Sailfree
Well-known member
Need a new 50-60A battery charger.
They are between £500 to £700 - why so dear?
They are between £500 to £700 - why so dear?
Battery chargers costs
- Thread starter Sailfree
- Start date
Richard10002
Well-known member
Sterling 50A £389 JG Tech
savageseadog
Well-known member
They are grossly overpriced for the marine market.
No Regrets
Active member
You can buy a good quality 'intelligent' car charger for less!
http://www.tantronics.co.uk/acatalog/Ring_RSCPR50_12V_2A-50A_Smart_Charge_Pro_Battery_Charger.html
£230 inc VAT. Does everything...
http://www.tantronics.co.uk/acatalog/Ring_RSCPR50_12V_2A-50A_Smart_Charge_Pro_Battery_Charger.html
£230 inc VAT. Does everything...
Tranona
Well-known member
That is a simple, single output charger, not comparable with the proper marine chargers the OP is looking at.
duncan99210
Well-known member
Caravantechnology.com have a series of battery chargers up to 60amps which would appear to do the same job as 'proper marine' ones for about £240 for a 60 amp one. Can't work out how to paste links on the iPad, so that's as close as you get to easy navigation....
GrahamM376
New member
I installed 2 x battery chargers, one to each domestic bank. Bought from caravan spares place, far cheaper than so called "marine" chargers.
Boo2
Well-known member
But read the posts about Sterling support and failures before buying to be sure you're comfortable with them first...
Boo2
Sailfree
Well-known member
Thanks for that good advice as I have been warned that sterling not as good as Victron but best is Christec but they are getting up to £700
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
The web page lists as a feature
Multi-stage Battery Charging
- Stage 1 - Desulphation
Pulse charges to remove sulphate from the battery plates to restore battery performance. - Stage 2 - Soft Start
Controlled build up of the charging process. - Stage 3 - Bulk Charge
80% of the charge applied at maximum charging current. - Stage 4 - Absorption
Charges the battery to 100% with the charge rate reducing to allow the battery to absorb more power. - Stage 5 - Equalisation
Additional charging stage for Calcium batteries - removes acid stratification of the battery. - Stage 6 - Battery Test
Automatically determines the battery condition. - Stage 7 - Recondition
Additional charging stage to recover deeply discharged batteries. - Stage 8 - Float
Maintains the battery at 100% - only applies charge when the battery naturally discharges and charge is required.
That seems reasonably posh.
Tranona
Well-known member
But it can only charge one bank at a time - most marine chargers have at least 2 and sometimes 3 outputs, all of which are programmable. Just pointing out that there are benefits to more expensive units - but if you don't want them then save the money.
Mistroma
Well-known member
I guess the comment about "simple, single output charger" referred to it having only one battery output rather than the multi-stage charging. I imagine that you could get around that by fitting a similar second smaller dedicated charger for the engine battery.
I think that I've seen comments to the effect that multiple battery outlets aren't very sophisticated on most marine chargers. (i.e They all get same "stage" at same time, so same voltage but current obviously varies with each batteries acceptance). I think that even Victron say something like "Each output is capable to supply the full rated current" and I've seen same statement on cheaper chargers. Nothing about being able to program outputs differently for each bank as far as I remember.
I can't say I'd be exactly surprised if a caravan charger was similar to a marine one but at a fraction of the price. Perhaps someone can give chapter & verse on why they aren't (& justify price on small number of units sold).
I think that I've seen comments to the effect that multiple battery outlets aren't very sophisticated on most marine chargers. (i.e They all get same "stage" at same time, so same voltage but current obviously varies with each batteries acceptance). I think that even Victron say something like "Each output is capable to supply the full rated current" and I've seen same statement on cheaper chargers. Nothing about being able to program outputs differently for each bank as far as I remember.
I can't say I'd be exactly surprised if a caravan charger was similar to a marine one but at a fraction of the price. Perhaps someone can give chapter & verse on why they aren't (& justify price on small number of units sold).
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prv
Well-known member
We have an Abso charger (inevitably known as the "ASBO Charger") and I'm fairly sure the outputs are independently controlled. Certainly I had to program each for the size and type of battery connected to it.
Pete
Tranona
Well-known member
Same on my Synergex
GHA
Well-known member
Before buying a pro charge ultra I had a good hunt, one case of a fan staying on, otherwise positive. It's a very good piece of kit.
Manual is a bit slim though.......
LadyInBed
Well-known member
I can't see the need for 60A charger or multi bank o/p. If you do need to charge both banks you could do it by the 1-2-both switch.
The engine battery should hold its charge whilst you are in a marina if it's in reasonable nic.
The house bank shouldn't be drawing much more than 10A in a marina, lights and maybe fridge, I would have thought 5 or 6A nearer the mark! Most heavy consumers should be running direct off mains.
The engine battery should hold its charge whilst you are in a marina if it's in reasonable nic.
