Battery Charger Mounting Location

[beang]

I am in the process of upgrading Freya's electrical system after my "Professional Mariner" charger took a powder.  The TRUEcharge 20 manual says that it must be installed vertically as it doesn't have a fan and is cooled by convection.  My plan was to suspend it under the top of the hanging closet next to the chart table.  Has anyone done this or do you have any alternate mounting places?

[Captain Bob]

George, with a little patience and lying on your back for a bit you can fit the True Charge 20 in the same location as the Pro Mariner, under the sink under the waste basket. It will fit vertically and this has the advantage of keeping the cable runs short and not using extra closet space. You are still able to monitor the indicator lights and get to any areas to service.

[SteveLyle]

under the chart table, against the hanging locker bulkhead.  It's a short run for #10 wire through the liner underneath the distribution panel to the battery side of the main switch - you've got #4 cables from there to the batteries, so there's plenty of conductor.  The charger is a nice fit there, it's never gotten in my way.

[captran]

The true charge 20 is the same size as the 40.  When our promariner gave up the ghost this past summer we ordered the 40 in the Bahamas and installed it in the same location as the old charger.  We added a thin piece of plywood to the existing plywood square behind the old promariner,extending it down alittle farther than the original plywood,  which gave us a flush surface.  Otherwise the top 2x2 comes out further than the plywood.  We took off the waste basket shelf and added a 2x2 on top of the original 2x2.  We had to cut the waste basket about an inch so that it still fit when we re-installed the shelf.  The reason we didnt move the location to the hanging locker by the chart table is we did not want to give up the storage space.  We previously made the sliding shelf unit from the projects page to use as our pantry, as we needed the space for 2 months supplies.  We're very please with the installation, though it was a tight space to work in.

[rdavison]

Our ferro-resonant charger was mounted vertically at the back of the hanging locker so we screwed on a longer piece of wood to accomodate the longer Truecharge 20 and installed it there.  Works fine and was easy as the wires were already there.  Only difficulty was working at full arm extension and one shoulder in the locker.

Randy Davison  k7voe

[rirvine]

George:

Welcome to the club.  Mine went last year and took the batteries with it â€" expensive failure indeed.   I have installed a Truecharge 20 in the same location â€" under the trash can.   Yes, it is a tight fit but worth the effort to same space in other areas.   One note, once you have sent the battery type and temperature switches, tape them over so that do not get bumped and moved to some other setting.

[Tweetybd]

Hi, George

When Tweety Bird's Flybac 20 bit the big one a year ago(after 5 years' of use), I contacted Catalina, who told me of all the problems that they've had with that charger, and they suggested that I call Pro Mariner.

When I did, Pro Mariner acknowledged the problems, and gave me FULL CREDIT towards a new charger (I chose the 30 amp Promatic 30-3 and have been very happy with it).  I  believe the new charger cost me $159, and they paid for shipping. Not too bad!

See you out on the Bay!

[George Bean]

Thanks for all the good input.  I have the TRUEcharge 20 now partially installed in the original charger location under the galley sink.  I ran new 120v wiring rather than splicing on a extra couple of feet.  It took a little under 15' of cable.  The charger just barely fits under the existing waste paper basket.  The charger's bottom is on the same level as the shower/ice box drain line.  Ray, is this the same on Crew's Nest?  I'm thinking of getting a shorter waste basket and mounting it higher to protect it better in case of leaks.  I've been told that Catalina used 5200 to bond the 2x2 bracing block to the bulkhead so I have one more installation day ahead of me.

[rirvine]

George:

Yes, it is the same situation with Crew’s Nest â€" it fits but only just. I concluded the close up under the trash shelf was better because the trash shelf provided some protection.  As I said before make sure you tape over the switches once you have them set.

Ray