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Conference unifix::sailing

Title:	SAILING
Notice:	Please read Note 2.* before participating in this conference
Moderator:	UNIFIX::BERENS

Created:	Wed Jul 01 1992
Last Modified:	Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	2299
Total number of notes:	20724

2030.0. "On-board battery chargers" by HYDRA::GERSTLE (Carl Gerstle) Thu May 13 1993 17:48

    I am looking to add an on-board battery charger for a gas (Atomic-4)
    powered sailboat. I have two 85 A-H flooded cell batteries and would
    like any charger I get to be able to handle up to 105 A-H batteries.

    In shopping around, I found units "specially made" for West Marine for
    1992 (never were available) and 1993 (due to be available April '93,
    now due to arrive in June!)

    Would happy charger owners out there like to comment on what they are
    using?

    Requirements:

    2 independant banks

    ignition protected

    3-stage charge (bulk, acceptance, float)

    indicators for current delivered and/or state of charge

    permanent bulkhead mounting

    temperature compensated


    Preferences:

    small

    quiet

    light-weight (definitely not a ferroresonant unit)

    mounting orientation unimportant (would like to be able to choose the
    orientation axis)

    ability to switch voltages to support gel-cells


    Thanks for your input.
    Carl

T.R Title User Personal
Name Date Lines

2030.1 I purchased a ferro SCHOOL::HOWARTH Mon May 17 1993 13:38 34

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2030.1	I purchased a ferro	SCHOOL::HOWARTH		`Mon May 17 1993 13:38`	34
	I have a battery charger but my goals are somewhat different than those listed in the base note. First, I favored a ferroresonant charger over the SCR type. I don't have to worry about ignition protection, number of charging states nor temperature compensation. It does have a built in ampere meter. The base note mentioned different battery amperages. The charger doesn't care about the amperage of the battery, it will charge the battery/ batteries to some specific terminal voltage regardless of the battery size. My charger is rated at 35 amperes and I purchased it from West Marine. It has 3 diode isolated outputs and works well. The reason that I preferred the ferroresonant type is that it is RELIABLE. There are few things that can go wrong with a transformer and a capacitor. The SCR types are smaller but has its own problems. The SCR type is definitely noisier than a ferro type but the noise I am referring to is RF noise, not acoustical noise. The SCR type relies on a feedback loop to set the output voltages. The outputs can change over time if the components in the feedback loop change value due to aging. The ferro type cannot overcharge the batteries but if the settings on the SCR types are not properly set, anything can happen. If I were doing this again, I would buy a charger with a higher output current than 35 amperes. There is no problem charging the batteries when I am at the dock. But, when I charge the batteries with a portable generator while at anchor, the amount of generator time would be reduced if the charger had a higher capacity. One additional comment about the ferro, it is directly dependent on the line frequency for output voltage. That means that the generator's line frequency setting is critical. Joe

I have a battery charger but my goals are somewhat different than 
those listed in the base note. First, I favored a ferroresonant 
charger over the SCR type. I don't have to worry about ignition 
protection, number of charging states nor temperature 
compensation. It does have a built in ampere meter. The base note 
mentioned different battery amperages. The charger doesn't care 
about the amperage of the battery, it will charge the battery/
batteries to some specific terminal voltage regardless of the 
battery size.

My charger is rated at 35 amperes and I purchased it from West 
Marine. It has 3 diode isolated outputs and works well. The 
reason that I preferred the ferroresonant type is that it is 
RELIABLE. There are few things that can go wrong with a 
transformer and a capacitor. The SCR types are smaller but 
has its own problems. The SCR type is definitely noisier than a ferro 
type but the noise I am referring to is RF noise, not acoustical
noise. The SCR type relies on a feedback loop to set the output 
voltages.  The outputs can change over time if the components in 
the feedback loop change value due to aging.
The ferro type cannot overcharge the batteries but if the 
settings on the SCR types are not properly set, anything can 
happen.

If I were doing this again, I would buy a charger with a higher 
output current than 35 amperes. There is no problem charging the 
batteries when I am at the dock. But, when I charge the batteries 
with a portable generator while at anchor, the amount of 
generator time would be reduced if the charger had a higher 
capacity. One additional comment about the ferro, it is directly 
dependent on the line frequency for output voltage. That means 
that the generator's line frequency setting is critical.

Joe