The house bank shouldn't be drawing much more than 10A in a marina, lights and maybe fridge, I would have thought 5 or 6A nearer the mark! Most heavy consumers should be running direct off mains.
charles_reed
Active member
But still a single output charger i.e. for only one battery bank.
Personally having bought my (admittedly over-hyped) triple output charger direct from Sterling for less than £160, I fear people confuse the money sellers would like to charge with the money they can reasonably expect to charge.
Looking at the claims - I'd be concerned about the absorption charge - time/volts/amps. If not adjustable it could wreak expensive havoc with certain types of battery.
sailinglegend420
Member
.
This is probably the most important feature of a charger so that you can optimise your battery size and usage so that when the charger drops to float it really is nearly FULLY charged. Most chargers don't measure the actual current going into a bank and don't know the size of the bank, so their time/volts/amps algorithm is designed not to OVERCHARGE a battery, not designed to CHARGE it to 100%. If batteries are not regularly charged to 100% they sulfate and die prematurely.
Other needs of a marine battery charger are:
1. The AC/DC negatives must be isolate to prevent galvanic corrosion.
2. A battery temperature sensor is needed to reduce the charging voltage when the battery overheats - either from extended charging or high ambient temperature. Especially important if sealed batteries are installed in a battery compartment.
3. The charger should be sized for the size of the bank, so 400Ah should have a 100 amp charger. This means that overnight in a marina the batteries might have a chance of actually getting to 100%, even if the the charger does drop down to Float too early. If you run a genset to charge the batteries then the largest shore power charger will mean less genset run time.
4. They must have multi-stage charging and a true Equalisation setting that allows batteries to reach their designed Equalisation voltage for the time specified by the battery manufacturer. Many charger's "Equalisation" mode is really a "Conditioning" mode which just raises the voltage for a short time.
5. It should have a voltage sensor at the battery to compensate for losses on cable runs to the battery.
6. They should be built to withstand the harsh salty marine environment.
Multiple outputs are NOT essential because because many boats will have several other charging sources - alternator - solar - wind, and all these will all have to be fed via some kind of Split Charging system.
This is probably the most important feature of a charger so that you can optimise your battery size and usage so that when the charger drops to float it really is nearly FULLY charged. Most chargers don't measure the actual current going into a bank and don't know the size of the bank, so their time/volts/amps algorithm is designed not to OVERCHARGE a battery, not designed to CHARGE it to 100%. If batteries are not regularly charged to 100% they sulfate and die prematurely.
Other needs of a marine battery charger are:
1. The AC/DC negatives must be isolate to prevent galvanic corrosion.
2. A battery temperature sensor is needed to reduce the charging voltage when the battery overheats - either from extended charging or high ambient temperature. Especially important if sealed batteries are installed in a battery compartment.
3. The charger should be sized for the size of the bank, so 400Ah should have a 100 amp charger. This means that overnight in a marina the batteries might have a chance of actually getting to 100%, even if the the charger does drop down to Float too early. If you run a genset to charge the batteries then the largest shore power charger will mean less genset run time.
4. They must have multi-stage charging and a true Equalisation setting that allows batteries to reach their designed Equalisation voltage for the time specified by the battery manufacturer. Many charger's "Equalisation" mode is really a "Conditioning" mode which just raises the voltage for a short time.
5. It should have a voltage sensor at the battery to compensate for losses on cable runs to the battery.
6. They should be built to withstand the harsh salty marine environment.
Multiple outputs are NOT essential because because many boats will have several other charging sources - alternator - solar - wind, and all these will all have to be fed via some kind of Split Charging system.
charles_reed
Active member
Whilst agreeing with most of the points - I'd suggest an alternative point of view for #3. Most batteries react badly to being charged too fast - even industrial batteries, so despite the urgent need to fully recharge your batteries overnight (How many have a completely flat battery bank, having sailed into the marina) I'd suggest 10% of the battery total capacity (which is what we used specify for FLTs) as being more merciful so in the example quoted a 40 amp battery charger would be more desirable.
I'd go so far as to suggest that multiple output chargers tend to obscure issues - far better to fit a single charger per bank if you must have chargers.
At this time of year, even after 5 days @ anchor, my charger misses out bulk charge completely and only goes into absorption. The Sterling puts out 14.4v @ total of 2.5 amps for 4 hours and no it's NOT smart, even if that is inferred in the sales literature. I suspect that the posters who maintain their units put out separate times/current on each of their absorption outputs are mistaken - just think of all the dip-switches you'd need.
PS Don't be misled by all those sales words - even more than anchors the marketing folk try to mislead poor, gullible purchasers. If it can't be measured it doesn't exist!!!
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john_morris_uk
Well-known member
I agree. Ours has been installed and running perfectly for the last ten years. The previous boat had a Sterling and that ran perfectly as well.
(That's probably put the kiss of death on things now!)
