Recommended battery charger replacement - Fairline Targa 37

Lochlomond

Lochlomond

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www.campbellsairconditioning.co.uk
Looking for any advice or recommendation for replacing my battery charger as just got the boat and its not working, guessing its the original that came with the boat 1997/98. Its a Jenelec JE/SM12-50, 50A rated.

I know Jenelec have the same model on their website, guessing this is just an updated version.

Does anyone know if these are any good or recommend another make/model?
 
Will be replacing mine this winter with a Victron multiplus inverter/charger. Nice piece of kit. I have owned one before.
 
Sterling kit is good quality, but Victron and Mastervolt are better imho.

I've installed a Victron charger and helped B1 with his Victron combi Inverter charger, and I was really impressed. If I could afford it, I'd go for the Victron combi. But I can't!!!

Mastervolt kit is top quality too - a friend who makes his living fitting out boats has a massively complex and amazingly capable Mastervolt set up, including gennie, big inverter charger and a network system that' controls everything switching and mixing and matching gennie, shore power and inverter in all sorts of clever ways. Obviously way over the top for a simple charger replacement, but I was seriously impressed with the kit.

If budget is a constraint, go for the sterling gear. It is more than adequate really, and there are hundreds of boats with sterling kit.

My current charger is a waeco, which I would equate with sterling quality, and I'm very happy with.

Would really love a Victron combi though :)
 
Trundlebug said:
There's a good comparison test in the current issue of PBO.

The best charger was Cetek from the ones they tested
Click to expand...

Cetek is good kit - I have one for the car and it seems like it can bring a battery back from the brink of death; in the boat I have a mastervolt that's a good unit, might even be better for larger systems, but the price is steep - I don't think that they have a 50amp unit though. One could possibly fit dual chargers and gain a bit of redundancy.
 
B
rosssavage said:
Sterling kit is good quality, but Victron and Mastervolt are better imho.

I've installed a Victron charger and helped B1 with his Victron combi Inverter charger, and I was really impressed. If I could afford it, I'd go for the Victron combi. But I can't
Mastervolt kit is top quality too - a friend who makes his living fitting out boats has a massively complex and amazingly capable Mastervolt set up, including gennie, big inverter charger and a network system that' controls everything switching and mixing and matching gennie, shore power and inverter in all sorts of clever ways. Obviously way over the top for a simple charger replacement, but I was seriously impressed with the kit.

If budget is a constraint, go for the sterling gear. It is more than adequate really, and there are hundreds of boats with sterling kit.

My current charger is a waeco, which I would equate with sterling quality, and I'm very happy with.

Would really love a Victron combi though :)
Click to expand...

Cheers for the input, a few choices to think about.

Budget not an issue tbh I'm just not one for buying something I don't need when there are cheaper choices more than capable of doing the job, also leaves more pennies for other bits and bobs��
 
Have a working Jenelec JE/SM12-50mk2 sitting on bench in garage (think same as what you have) .
Came out of a Phantom 46.
Use it occasionally for charging the odd battery.
Its mostly taking up space.
Send a PM If its any use to you or helps out at all, as you are welcome to have it.
 
MJGH said:
Have a working Jenelec JE/SM12-50mk2 sitting on bench in garage (think same as what you have) .
Came out of a Phantom 46.
Use it occasionally for charging the odd battery.
Its mostly taking up space.
Send a PM If its any use to you or helps out at all, as you are welcome to have it.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the kind offer but I am going to go down the new route, modern technology and all that.

I've not decided on which charger to go for yet but liking the idea of a charger/inverter.
 
Solitaire said:
Just ordered the Stirling Procharge model number ST/PCU1230 for rxactly the same boat.
Click to expand...

Hi Solitaire, can I ask why you have gone for a 30A charger when I believe the original for this boat is a 50A charger? I like this charger but also the simplicity of the Ctek marine 30 charger but as the Ctek was only 30A I thought it may be insufficient!

Also as this charger and the 50A version come with 3 output cables and the original was only 1 how do you connect this up, is it just 1 output to the original connection and leave the other 2 or a different combination?

Unfortunately electrics are not my strong point!
 
Lochlomond said:
Hi Solitaire, can I ask why you have gone for a 30A charger when I believe the original for this boat is a 50A charger? I like this charger but also the simplicity of the Ctek marine 30 charger but as the Ctek was only 30A I thought it may be insufficient!

Also as this charger and the 50A version come with 3 output cables and the original was only 1 how do you connect this up, is it just 1 output to the original connection and leave the other 2 or a different combination?

Unfortunately electrics are not my strong point!
Click to expand...

This is what has been recommended by my marine electrician who will be fitting it to the client's boat.
 
You need a three output, and yes, some wiring will almost certainly be required if the original was only single output.

Output one - domestics
Output two - engine
Output three - bow thruster (this is what you're missing and would require some long and probably awkward to install cable runs)

30a would work, but the bigger the better - generally 10% of your total capacity.

I have total 600ah and a 45a charger - in theory a little undersize, but it charges in a reasonable time.
 
Ctek have expanded their range, and now have chargers which deal with multiple inputs (solar/wind) and outputs to 600Ah.


http://ctek.com/gb/en/chargers/12v


I have the 300 for 3 x 110Ah banks, and it is more than competent at bringing up the two domestics from 12.2v (very approximately 40% charge) to full.
 
The Jenelec 50 amp charger on our T34 died. Replaced it with a Ctek M300, and all is fine.

It was very easy to fit, and is a fraction of the size of the old Jenelec.

Even though its only got half the output of the Jenelec, I've really not noticed any difference at all.

I think a 50 amp charger on a T34 / T37 is a bit overkill.
 
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