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Old 02-08-2016, 09:47 PM   #1
Talonewo
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City: San Antonio
Vessel Name: Shintullah
Vessel Model: 55' 1978 Defever
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 113
Timer on a "dumb" battery charger

My boat has 32 volt and 12 volt DC systems, my 32 volt charger died. Yes some day I will convert to 24 volts but for now I'm staying with 32, that limits my options for new chargers. Both Newmar and Charles make 32 volts chargers, the Newmar is electronically controlled(like all the modern 12 and 24 volt chargers) whereas the Charles unit is a Ferroresonant transformer type, i.e. dumb charger, only works on lead acid batteries and does not have staged charging, it just keeps pumping out amps until it reaches the desired voltage, once there it tapers off the amps. I'm going to go with the Charles 9000 Series Marine Ferroresonant Battery Charger, driving factor is cost, the Newmar is $1500 and the Charles is "only" $1000.

I live two hours away from my boat, I visit the boat two or three weekends a month, ever since I have had the boat (about a year in the water with the batteries on the charger) I just left the charger on while I was away from the boat. And when I was on the boat at the dock I left the charger on, assuming it was like a "power supply. Now that the old charger died and I have been looking for a replacement I have learned a lot about chargers, I assume my old charger was also a Ferroresonant type charger.

I was not sure how the Ferroresonant chargers worked so I called Charles tech support, he said it would still float charger once the batteries were full and it would act like a "power supply" when the batteries were full. But then he made a comment that caught my attention, he said because these type charges just hold a constant voltage they can cook of more water and you have the keep an eye on the water levels, then he said some of his customers will put timers on the charger, and set the time to only run the charger a few hours a day.

So my question is, how many of you leave your charges on all the time and do any of you have timers?
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