Zantrex Batt Charger issue

I have a 40 ft Mainship with 3 Battery Banks and noticed last week that the Xantrex Battery charger Mode showed charging but there was no voltage coming out to any battery. The display didn't show any load current either. The panel has power to it and power was reset many times with the same condition. I checked the output fuses and they all checked good. Anyone have an idea what is going on with this battery charger ?

If you have a hear sensor on the batteries, remove it from the unit. If it thinks your batteries are too hot it will stop charging

I had the same issue with my 2004 Mainship 400. The battery charger was not outputting any charging voltage to the batteries.

It turned out that the charger had finally failed after 14 years and needed to be replaced. I purchased and had installed by a ABYC electrician, a Promariner 12v/60 amp charger.

In the installation process, he found all types of wiring that was done incorrectly from the factory with improper wire size. He brought the boat up to ABYC standards and installed the new charger. That's not the end of the story, though.

It turned out that there is insufficient room to install the Promariner 12/60 with the vent on the top so he installed it with the vent on the side. No real choice because the charger won't fit any other way. He told me that I will need to monitor the charger because it may shut down due to temperature.

That's exactly what happens. It works fine at the dock because there is no engine heat. Under way, with the engine room at normal operating temperature, it shuts down after about one hour. I would shut it off, let it cool, then restart it and it would run for another hour.

Not a major problem because the alternator is charging the batteries, but it's something to be aware of. Other than that, the charger really worked well and charged the batteries quickly with that 60amps.

Good luck.

I have the Promariner Pronautic 1250P charger, and I rarely have it on underway preferring instead to let the engine alternator charge my four group 34 AGM batteries arranged in two banks. If you feel the need to run yours underway without shutdown due to overheating, you could arrange a cooling fan to blow outside air via a duct or simply use the charger's menu to cut its output to 25, 50, or 75 percent.

Unless you are running a generator underway, I don't think your charger would be on line.

rgano said:

I have the Promariner Pronautic 1250P charger, and I rarely have it on underway preferring instead to let the engine alternator charge my four group 34 AGM batteries arranged in two banks. If you feel the need to run yours underway without shutdown due to overheating, you could arrange a cooling fan to blow outside air via a duct or simply use the charger's menu to cut its output to 25, 50, or 75 percent.

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Don't let charger run hot

I would add a cooling fan. Put in duct for outside air if necessary. There is a reason the charger has high temp shutoff. Don't let it run hot!

I had this issue with a ProMariner 1250P once. I replaced it with a Xantrex 40amp and never had the issue again. It could simply be the charger.

catalinajack said:

Unless you are running a generator underway, I don't think your charger would be on line.

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You're being very polite. I also don't see where the AC current would be coming from to power the battery charger without the generator or a very long shore power cable.

I do run my genset occasionally when underway for AC power. That's how I discovered the Pronautic overheat issue. The ABYC tech said they see it all the time. It runs hot and needs a cooling fan. On the list.....

Yeah there are no heat sensors I the batts... I’m going to replace it with a Dual Pro charger 3-15 amp outputs. I researched the Xantrex and it seems many people have had issues with them quoting on them after only one year of operation. Thanks for your input

Too bad he didn’t think to install a fan while engineering the job

Probably with the charger on it’s side the heat is not rising out of the unit through the vents. Get a brushless fan so no arching occurs