[C320-list] Replacement battery charger

[JJ Morrison]

The Xantrex True Charge 2(40A) is a smart charger which will charge up to 3 banks of batteries at the same time; no need for manual switching. I have this charger and am completely happy with it. My boat is set up with the alternator going through the Master switch so it has to be on "both" to charge both. I rarely use it as I have a solar panel(185W) which keeps up with all the consumers on my boat. You might consider this sometime down the road as I almost never now use the mains charger or the alternator.CheersJohnM1999#574

> From: dickwalker at att.net
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com; c320-list at lists.catalina320.com
> Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:12:08 -0800
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Replacement battery charger
> 
> See My Comments Below 
> 
> A great electrical set up is described on the C320 web site,
> 
> Electrical set up is a bit like a religion you will find many solutions.
> 
> 
> 
> Dick Walker
> WindWalker II
> C-320  #687 Yesr 2000 Model
> Coronado YC, CA
> 619.435.8986
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: C320-list [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf
> Of Graeme Clark
> Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 10:09 AM
> To: c320-list at lists.catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Replacement battery charger
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> A few months ago I bought a C320, hull #366, as sole owner, having
> previously owned a one third share in another (#303)
> 
> I have what i guess is the "standard' arrangement of the time (1996) namely
> two batteries, each 180Ah and a 1-Both-2-off rotary switch with a Fly-Tec
> 20-3 mains powered charger.
> 
> The previous owner never went near shore power (well almost never) so when
> we connected everything and looked at voltages, I noticed that the charger
> is "unwell". It delivers 15.8V to the batteries which is way too much. I
> think the charging regime from the Fly-Tec is supposed to give about 14.8v
> initially then reducing to a lower voltage and eventually even a lower float
> charge.
> 
> So - a replacement is needed. No big deal EXCEPT that technology has moved
> on a lot in the intervening 20-or-so years since the Fly-Tec was state of
> the art, and therefore my questions are:
> 
> 1) is a 20 Amp charger still what's needed. More Amps = more $, so maybe a
> modern charger will do the same job on lower amps. Or maybe I need more
> Amps?
> I would get the Xantrex TrueCharge2 40 Amp Charger, 40A Capacity, 12V.  You
> may want to get a Honda generator and the 40 amp would be good.  I have had
> the previous Xantrex model for 15 years and it has operated fine.
> 
> 
> 2)  Should I be charging both batteries together, or one at a time. If one
> at a time would a VSR (Voltage Sensing Relay) be a good idea so that one
> battery gets charged before the other (I suspect not because surely the
> output voltage of the charger will trigger the relay, no matter how flat the
> battery, and both will end up being charged together anyway)
> [Dick Walker] 
> 
> I would set up the system as follows.
> 
> ON Battery 1 on the selector have the Group 27 Starting Battery
> On Group 2 have to AGM Batteries in parallel. 
> Use a  CHARLES MARINE Marine Multi-Battery Isolator to separate the charge
> between group 1 and 2.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 3) On my old (shared) C320 the set up - rightly or wrongly - was that the
> engine alternator charged only battery 1 and the shore charger only battery
> 2 and if you wanted to cross charge you needed to set rotary switch to
> 'Both'. Is this normal? Advantages and disadvantages of this arrangement?
> [Dick Walker] 
> See above.  This is a poor set up,  You should not need to manually change
> the selector.
> 
> 4) being in Britain we don't have need for AC and only a slight need for
> refrigeration but our boat is not kept where it can be left permanently
> plugged in to shore power and so  we plug in whenever we can get alongside
> but often go for two or three days using battery only. There's normally some
> motoring to help keep the batteries topped up and we have an advanced smart
> charging system via the alternator but its probably accurate to say that the
> battery will rarely reach full charge through motoring alone. I am aware
> that battery life is extended by keeping the battery fully charged and not
> left in a state of discharge for  extended periods of time, so a smart mains
> charger that fully charges the batteries as fast as is practical would seem
> to be sensible. Thoughts on that?
> [Dick Walker] 
> I keep the shore power on when we are not underway.  In addition I usually
> shut off all except the bilge pump.
> 
> Many thanks and here's to great sailing for everyone in 2015
> 
> Graeme
>