Views on alternator to battery charging systems?

[sailorman]

I have used Sterling's digital alternator regulators on a motorhome and boat and they do work well and if they fail, the alternator will continue to work. But I would never buy any expensive item from them....

I spent £279 on their 30amp triple output mains charger which blew up (literally) about 10months out of warranty. No spare parts were available so the best Sterling offered was a discount off its replacement. (another £229)

When Sterling increase their warranty to 3 years on expensive products then I might reconsider, but no way would I risk several hundred pounds on anything with a 1 or two year warranty when its likely that any repair won't be possible.

(You'd be even more mad to think about fitting an inverter-charger - if that fails, you've lost your inverter and your battery charger.)

Adverc after sales chaps are brilliant & very helpful, they even call you back.
The chap who altered my alternator ( i have done one 30 yrs ago but decided best part with some beer vouchers this time) whwi i asked him, the first thing he said was "Its not a Sterling is it" no i said to which he said good i will do it

 

[ianc1200]

I have a Sterling A2B and am not over impressed. Had it now for 5 seasons, seems to work as described in the manual, but I have a Sterling Amp/hour counter and a SmartGauge, and the output, whilst initially high, seems to tail off quickly anything over 75% of the battery bank capacity. Have wondered about installing Smartbank instead.

 

[Mistroma]

I have a Sterling A2B and am not over impressed. Had it now for 5 seasons, seems to work as described in the manual, but I have a Sterling Amp/hour counter and a SmartGauge, and the output, whilst initially high, seems to tail off quickly anything over 75% of the battery bank capacity. Have wondered about installing Smartbank instead.

I have Smartbank Advanced as there was a deal on and I didn't add too much over cost of the Smartgauge. It replaced the original diode splitter and removes that source of voltage drop. However, the "smart" part seems to consist of electronics designed to decide on when to connect all banks when charging and avoid chatter so that they only disconnect when not being charged. It works well enough but obviously means all batteries see the same charge voltage from the alternator. It doesn't control charging by altering the charge voltage so won't decrease your charging time.

So Smartbank Advanced will only reduce your charging times if your charge splitting system is introducing a large voltage drop. However, you can modify the alternator and use Smartgauge to control the boosted the output. http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/alt_float.html

I use a mod. they suggested to control the battery compartment vent fan and it works perfectly. I've been meaning to do the alternator mod. but haven't had time yet.

 

[pvb]

I have a Sterling A2B and am not over impressed. Had it now for 5 seasons, seems to work as described in the manual, but I have a Sterling Amp/hour counter and a SmartGauge, and the output, whilst initially high, seems to tail off quickly anything over 75% of the battery bank capacity. Have wondered about installing Smartbank instead.

What charge voltage are the batteries getting?

 

[charles_reed]

I have Smartbank Advanced as there was a deal on and I didn't add too much over cost of the Smartgauge. It replaced the original diode splitter and removes that source of voltage drop. However, the "smart" part seems to consist of electronics designed to decide on when to connect all banks when charging and avoid chatter so that they only disconnect when not being charged. It works well enough but obviously means all batteries see the same charge voltage from the alternator. It doesn't control charging by altering the charge voltage so won't decrease your charging time.

So Smartbank Advanced will only reduce your charging times if your charge splitting system is introducing a large voltage drop. However, you can modify the alternator and use Smartgauge to control the boosted the output. http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/alt_float.html

I use a mod. they suggested to control the battery compartment vent fan and it works perfectly. I've been meaning to do the alternator mod. but haven't had time yet.

May be some confusion here between Smartbank and Smartpass. Ctek produce the Smartpass, which is (as far I can make out) a single outlet A2B charger. Smartbank is nowhere claimed by Ctek and seems to be a term used by a number of suppliers for a VCR (or in some cases a MOSFET) relay assembly.
Smartguage appears to be a battery guage offered by Merlin Electrics, who do not appear to offer an A2B charger like either Sterling or Ctek. This latter takes the DC output from the alternator - converts it to AC as a first step and then operate just like a "smart" shorepower charger, going through bulk/equalisation/float charges.
It appears counter-intuitive to me that any unit carrying out 3 current conversions can operate as efficiently as one conversion (as one has with an external controller on your alternator) of DC to AC.
Mine is a 26 year-old system - the external Adverc controller (renewed in 2012) is regularly frying alternators (3 in 3 years) and the 3 way diode splitter introduces a 0.3-0.7 drop in volts, so I'd like to get rid of it - a 3-outlet A2B charger appeared to be a possibility - but I'm neither persuaded by theory or attracted by price.
I have no pressing need for power - anchored for 5 days with computer and fridge before needing to recharge, so I continue to look for effective solutions.

