Battery charger died, best replacement?

Beamishken

Beamishken

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My boats battery charger has died over winter it was a sterling procharge 50amp 3 outlet unit only about 5 years old so im surprised at it failing so early.
Need to buy a replacement, best deal I can find is the 60a procharge from cactus for £400 but wondering if their not as robust as others given the early failure?
Any suggestions for a suitable replacement
Charging 2 x start batteries of 90a each and 2x leisure batteries linked as 1 bank totaling 270a is the charger working too hard or could I drop in size?
 
https://www.es-store.co.uk/product_...tery-Charger&cat_desc=&cat_id=70&show_menu=21

mhdSaD.jpg
 
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Beamishken said:
My boats battery charger has died over winter it was a sterling procharge 50amp 3 outlet unit only about 5 years old so im surprised at it failing so early.
Need to buy a replacement, best deal I can find is the 60a procharge from cactus for £400 but wondering if their not as robust as others given the early failure?
Any suggestions for a suitable replacement
Charging 2 x start batteries of 90a each and 2x leisure batteries linked as 1 bank totaling 270a is the charger working too hard or could I drop in size?
Click to expand...

How did it die? I have the 60A version and like it a lot for its' features. Only had it about 18 months, so hope it's got more than 5 years in it :(
 
Richard10002 said:
How did it die? I have the 60A version and like it a lot for its' features. Only had it about 18 months, so hope it's got more than 5 years in it :(
Click to expand...

Theres a small component with 6 soldered prongs on the pcb board which you can see is scorched.
I could have understood if it failed when the boat was in use and maybe got overworked but just keeping the batteries topped up over winter is a bit of a worry
They do seem to be the cheapest on the market so maybe you get what you pay for
 
I must be missing something big here. I dont understand.
I have 2x2 batterys in series, 1 lot for unessential bits and 1 lot for starter and main nav lights.
I have 2 solar chargers on the roof, and obviously the alternator charing system.
Ive only ever used a cheapo voltage sensitive relay between the chargers and batteries so that the load is spread to the lowest voltage first to top them all off.
I use something like this at £20 a pop and make sure its not going to get wet. Its a bog standard auto relay whih will take a certain amount of moisture and aalt due to the road conditions. I put it in a tupperware box or junction box with a bag of silica and it will last years before needing to be replaced.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Volt...2?pageci=74d2460f-7290-42a3-b0e7-33dbcd2f543b

Admittedly i have a small 22ft boat with considerably less load than a super yacht running fridges tvs and the like would have, but surely this is scaled up to meet your demands without an eyewatering £500 price tag?
Or are we talking about shore to ship charging? In which case wouldnt a normal automative charger also work fine? Provided you have the right plug converter for it.
What am i missing?
 
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A modern marine charger does a bit more than that.
It has different charge profiles optimised for different types of battery, fast at the start, slower to top off, monitoring each output separately, then it keeps them topped off in cycles.
Some also have a "very fast charge" de-sulphation cycle for vented batteries.

Even my boat has five batteries to charge ...

.
 
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Flowerpower, thanks for the reply. Makes sense i suppose. Although i do have a similar car battery charger that deals with those situations. But only for 1 battery not a few at the same time.

You live and learn!
 
Lutefiskgeorge said:
I must be missing something big here. I dont understand.
I have 2x2 batterys in series, 1 lot for unessential bits and 1 lot for starter and main nav lights.
I have 2 solar chargers on the roof, and obviously the alternator charing system.
Ive only ever used a cheapo voltage sensitive relay between the chargers and batteries so that the load is spread to the lowest voltage first to top them all off.
I use something like this at £20 a pop and make sure its not going to get wet. Its a bog standard auto relay whih will take a certain amount of moisture and aalt due to the road conditions. I put it in a tupperware box or junction box with a bag of silica and it will last years before needing to be replaced.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Volt...2?pageci=74d2460f-7290-42a3-b0e7-33dbcd2f543b

Admittedly i have a small 22ft boat with considerably less load than a super yacht running fridges tvs and the like would have, but surely this is scaled up to meet your demands without an eyewatering £500 price tag?
Or are we talking about shore to ship charging? In which case wouldnt a normal automative charger also work fine? Provided you have the right plug converter for it.
What am i missing?
Click to expand...

2 main things.

1. Charging capacity is far higher
2 they are plugged in 24/7 so have complex programs to ensure batteries are ok
 
I wouldn’t rush out to buy another Sterling charger after my last one caught fire and left quite a big burn mark on the bulkhead, could have been a lot worse but thankfully it wasn’t.
I find Victron to be reasonable in quality and price.
 
