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05-20-2013, 10:14 AM
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#1
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Moderator Emeritus
City: St. Marks, Florida
Vessel Name: Morgan
Vessel Model: Gulfstar 36
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 3,673
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The sensitivity of battery chargers . . .
Since this took me a bit of troubleshooting, just thought I would share my experience and perhaps save someone else some trouble.
I have been having trouble with my Xantrex TrueCharge 2 battery charger lately. It would quit operating, and the fault light would be on and also the "chgr" light. The troubleshooting part of the manual said to call Xantrex if this happened, so I did so. Spoke to a nice guy who said to try resetting it. Turns out this means to disconnect it from the A/C line and from the batteries and let it sit for at least an hour. I did so, connected it back up, and it began working again. About a week later, the same thing. So I again reset it, and it worked again. However, the last time I went in and cleaned the battery terminals good and tightened all the connections good. So far it has been about a month now and the problem has not reoccurred. It may just be coincidence, but I think that the charger is just really sensitive to corrosion and terminals which are not sufficiently tight. If anyone else has an opinion on this I would be pleased to hear it.
John
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05-20-2013, 10:35 AM
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#2
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Guru
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,181
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John. do a search on xantrex on this form or any other you will quickly see the problem I bought a new true charge to when they first came out ,it killed a $600 a$600 agm battery. the charger was replaced under warranty ,I never read installed it I went to iota chargers , and never need to give them a second thought
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05-20-2013, 10:50 AM
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#3
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Guru
City: Everett Wa
Vessel Name: Eagle
Vessel Model: Roughwater 58 pilot house
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,919
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Hex and lock washers should be used on the battery terminals to keep the tight. Wing nuts come lose to easy and create poor connections and corrosion.
Reading the manual helps!
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05-20-2013, 11:03 AM
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#4
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Moderator Emeritus
City: St. Marks, Florida
Vessel Name: Morgan
Vessel Model: Gulfstar 36
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 3,673
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Fill
Hex and lock washers should be used on the battery terminals to keep the tight. Wing nuts come lose to easy and create poor connections and corrosion.
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That is interesting. I never knew that! And the terminal which had a wing nut on it was indeed the one which was loose! So thanks. I shall replace it the next time I go down there.
John
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05-20-2013, 11:37 AM
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#5
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Guru
City: Concrete Washington State
Vessel Name: Willy
Vessel Model: Willard Nomad 30'
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 18,743
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Frequently and perhaps most of the time only a small amount of current is involved and a small amount of resistance could seemingly foul things up.
I have a Xantrex and it's worked 8 years flawlessly .. w AGMs.
__________________
Eric
North Western Washington State USA
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05-20-2013, 01:11 PM
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#6
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Guru
City: Cary, NC
Vessel Name: Skinny Dippin'
Vessel Model: Navigator 4200 Classic
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,841
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Fill
Hex and lock washers should be used on the battery terminals to keep the tight. Wing nuts come lose to easy and create poor connections and corrosion.
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I am curious how wing nuts can come loose more easily than hex nuts? Won't a properly tight nut hold the same no matter what shape the nut is?
Oh... And BTW... I love my Iota charger too. Sure, it doesn't have all the bell and whistles like temp sensors, but if you keep your eye on water levels, etc. Iota chargers are great, single bank, basic chargers that will float charge for way cheaper than the major brands of marinized chargers.
__________________
2000 Navigator 4200 Classic
(NOT a trawler)
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05-20-2013, 01:13 PM
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#7
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Guru
City: Hailing Port: Charleston, SC
Vessel Name: Moonstruck
Vessel Model: Sabre 42 Hardtop Express
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,276
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John,
Check the cooling fan. It is usually just a little computer pancake fan. Try running a good fan facing the charger. It it stays on, it is probably the fan that is bad. If so remove the case. snip the wires, and remove the old fan. Check the model # and do a search on the internet. You can usually find them for $10 or under. Just make certain to note the way the blades are facing when removing. Then make sure the fan is blowing the right direction when installed.
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05-20-2013, 06:21 PM
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#8
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Guru
City: Marathon, Florida
Vessel Name: Walkabout
Vessel Model: 1989 Sea Ray 380 Aft Cabin
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 521
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Just bought and installed a Xantrex Truecharge 2 battery charger and remote monitor two weeks ago. Hope it wasn't a mistake.
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