Battery chargers costs

[charles_reed]

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!)

If 10 years old it's probably not the ProChargeUltra which was only released about 4 years ago. The one I bought off Sterling was the previous Pro-Charge selling cheap as old stock. It was purchased because it was the only unit that fitted the space I had available - downside being they only had 20 amp ones on sale, where I'd have preferred 30 amps.

 

[sailinglegend420]

.... 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 should have added 'go with the battery manufacturer's advice', which in most cases is a maximum charging current of 20% of battery capacity (C). You need to add 5% to have some spare for boat loads and losses! Hence my 100 Amps for a 400Ah bank.

Trojan FLAs are one of the few manufacturers who recommend a charging rate of 10% of C for a longer battery life, and Lifeline AGMs recommend a MINIMUM of 20% C and a maximum of 500% C!

 

[macd]

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...

I've no idea of the quality of that item, but an attractive feature (also of the 25A version at just £130) is that they can be set to lower output ratings, which I presume would allow them to be tailored to smaller petrol generators if desired.

 

[Richard10002]

But read the posts about Sterling support and failures before buying to be sure you're comfortable with them first...

Boo2

My experience with Sterling after sales was poor on the one occasion I've had a need for it.

 

[Jaguar 25]

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.

Quite agree. I use a normal car battery charger with the 1-2-both switch put to 'both'. Haven't had a problem in the past two years.

Am I missing something?

 

[GrahamM376]

Quite agree. I use a normal car battery charger with the 1-2-both switch put to 'both'. Haven't had a problem in the past two years.

Am I missing something?

No, I think those who spend vast sums of money, believing the sales hype are missing something. The two broken multi output chargers I inherited with boats were both single output chargers feeding different banks through diodes so all got the same regime irrespective of requirements/state of charge. That's why I now have separate chargers and can, if necessary, run one at a time if just one bank needs charge. They are rarely used anyway as solar usually keeps up.