[C36IA] Battery Charger-Upgrade

Wed Jun 24 16:37:09 EDT 2009

Yes.   If they steer you to the cheaper product, who am I to argue?     
  ;-)

I really am not familiar with the Charles line, but think some of the 
deluxe features would be wasted in your routine use.

Gene

Bill Hague wrote:
> Gene&Wait,
> Just called tech support at Charles, described our usage, and it was 
> recommended that I go with the 40 amp, 2000 series.When I asked if the 
> 5000 series was worth the price he "indicated" it wasn't.
> Does that sound about right to you?
> Thanks
> Bill
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* Gene Foraker <mailto:gforaker at gmail.com>
>     *Cc:* 'Catalina 36 Association Mailing List'
>     <mailto:c36list at c36ia.com>
>     *Sent:* Wednesday, June 24, 2009 3:31 PM
>     *Subject:* Re: [C36IA] Battery Charger-Upgrade
>
>     Good point, Wait.    I have the same model charger and since our
>     boats are not too far apart, guess that yours is also under the
>     galley sink.   I think water would have to be just about over the
>     floor boards to get to it, but it does worry me.    Way down on my
>     to do list is to move it to a location under the nav table which I
>     want to convert to storage anyway. 
>
>     It might be almost as simple to rotate our charger on to it's
>     side, but I'd have to lengthen all of the cables.
>
>     I think the current models from Xantrex might be different and
>     don't know if Bill has his charger in the same location.
>
>     Gene
>     1999 C36  #1786
>
>     Wait Griswold wrote:
>>     When the original charger failed after a little more than a year of use, I
>>     decided not to pay to replace it with same brand, but got the Xantrex
>>     Trucharge 20 amp model.  
>>
>>     After I installed it, I read about the Charles chargers and wished I had
>>     bought one of them instead.  It has been six years and I am a little fuzzy
>>     on why.  I think the preference was due to an easier installation and better
>>     ventilation.  The Xantrex was longer than the one it replaced and I had to
>>     fabricate a mounting board.  
>>
>>     Now it is coming back.  The extra length of the Xantrex had me worried about
>>     water from the bilge overlapping the charger.  No problems so far, but the
>>     Charles would be several inches higher.
>>
>>     Wait Griswold
>>     C36, 2019
>>
>>     -----Original Message-----
>>     From: c36list-bounces at c36ia.com [mailto:c36list-bounces at c36ia.com] On Behalf
>>     Of Gene Foraker
>>     Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 11:35 AM
>>     To: Catalina 36 Association Mailing List
>>     Subject: Re: [C36IA] Battery Charger-Upgrade
>>
>>     I'm glad to hear you fixed the problem.  What was at fault?
>>
>>     I just have the Xantrex 20 amp model bought at West which works fine at 
>>     a slip.   For using with the Honda 2000 you want to do it as quickly as 
>>     possible, so definitely get a 40 amp model.  I think either of the 
>>     better models should put a full 40 amps into the beasts in the bulk 
>>     stage.   Amps fall off during the last topping up stage (not the 
>>     accurate term) and I think you might want to skip that when using a 
>>     generator.  This will only get the batteries 90% or so charged, but the 
>>     last 10% takes much longer.  
>>
>>     I don't know what features are built into the deluxe models, but suspect 
>>     that it is mainly bells and whistles with multiple banks and constant 
>>     usage, temperature monitoring, etc.   Your main concern will be 
>>     efficiency and output during the bulk stage of charging where those 
>>     things may not matter as much.
>>
>>     If I were never at a dock I think I might want to supplement with wind 
>>     and/or solar chargers.
>>
>>     Gene
>>
>>     Bill Hague wrote:
>>       
>>>     Finally got the GC batteries working. The next project is upgrading 
>>>     the original 20 Amp charger. Carpe Ventum "lives" on a mooring and 
>>>     when we cruise , 5-6 weeks a season, we generally anchor or get a 
>>>     mooring. We have not been in a slip for 6 years.We have the 4 GC 
>>>     batteries and use the Honda 2000 to charge the batteries.
>>>     My recollection is that Charles and Xantrex are the best chargers on 
>>>     the market. Is this correct or are there other good ones?
>>>     Xantrex has a XC series and a TruCharge 2 series. The XC is more 
>>>     expensive , but does this make it better for GC batteries?
>>>     Charles has a 2000SP series and a 5000SP series. The 2000 series is 
>>>     referred to as being "for the value priced", and the 5000SP is more 
>>>     expensive.Is the 5000SP worth the increased cost?
>>>     Finally, what would be the best size charger to charge the GC 
>>>     batteries. I recall , because of the 3 stages, that the batteries, on 
>>>     average, receive about 50% of the rated amps of the charger/hour?
>>>     Ant suggestions/ advice/opinions would be appreciated.
>>>     Thanks
>>>     Bill
>>>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
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>>>       
>>>         
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>>
>>       
>
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