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[Steve Sayian]

My Fly-Back 20-3 died this weekend and I've been reading the posts on battery chargers.
Is the current thinking on replacements for the 20-3 still the Truecharge 20+?

Thanks,

Steve

[Ted Pounds]

The Truecharge was top rated by Practical Sailor.  But whatever charger you get make sure it is a true 3-stage charger and can be matched to your type of battery (flooded, gel or AGM).   Those are the two criteria that will ensure long battery life.

[Stu Jackson]

Yes, Steve. that's the one.  The 40 works, too, if you have a large enough house bank.

[Rocco]

Steve,

I just replaced my Fly-Back this spring (it failed over the winter) with a Charles SP5000 (30A).  The Charles is a three stage with Flooded-Gel-AGM option and a little known external temperature probe option as well (for GEL/AGMs).  I spoke with Catalina to ask what they do about fusing between the charger and batteries these days (my MK II #1347 had none but it is an ABYC recommendation) and was told that they are using the Charles charger now as well.

It has worked very well for me and fits in the space (under the trash can) very well.  It also includes a "drip shield" that mounts above the charger to protect it.  I ended up installing 40A circuit breakers between the charger and the batteries.

Regards,
Rocco

[Terry Forshier]

Did you know that promariner has a lifetime guarantee? They will take your old charger and upgrade you for much less than the cost of a new charger. Just log on to promariner.com or call their warranty number 1 800 824 0524
Terry

[jmnpe]

Speaking from the experience of having been in the battery and battery charger business for about 8 years, I can pass along the industry insider explanation of Promariner's lifetime warranty: "It's good they have it because you will certainly need it."

For the money, the TrueCharge 20+ and 40+ units are just about the only ones of the standalone chargers that I will sell or recommend for 12 volt applications. There are some more advanced chargers beginning to show up, but they cost a lot more and thus far have an unproven track record.

John

[Stu Jackson]

For those of you interested in our earlier discussions about chargers, see this link and read the links mentioned in this thread: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=3073.0

These are not the only discussions about chargers, but they get to the heart of the issues.  Use the search function for more posts under "charger" -- there are SEVEN PAGES of discussion topics!.