Charger/Battery Monitor Recommendation

[thataway]

I would add Blue Seas and Victron to the list, and remove Guest. The Promariner, has several different lines. The Pro Nautic is the one you want.

Look at the pricing and availability. West Marine is going to be down the list as far as price is concerned--I had asked about some common bottom paint at my local store Friday. In the past, I would have been told what store had the paint--and if they could have it shipped to them via the Port Supply truck assuming it was a nearby store. This time I was told to order it thru the internet--if they had it!

West Marine has been owned by venture capitalists for the last 10 or so years. Currently a Mr. Kufel is the CEO. He served as the CEO of CorePower Yoga, building the company into the largest yoga studio operator in the U.S. Mr. Kufel currently serves as a Director of Leslie's, Inc., and Truck Hero, the leading provider of functional aftermarket accessories for pickup trucks and Jeep® vehicles. You can see how much marine business experience he has had!

[colbysmith]

I'd recommend that Mastervolt Chargemaster. Great 3 stage charger.
I have the: https://www.hodgesmarine.com/mas44010250-mastervolt-chargemaster-25-amp-battery-charger.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItcf67qyA9gIVK_HjBx1wMg1tEAQYASABEgKbI_D_BwE. I've owned two of them now and been very happy with them. The first one I installed in my previous CD-22, and then when I bought my CD-25 I replaced the Guest charger in it with this one also. Colby

[smckean (Tosca)]

[gulfcoast john]

I second add Blue Seas P12 series and remove Guest.

We run three Group 31 AGM’s; Blue Seas recommends the 40 amp charger for that. They have a unique capability to place each of three batteries into pre-float mode independently. Great US tech support right there in Bellingham. Five year (!) warranty.

Mine had the screen go dark four years into the five year warranty. I called tech support and a friendly voice picked up on the first ring. On verifying it had a 120v input and my warranty registration, he said ‘I’ll send you a new one Fed Ex today with a prepaid return Fed Ex label. Just put the failed unit in the new unit box and send it back.’

No waiting for their engineers to verify it hadn’t been subjected to a lightning strike, operator error (always a possibility with me) etc etc. Just my word and a new $800 (retail) unit is on the way. No down time!

Downside: pricey, but you get what you pay for.

Victron 712 battery monitor to the House battery plus Blue Seas four-digit voltage gauge to the Helm bus.

If you have a better battery charger Customer Service story, sing out!

Happy shopping!

John

[JeffKelly68]

These extra points give me much to think about.

Victron is another one I didn't consider... