Intelligent battery charger

[mrousseau]

I have read the past thread on this topic but could not find an answer.  We purchased a new Catalina in 2007 and yesterday I noticed that my battery charger would not stop although I was plugged to shore power.  I then stopped the charger and this morning check the levels of my two batteries to notice that the levels were low but could not see the metal plates.  I get the feeling that I probably could have fried my batteries if not turning off the charger.  I was told that this in an intellegent charger and it will turn on and off when needed.  We have filled the battery level to where it should be but we now need to find the reason why the charger is not working properly.

Does anyone have experience with this and could suggest what to look for.

This is greatly appreciated.

Moondance II
Hull 1776 

[Stu Jackson]

mr, we need a LOT more information than "I was told that this in an intellegent charger..."

What charger is it? Make and model #.

[Ted Pounds]

Start by checking the voltage on your batteries.   They should be around 12.5 volts.   If one is bad (shorted cell maybe) that will cause the charger to run continuously.   Also what is the brand and model of your charger?

[mrousseau]

The brand of the charger is Charles 5000 SP Series.

[Stu Jackson]

mr

A few suggestions

1.  As recommended, you should plan some time at the boat measuring voltages and TIME with your charger.  If it was my boat and my charger, I'd leave the boat unplugged for at least a day with the fridge running to get the amp hours down by about 60 ah so you'd know for sure that the charger would have to be operating properly.

2.  Reading the charger manual would tell you how long each stage of the charger's charging regimen would expect to be operating (i.e., bulk, absorption, then to float).  With the voltages and the times with a battery that needs to be charged, you'd have enough information to understand whether it's working properly or not.

3.  Check the water level in the banks and do a hydrometer reading on the cells preferably after it's been unplugged.

4.  If you haven't, check out some of these links

www.amplepower.com  read the Ample Power Primer - you can download it

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4352.0.html  - very good, recent battery charger analysis by our very own John Nixon

That article has a number of links that I recommend you read as well.

Do a search on "Charles Redux"  just like that with the " marks.  We discussed Charles chargers over the years.

Please get back to us with what you've found.

[Stu Jackson]

In addition, you noted:

"I was told that this in an intelligent charger and it will turn on and off when needed.  We have filled the battery level to where it should be but we now need to find the reason why the charger is not working properly."

By turning off, they could well have meant going into FLOAT mode (see the Ample Power primer for a description of that phase of charging).  The charger's still ON, but at a low voltage and amperage.  These new chargers just don't turn off.

Don't know WHY the acid (water) level was low.  Could be from earlier misuse, and no preventative maintenance, OR maybe just lately from the charger.  We just don't know.  As long as the level was above the plates, perhaps all you're experiencing is NORMAL maintenance for your batteries with a perfectly good charger.  When was th last time you checked the levels?

[Jon Schneider]

By turning off, they could well have meant going into FLOAT mode (see the Ample Power primer for a description of that phase of charging).  The charger's still ON, but at a low voltage and amperage.  These new chargers just don't turn off.

This depends on the charger.  On my Xantrex XC3012, the float stage is usually zero, but goes up to 5a depending on time since charging.

[Stu Jackson]

This link to the Charles 5000 SP which is on mr's boat says nothing about turning off, which only the newest Xantrex that Jon recently purchased, does.  That's unique, so far, in the industry.

Link:  http://www.charlesindustries.com/main/ma_batchcch_ad2.html

Another thing for mr to note during his investigation is the amperage readings.  I would make a little chart of amps, volts and time for diagnostic purposes.  The ammeter is right on the charger.

I note that it has "internal temperature compensation" which is pretty ludicrous, since if the batteries start overheating, the charger will have no way of knowing that.  Adjustable and user settable temperature ranges for charger operations, coupled with a remote battery temperature sensor, used by other manufacturers, appear to be preferable from an operationally safety viewpoint.