Good battery monitoring system?

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:23 am

Has anyone installed a battery monitoring system they are happy with? I just installed a new Xantrex TrueCharge 2 40 amp charger, and bought the remote monitor for it, but the monitor is a POS. The LEDs that are supposed to be seen through the small windows of the faceplate are located on a board set back from the front panel maybe a half inch or so.. and the board is not mounted in line with these windows, meaning the only way you can see the lighted LEDs through their respective windows is to tilt the panel top back about 15-20 degrees. This would be great if I was going to mount the panel at a height of 6 feet, but I want to mount it at about 28 inches off the floor. I returned the original panel to the supplier for a replacement, but the display is the same on the replacement. Xantrex says they will look into what I say is either a crappy design or poor QC, and get back to me, but are not offering any hope that their design will change anytime in the near future. Has anyone got any recommendations for a good free standing system?

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:01 pm

Frank, How do you like just the charger? I'm going to need a new charger soon and I've just started looking. Buzz

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:11 pm

I think the Xantrex TrueCharge 2 charger is great! I bought the 40 amp 3 bank unit online from www.Marine.com .. great prices and good people to work with. My price was $291 plus freight. Best price I could find. I usually check Defender, Jamestown Distributors and Marine.com for major purchases

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:22 pm

Buzz, I bought the Xantrex a couple of years ago when I upgraded to AGM batteries. Nice part of the new chargers is that they can be programmed for Wet Cell/AGM/Gel Cell...all of them. This was the best upgrade to my boat period. Those AGM's are bulletproof. Hold the charge much longer than my Rolls wet cell's and never, ever need water. All I do is clean the posts in the Spring and I'm ready for another year. Sorry for that departure from topic but the charger has been flawless. I was nervous about quality & reliability but it's now in it's 3rd Summer and still working like day one. Even though it is 4 stage, I still shut it off when I leave the boat if I feel my Batt's are charged on the recommendations from the battery guy. It doesn't have any accessories but does have a Volt/Current meter on it's little display and you can read the charge on each individual battery. Also much smaller than the original Raritan. Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

Buy2ls · Post by **Buy2ls** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:46 pm

Rick I am sure you know but, with no charger on, if you get any kind of a water leak in the bilge, the bilge pumps could kill your batteries and then the boat could be lost as well. I don't know how far away you are from the boat or how often you check it. I am 2.5 hrs away and am only there on most weekends, I leave mine on all the time and check my battery water every so often. Jeff

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:01 pm

Rick, did you have to change any of the wiring from the Raritan. I have the 110 volt positive, negative, and ground plus two 12 volt positve wires and one 12 volt negative wire. I only have two banks of batteries my generator uses one of the engine batteries. It's working now. All I ever do is start the engines unplug the shore line and go when I come in I just plug the shore power in. I never cut my Raritan off. It's working now but I starting to think about getting a new one.Buzz Thanks Buzz

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:34 pm

Buzz... I know you addressed this question to Rick, but I will add my 2 cents worth.. What you have is all there is.. a 120 volt feed... one black HOT lead, one white NEUTRAL lead, and a green GROUND lead. This is the 120 side. On the charger output (12 volt) side is a black NEGATIVE lead, and one red POSITIVE lead for each battery bank you are charging. There is also a ground connection (mine is simply a threaded stud attached to the frame of the charger, that also goes to the 120 volt ground (this is in case the 120 volt side of the charger internals develops a short circuit to the frame of the charger. Buy2ls... I had the same thing as you describe happen to me a couple of weeks ago. I usually leave my charger on, but in my case the charger died but I did not know it. I saw that there was an unusually large amount of water in the bilge after several rainy days, but I alse saw and heard that the bilge pump was running but no water was leaving the boat. It turns out that after the charger died, the bilge pump drew the battery bank it was connected to down so far (6.2 volts when I finally figured out what was going on) that the pump slowed down. When a centrifugal pump drops below a certain speed it can't push the water high enough to get across the high point on the discharge hose. So I found the pump was happily running at a reduced speed, drawing the battery voltage down further, but not moving any water. I have no idea how long this had been going on. Luckily I live two and a half minutes walk from the boat, so I am down there almost every day to check on things, but did not go down during the heavy rains. If there was some kind of saltwater leak it could have become a bad situation in a hurry! That is why I bought the new charger!