Boat2016 said:
I wouldn’t rush out to buy another Sterling charger after my last one caught fire and left quite a big burn mark on the bulkhead, could have been a lot worse but thankfully it wasn’t.
I find Victron to be reasonable in quality and price.
Click to expand...
Funnily enough mine has a scorch mark on the inside of the case where the failed component obviously got hot
I think thats decision made its not going to be another sterling unit for replacing it with.
I'm now left with the dilemma of what size to fit?. The original out of the boat was missing when I bought it (long story) and I realy just guessed on the size going by the size of the output cables. Is there a formula for specing a new charger boats a regal 3760 so has usual sportscruiser stuff , fridge eberspacher lights electric toilet etc
What do similar size boats have fitted as standard?
Im thinking the victron might be the one but wondering if a 30a would do instead of the 50?
 
Beamishken said:
Charging 2 x start batteries of 90a each and 2x leisure batteries linked as 1 bank totaling 270a is the charger working too hard or could I drop in size?
Click to expand...

Forgetting the 2 x start batteries for the moment as you will not be draining those for long periods and they will soon top up from the engine running you really need to recharge the 270 amp hour bank. Using a rough 10% charge to battery capacity a 30 amp charger should do assuming you have shore power.

How about
https://www.es-store.co.uk/product_...30VIP22-UK-Style-Plug&cat_id=171&show_menu=40

3 outputs so it can be connected to both starter and domestic banks.
 
Croftie said:
Forgetting the 2 x start batteries for the moment as you will not be draining those for long periods and they will soon top up from the engine running you really need to recharge the 270 amp hour bank. Using a rough 10% charge to battery capacity a 30 amp charger should do assuming you have shore power.

How about
https://www.es-store.co.uk/product_...30VIP22-UK-Style-Plug&cat_id=171&show_menu=40

3 outputs so it can be connected to both starter and domestic banks.
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for the info I had in mind the Victron centaur range from es which comes in at £383 however a battery monitor is another 120 and looking at the blue power you suggest it says its bluetooth controlled so presumably can be controlled from your phone?.
Im not much of a gadget freek so not sure if the battery monitor or bluetooth control is useful for me.
Im realy after something I can kinda fit and forget and leave it to look after my batteries over winter
The boat lives on a mooring so only time its plugged in is if we are staying on the boat or when its in the yard over winter
 
I have the single output version of the one I linked to looking after app 400 A/Hr bank.
If left to its own devices ( inc over winter) once fully charged it drops into float.

Re the Bluetooth > phone, very easy to use, shows the voltage and current being supplied, the charging state ie bulk, absoption, float etc and you can select various charging options such as normal, high, recondition
 
Beamishken said:
Funnily enough mine has a scorch mark on the inside of the case where the failed component obviously got hot
I think thats decision made its not going to be another sterling unit for replacing it with.
I'm now left with the dilemma of what size to fit?. The original out of the boat was missing when I bought it (long story) and I realy just guessed on the size going by the size of the output cables. Is there a formula for specing a new charger boats a regal 3760 so has usual sportscruiser stuff , fridge eberspacher lights electric toilet etc
What do similar size boats have fitted as standard?
Im thinking the victron might be the one but wondering if a 30a would do instead of the 50?
Click to expand...

I can see no reason why a 30a wouldn’t do the job. Worth getting the Bluetooth version for the little difference in cost.
 
Boat2016 said:
I can see no reason why a 30a wouldn’t do the job. Worth getting the Bluetooth version for the little difference in cost.
Click to expand...

Strangely enough the bluetooth unit is substantially cheaper so just wondering if it will be as robust. Once you drop to 30a there seems a lot more choice available
 
Beamishken said:
Strangely enough the bluetooth unit is substantially cheaper so just wondering if it will be as robust. Once you drop to 30a there seems a lot more choice available
Click to expand...

When i got mine a couple of years ago there was about £15 difference, i would guess the non Bluetooth version is not as popular, from looking at them at the boat show they looked identical so hope quality hasn’t been compromised.
 
Boat2016 said:
When i got mine a couple of years ago there was about £15 difference, i would guess the non Bluetooth version is not as popular, from looking at them at the boat show they looked identical so hope quality hasn’t been compromised.
Click to expand...

Quite a significant difference in appearance and price this is the 30a blue power
https://www.es-store.co.uk/product_...30VIP22-UK-Style-Plug&cat_id=171&show_menu=40

This is the 30a centaur

https://www.es-store.co.uk/product_...ctron-Centaur-Chargers&cat_id=70&show_menu=21
 
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