 per 10A and it is funny to see, how all the brand names scales their prices almost linear with output, even though the enclosure is the same....

Good luck!
Findus

 

[Tranona]

You don't say how big your leisure battery bank is. 60A output is an awful lot and unless you have a very large battery bank you might not be able to absorb that amount. As already suggested if you only need to keep them topped up and replace a small amount of capacity between periods of use, solar panels may prove to be a better investment.

 

[JumbleDuck]

We need to replace the charger on our canal boat as the old one is no longer working. We had a Numax 50amp charger which we used to keep our 1 work battery and 3 leisure batteries charged when the boat is not in use, this means we need two outputs.

We do not live aboard so make day trips to the boat to charge the batteries when we are not out on holiday or leave it hooked up for a night or so at the start or end of a holiday. We need something which will charge the batteries quite quickly. A trickle charger is not an option for us as we would have to pay the marina a monthly fee of over £30 to be permanently hooked up so it isn't cost effective.

Echoing what others have said, I can't think of a better set-up for solar charging. The £220 that charger costs will buy you 100W of panels, a dual output charger and some wire. Fit it in a day, never worry about charging again.

 

[ianj99]

Echoing what others have said, I can't think of a better set-up for solar charging. The £220 that charger costs will buy you 100W of panels, a dual output charger and some wire. Fit it in a day, never worry about charging again.

+1
A 10watt panel inside the wheelhouse has kept my 120ah battery charged all winter and there's not been much sun up here in Argyll.