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:33 pm

Thanks Frank. This is what is confusing to me I thought I would have had two 12 volt negative wires one for each battery and 2 positve 12 volt wires one for battery as you described. I don't I have the two positive wires one for each battery but only one negative. How would I connect a charger like yours? It's easy to tell that this is the way the factory wired it. Thanks Buzz

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:52 pm

Buzz, The change over will be transparent to you, the new will do the same as the old and like Frank said, the wiring is the same. It's just a smarter charger and shouldn't cook your batteries. But the guy who sold me the AGM's told me "don't do it even with a 4 stage". Jeff, If there's enough water to kill those batteries, it's going down anyway. But my slip is 4' deep and I'm 75 feet from the travelift ! Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

Buy2ls · Post by **Buy2ls** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:36 pm

Okay!

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:11 pm

OK guys thanks a couple more quetion. Do you have to cut the charger off when you start your engines or does the charger cut off automatically when the alternator cuts in? Did you get the temperature senor? Thanks Buzz

otf · Post by **otf** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:25 am

I have one of the Xantrec Freedom 25 inverters/chargers, it came with the boat. I would never have bought something so deluxe, but absolutely think it is now worth it. It runs off it's own battery bank which it chargers on shore power as well as charges the two engine banks and one generator battery all on their own feeds off the system. It controls shore/ship power and automatically switches between them and it's own depending on availability. It only charges batteries on generator or shore power. It is so reliable we have 110v alarm clocks plugged in on the boat that are never reset all season. We go out overnight on the hook and the fridge runs without a thought. Meanwhile the monitoring interface is an absolute POS. The inverter itself is great, when you plug the remote interface in nothing on it works right. The previous owner went through much hassle to try to rectify it - I ignore it for now. So yes, it seems their chargers/inverters are great - remote interfaces not so much. It's mounted above the water tank BTW on the opposite side of the bulkhead from where the old inverter was. It was there when I got the boat, and seems like a great place for it. I installed the Fireboy can where the old inverter was in the engine room.

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 4:19 am

Buzz, I don't know which model I got, will check on my next visit. But it's the 40 Amp with 3 banks and no inverter. I think all models have the ignition protection, so you can be plugged in and start your engines. I play it safe and usually shut the charger off if I'm starting the engines but I've forgot a few times and it's fine. Didn't get the temp sensor, not sure it was available when I bought mine; it sounds like a good idea but with the feedback from these guys, maybe you better pass. Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

buzzk · Post by **buzzk** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:25 am

I'm glade to know you can leave it on while you're running the engines. I never leave the dock without the engines and gerator running. I'm sure I would forget to cut the charger off when I start my engines and don't want to ruin my alternators. Buzz

h2ojst · Post by **h2ojst** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:01 am

I am currently using a Charles automatic 40 amp charger that also will charge all different types of batteries simultaneously. It's been working great with my AGM's for the past 5 years. I just recently had the same water/bilge situation and to my surprise, those AGM's aren't indestructable! I'm running 2 8D's one for the house & one for the Geny & 2 series 31's for starting batts. The 2 8D's had exploded (no damage) but physically split & blown apart. I was told that when the AGM's reach their 5 yr life span they just quit & are unable to take a charge. I'll definately keep a closer eye on these new one's 5 more years from now. (Maybe 4.5) With the water in the bilge situation being not so cool, I devised an additional alarm that's hooked up to my home burglar alarm system. I used a regular float switch & wired it to a wireless transmitter. When the high water mark is reached it triggers my home burglar alarm. Really cool peace of mind. The Bertram high water bell was useless when the batteries fail. You should also be aware that the new charging systems of most new generators and electronic ignitions don't like you running the charger all the time. In fact, Westerbeke and Mercrusiser both require separate batteries for each so that the regulators work correctly. You diesel guys shouldn't have to worry about this at all. Joe Tomaini 1988 Sportfish Attitude Adjustment II Fort Lauderdale, FL