 

[pvb]

Read Mr Sterling's product description and you will see the A2B is designed to only run for 15 minutes before "resting" for 2.5 to 3 minutes. So 15% of it's running time it is not charging the house bank, only gently topping up the starter bank - great design Mr Sterling!!!!!!! This must be to allow the alternator to cool down, although Mr Sterling doesn't use those words, he calls it resting. In old product brochures he had graphs that clearly showed this feature. He has modified these graphs now to hide the true operation of the unit.

Not entirely correct. Early versions were said by Sterling to turn off the boost function for 3 minutes every 20 minutes. Sterling said this was to provide "additional charge capacity for the starter battery". However, when this happened, the domestic bank did still receive charging, just not at a boosted level. Current models make no mention of this feature, so I'd consider the newer units don't operate in this way, rather than Sterling deciding to "hide" how they work.

 

[pvb]

May be some confusion here between Smartbank and Smartpass. Ctek produce the Smartpass, which is (as far I can make out) a single outlet A2B charger. Smartbank is nowhere claimed by Ctek and seems to be a term used by a number of suppliers for a VCR (or in some cases a MOSFET) relay assembly.
Smartguage appears to be a battery guage offered by Merlin Electrics.

No confusion - SmartBank is a VSR type product made by SmartGauge, and is designed to operate in conjunction with the SmartGauge monitor.

http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/smartbank.html

 

[Mistroma]

May be some confusion here between Smartbank and Smartpass. Ctek produce the Smartpass, which is (as far I can make out) a single outlet A2B charger. Smartbank is nowhere claimed by Ctek and seems to be a term used by a number of suppliers for a VCR (or in some cases a MOSFET) relay assembly.
Smartguage appears to be a battery guage offered by Merlin Electrics, who do not appear to offer an A2B charger like either Sterling or Ctek.

No confusion as PVB says, I wasn't talking about Smartpass. "ianc1200" said he had Smartgauge and was considering Smartbank (which would then be a Smartbank Advanced unit working with his Smartgauge).

...the output, whilst initially high, seems to tail off quickly anything over 75% of the battery bank capacity. Have wondered about installing Smartbank instead.

I just wanted to point out that Smartbank is a VSR type system (as PVB says) and so would not change the way his charge rate is tailing off. However, it does offer a possible method of controlling charge voltage if he modifies connection to his alternator regulator. Basically, Smartgauge can then be used to turn boost on/off as required.

 

[woolfie]

Hello all,

Am will soon fit a Sterling AtoB (AB12130) at the same time that I will install new AGM service batteries.

On the side, I have an old charger (Mastervolt IVOsmart) which is not ideal for charging AGM's (as it doesn't deliver more than 14.25 V in bulk)

Could I set the charger on "permanent float" (13.25 V) and connect it to the input of the AtoB (together with the alternator).

Thanks for your help

 

[jac]

Hello all,

Am will soon fit a Sterling AtoB (AB12130) at the same time that I will install new AGM service batteries.

On the side, I have an old charger (Mastervolt IVOsmart) which is not ideal for charging AGM's (as it doesn't deliver more than 14.25 V in bulk)

Could I set the charger on "permanent float" (13.25 V) and connect it to the input of the AtoB (together with the alternator).

Thanks for your help

One to really ask sterling but iirc the sterling AtoB instructions do say that you can have multiple inputs. The only question I would have would be does the charger have any kind of voltage sensing as that might get very confused as it responds to the sterlings demands.

 

[woolfie]

The solution

One to really ask sterling but iirc the sterling AtoB instructions do say that you can have multiple inputs. The only question I would have would be does the charger have any kind of voltage sensing as that might get very confused as it responds to the sterlings demands.

Well, I just did ask Sterling (they responded within 30 minutes... WOW)

My shorepower charger has a setting to be forced to float at 13.25 V.
If set like that, there is no problem to connect it to the input of the AtoB (together with the engine alternator), as the charger with just deliver a continuous regulated voltage.

The only reservation is that the AtoB needs to be able to cope with current coming from both (in case alternator and charger both deliver amps ...) but then I just need to get the AB12130 (whic even leaves me with some room).

I'm glad this will work, it saves me from buying a new charger !