Help with Sterling Battery Charger

[halcyon]

Why would you want to leave it on all the time? Why not charge the batteries and then turn it off?

Leaving batteries on float charge for long periods, say over winter, is not good for them, which is why we introduced a maintenance stage in our chargers back in the 1990's.

Float charge was introduced to provide a DC power supply, when using the boat connected to shore power while not boiling the batteries.

Better to fit a programmable timer and run the charger for 4 / 6 hours every two weeks.

Brian

 

[aquaholic]

It was probably unfair of me to vent my irritation in the way I did and so I apologise.

It does get to me that people seem quite happy to admit to things like " I can't do sums" but would be acutely embarrassed to say " I cant read". It's a reflection of our increasingly technophobic society which doesnt value science in the way that it should or indeed needs to do to survive. An understanding of electricity at a simple level ought to be part of the basic school curriculum instead maybe of wasting time on the arts. And 12v electrics is about as basic as it gets.

I accept that this is rapidly becoming an opinionated rant, but I recall chatting to a bunch of fellow Brits who had cruised as far as the north Spanish coast. I was astounded to hear three of them bemoaning the boat problems they had, how the yard should have dealt with them before they left, and what were they expected to do now they were in an area which then was without marine services. The jobs were simple. Indeed one later job I had to do to help one guy was to re-wire his boat after a battery fire. He ( a surgeon) was apparently incapable of doing it himself. IMO basic skills like wiring and engine maintenance are needed by every cruising sailor.

But as I said, apologies for venting my grumpiness on you.

No need to apologise although I appreciate the gesture, you are of course right that I should know more about charging systems, it's just that It holds no real interest for me, but maybe now I will make more of an effort to read up and understand the system now I have a had a telling off

 

[NickRobinson]

The surgeon you met was probably impressed by your ability to rewire his boat but completely bewildered by the mess you made of a triple heart bypass

Interesting- really a surgeon is a skilled, apprenticed manual worker or technician. So he (or she ) should be a practical person.

We are so afraid to admit that professionals get well paid (sorry, remunerated ) but saying 'vocational' means the underclass...

Mum 'ad a chip shop... I 'ad a garage... (OK, I do teach maffs now...)

Nick

 

[RIBW]

Thanks for all of you who responded with helpfull advice, its much appreciated.

In answer to your question....Nope, I make no excuses for my lack of understanding of battery chargers or associated gadgets, and dont see why i should

I have no excuse ( a postgrad degree in electronics) but I still found the instructions for a very similar Sterling charger poorly written and baffling. I was so concerned that my installed charging regime was not right that I eventually de-installed the charger, bench tested it, re-wrote the instructions and added clear set up diagrams to the unit case. After all that, I am still not absolutely sure how my set up individually treats the two batteries it charges. As part of this exercise, I looked at alternatives and found the Ctek range to be clearly described and highly functional. I also received a swift professional reply to an email question. When the time comes, I will be buying Ctek.

The nitty gritty is that we apply the charger 'occasionally' but for long enough for the charger to go through its timed cycle, which is where the position of the switch settings for the type and use of battery needs to be known.

On a day-to-day basis we leave two very small solar panels connected individually to each battery to combat self-discharge.

If you think a copy of my re-written instructions would be helpful, please send me a PM with your direct email address.
Good Luck
Bob

 

[LittleShip]

It's the same as the one I have on Little Ship and I leave mine charging when away. Last set of batteries lasted 8 years.

I also spoke to Sterling in the past and they confirmed that it was unlikely to boil a correctly filled and good condition battery.

Tom