[C320-list] ProMariner Problem

[Jeff Church]

I spoke to ProMariner today. They told me that the unit should be replaced. 
They offered a discount of 50% off retail for the same unit, which comes to 
$254. I'll pass on that (bad) deal and look at a Xantrex charger. Probably 
either the Truecharge 20+ or the newer XC3012. It appears that the XC3012 
will monitor and charge 3 battery banks completely independently, so if I 
add a group 24 starter it won't be overcharged.

While I'm at it, I'll also install a Link 20 monitor.

Thanks for the info.

Jeff


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charles Greenwell" <CGreenwell at sparusa.com>
To: <C320-List at catalina320.com>
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 8:39 AM
Subject: [C320-list] ProMariner Problem


I replaced the ProMariner after it went bad and fried my second set of 
batteries.  The symptoms were similar to what you described.

I installed a Freedom Marine 20.  It was a little over kill but I was 
thinking about future growth. I shopped around and found it on sale at 
Hamilton Marine.  I took their sale ad into Boat US/West Marine and they 
matched the price.  This saved me $50 in shipping cost.

The only issue I had was that the ProMariner was a 2 bank charger and the 
Freedom Marine is a single bank charger.  The positive wires for charging 
run directly to the batteries, bypassing the battery switch.  While at first 
this seemed to be OK, what I discovered is that you could no longer isolate 
battery one from two since both charging lines were connected to the same 
terminal on the Freedom Marine.

So, I had to decide if I wanted to add a starting battery and forget about 
the need to isolate my batteries or move the charging wires from the 
batteries to the battery switch.  The Freedom Marine 20 has a 15A echo 
charger for the dedicated starting battery.

I decided to move the cables to the switch since I did not see a need for 
the dedicated starting battery as others have.  However, this was not a 
simple task since one of the wires was too short.

Anyway it is done and I am happy with it.  It is nice to have a little AC 
when out to run my PC and other small devices, like fans.

Randy
Le Bijou - #719


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