battery management

[anabel]

Anyone out there got battery management/smart regulator system on their boat. Would be interested in hearing what you have & how it is set up & your views on it. Am having a little difficulty in keeping by batteries fully charged. Have 12 hp Beta engine with A127 Lucas alternator and two 80 AH batteries. Boat is 26 ft sail on which I spend every w/e during the summer.

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[philip_stevens]

I've got two 105Ah batteries on my Konsort, charged by a 40A alternator. The charge booster I have fitted is a Driftgate 2000 unit. It is well worth fitting one, and their site is <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.dg2k.co.uk>http://www.dg2k.co.uk</A>

There are quite a few on the market, all do the same job in their own ways, but I am well satisfied with the DG2K unit and advice from them when or if required.

Mine is the bottom of the range, but more than adequate for what it does.

<hr width=100% size=1>regards,
Philip

 

[johnwest]

Have a chat with the guys at Adverc. Always helpful.


john

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[LadyInBed]

Have a look at:
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sterling-power.com/html/products.htm> Sterling </A>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.adverc.co.uk/> Adverc </A>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://batterytender.chainreactionweb.com/> Batterytender </A>
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.dg2k.co.uk/> Driftgate </A>
Mine is a Sterling, you just fit and forget.

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[snowleopard]

Adverc v Sterling

Would be interested to hear an expert views on the very different logic used by adverc & sterling.

adverc pushes out 14.5v then drops it to 14v fo 5 mins in every 20. it keeps on doing this regardless of how full the batteries are and how long you run the engine.

sterling on the other hand has the standard 3-step charging, dropping to a float voltage of 13.5 once fully charged.

i have an adverc system and was surprised to find it didn't gas off all my electrolyte. what i have found however is that the charging current drops off as the charge level rises as opposed to the constant-current of the 3 stage chargers.

any advice?

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[boatone]

Before rushing off and spending money on a management system you should check out a few things as you have a relatively simple set up.
1. Are batteries in parallel or seperate?
2. If seperate, is there a blocking diode in circuit or do you just switch between them with a 1-both-2 switch?
3. How far is it from alternator to battery posts?
4. What size (thickness) is the cable between alternator and battery?
5.As you are a sailing boat how long do you run engine for to keep batteries charged?
6. With engine running, connect a digital voltmeter between the positive on the alternator and the positive battery terminal - the reading will tell you the voltage drop in the circuit and if it is more than 0.2 or 0.3 volts you will not be getting best charge to the battery. If you have a blocking diode this difference could well be more than 1 volt and you'll never get the battery up to full charge.

Check these things out and come back foir stage 2 !

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[pvb]

Re: Adverc v Sterling

In practice, there isn't much difference between them.

The Sterling Universal Digital alternator regulator is described as a constant current device, but of course this only applies until the battery voltage rises to 14.4/14.8v (depending on battery type) after which the voltage is held steady and the charging current tails off. After a while (and I don't have a clue how the Sterling decides this time) the voltage drops to 14.0v (not 13.5v) as a float voltage, with virtually no charging current.

The Adverc regulator boosts the alternator output to maximise charging, until the batteries reach 14.5v and then, as you say, cycles between this voltage and 14.0v. In the time before the batteries reach 14.5v, the Adverc is similarly working effectively as a constant current device, because (like the Sterling) it's pushing out the maximum current which the batteries will accept.

Both units retain the use of the alternator's own regulator, as a fail-safe measure.

The Adverc may have an advantage in that it has a sort of "soft start" feature, which means the boost cycle doesn't start for 5 minutes, and I think only when the batteries have reached 13.5v.

Both products are good, and some sort of smart regulator is essential on most cruising boats. Like you, I have an Adverc and find that it works very well.

If I were buying a smart regulator today, I'd probably also consider the Balmar and Xantrex products.

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[charles_reed]

Re: Adverc v Sterling

The Adverc also has an electrolyte temperature sensor on the No 1 battery, which cuts the voltage when the temperature rises.

Prior to having the Adverc, I used to get two seasons out of a battery, since fitting the Adverc the last battery I changed was the 11 year-old domestic which had one cell not recovering after the annual full discharge cycle.

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[tjc]

I have just fitted an Adverc - yet to be used - and charge through a blocking diode. Does anybody why the adverc seems to charge only one battery and the other is charged normally (I think). The Adverc is connected to the service battery terminal on the diode which they tell you to do.

BTW Adverc are extremely helpful.

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[steel_slug]

I fitted an Adverc 3 years ago and it has transformed the battery charging. Guys at Adverc very helpful and unit easy to fit to a lucas A127. Only one wire to fit to the regulator and if you are not confident about soldering to the regulator brush terminal Adverc will supply a regulator with the wire fitted,(you can the keep the old reg as a spare). Had one problem after about a year , the unit was not stepping thru the right sequences, so i took the readings as detailed in their instructions, rang them and they suggested a cure which solved problem so all in all Im satisfied with the unit.

HTH
Paul M

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[pvb]

So does the Sterling...

The Sterling Universal Digital regulator comes complete with one battery temperature sensor. The Pro version has 2 temperature sensors as standard - one intended to monitor alternator temperature.

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[pvb]

Adverc connection...

The connection to the service battery terminal is the voltage-sensing lead, which enables the Adverc to control the alternator to allow for the voltage drop which occurs across the blocking diode.

However, the voltage sensing lead should really be connected directly to the battery terminal. There are 2 reasons for this: 1) so that it monitors the actual voltage at the battery, and 2) because the lead has a temperature sensor in it, which adjusts the charging voltage according to the ambient temperature around the battery.

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