Cheapskate 24V charging

[Andrew_Fanner]

Pretty clueless on 24V setups and have just bought one, with boat attached. There does not appear to be any form of shorepower battery charger and all those in the chandlery with 24V stamped thereon do appear to be second mortgage prices. Am I making a serious foulup if I consider 2 x 12V charges designed for caravans, so say 10A jobs, each connected to one half of the 24V pair, such that each 12V bit gets charged, even though they bare still in series as a 24V battery bank?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gumpy]

That could go horribly wrong.........
One half charged the other not etc.

Have a look here:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/KIPOINT-Power-I...0QQftidZ2QQtZkm
I have one of their 50amp 12v chargers and it works a treat charging my 225Ah 12v bank.

Their inverters are very similar to the sterling ones I will say no more than that.

As with everything from the far east you take your chance but I have yet to have a duff unit.

Julian

 

[games]

Question 14

http://www.ctek.com/en/faq2.html

No expert and this may only apply to Ctek.

I have 24v and have just ordered one of these

http://www.ctek.com/en/MXT14000/features_benefits.asp

Will not know for a while if it is any good.

 

[andyball]

Hi Andrew

if the 24V bank does just starter/winch/thruster - Don't waste any time or money - It'll be fine w/o a charger in my exp.

our boat has 12V domestic, and sep 24V bank as above - I considered chargers & being tight-wad, thought wait n see. No issues at all in 3yrs owned, even after 2months + un-used.

 

[ggt9]

I'd have said no off the top of my head but now I'm not so sure. As well as games' example, I found this American site which clearly says:

>>>
We stock both the single output 24v charge maintainer and double output 24v charge maintainer for your shopping convenience. Most applications requiring a 24v charger use two separate 12v outputs which charge each battery in the series.

The dual option 24v battery charger is particularly popular for marine and heavy equipment use. Most aircraft applications use single 24v battery chargers.
>>>

so it looks as if you can stuff 12V into each battery.

I've not had to find out because all I've done so far is just take my 2 x 12Vs off the boat when it comes out of the water and charge them separately with a decent car charger... they've been fine in between but I do use the boat regularly, they were new batteries 18 months ago and I've very little domestic consumption.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Andrew

if the 24V bank does just starter/winch/thruster - Don't waste any time or money - It'll be fine w/o a charger in my exp.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wondered and as an experiment, shut off the 24V. Howls of annoyance from the cabins confirmed that all the lights had gone out and the Eberspacher went into shut down too. That leaves me wanting 24V from shorepower, and that will do a proper Shoreline Danfoss fridge too so I can dump the Electrolux.

 

[Divemaster1]

Bought a single, switchable (12/24V) charger from autosave ... 16A Draper as far as I remember ... worked a treat and was not too expensive.

 

[pyrojames]

What about Sterling. They appear to do 24v chargers from £85. I have a 12v one which has been fine so far.

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]
Pretty clueless on 24V setups and have just bought one, with boat attached. There does not appear to be any form of shorepower battery charger and all those in the chandlery with 24V stamped thereon do appear to be second mortgage prices. Am I making a serious foulup if I consider 2 x 12V charges designed for caravans, so say 10A jobs, each connected to one half of the 24V pair, such that each 12V bit gets charged, even though they bare still in series as a 24V battery bank?

Thanks in advance.

[/ QUOTE ]

Forget about all that and get yourself to a Truck service / supply company. Trucks have 24V systems and you'll find multi-voltage chargers with auto / manual regulator .... and at decent prices.
A truck company is NOT going to buy cheapo crud when their livelihood depends on it.

We used to charge our truck series 12v batterys (24v bank) by connecting 12v charger to one battery only ... but it was slow !! So finally I bit the bullet and bought a manual regulator job that you decide what ampage you want ... it charges 6, 12 or 24V set-ups based on position of switch. Cost was £60 ... and boy does it do the job well !

Or go Marine and pay a lot more for basically same machine ... or as some stuff I've seen across marine counters - less quality - higher price !! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[halcyon]

[ QUOTE ]
Am I making a serious foulup if I consider 2 x 12V charges designed for caravans, so say 10A jobs, each connected to one half of the 24V pair, such that each 12V bit gets charged,

[/ QUOTE ]

A simple answer is yes you can do it, we have designed and manufactured some in the past. It can be done, it is mind bending, it needs setting up correctly, and you need a suitable control system.

It would be easier to buy a 24 volt charger, LSUK do cheap ones if you plan light duty, or you can spend mega bucks if you need lots of power for long periods.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

I see that 24V charging from the likes of Sterling is the thick end of £400 so LSUK looks a way forward. It seems that 24V chargers are pretty low current, I'm used to slapping a 20A charger on the car but rarely took it to the boat as there was an 8A one on board.

 

[Bodach na mara]

My Renown has a 24 volt system and my charging system when shore power is available is two car-type chargers as suggested at first. I connect one to each battery. I did wonder if either of them had the negative lead connected to mains earth, which would be a no-no, but it seems they are not made that way. What was proposed is a perfectly feasible solution.

I have been interested in the other posts however, as I have meant to replace the two chargers (with attendant spaghetti or wiring to be connected each time) with a proper 24 volt one, permanently installed and connected via a switch. I drew the line at the £200+ prices I had found and even thought of making one. I will follow up some of the suggestions.

 

[Bodach na mara]

Just looked at the CTEC http://www.ctek.com/en/faq2.html site suggested in the second reply and found the relevant question:

"14. Can I charge a 24V system with two serial connected 12V chargers?
Answer:
Yes, this is perfectly ok and is actually preferable for the batteries. Connect a charger for each battery."

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]
Just looked at the CTEC http://www.ctek.com/en/faq2.html site suggested in the second reply and found the relevant question:

"14. Can I charge a 24V system with two serial connected 12V chargers?
Answer:
Yes, this is perfectly ok and is actually preferable for the batteries. Connect a charger for each battery."

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe so ... but consider cost of two 12v Chargers ... and then the risk of getting it wrong.

Now go to a Truck Service place and check out 24V chargers ....

Having gone the 12v route previously - I know what I prefer - having forked out 60 quid for a proper 24v job ... there is no comparison in my mind. Little chance of error and I get my full charge banging in ...

Why have doubts and why 200 quid when kit is available at less price but quality ... as I said no truck driver / company is going to trust cheapo gear ... and they also have a market force to keep prices sensible ..... unlike the marine !!

Heres the item I bought from a Truck service agent ... 60 quid (RRP here was 75 ... ) ... 2 yr warranty ect.

http://www.gys.fr/pdf/datasheet/uk/024069.pdf



While there at the dealers - check out their 24v gear as well ... heaters, micro-waves, radios ... etc. etc. and of course not forgetting batterys !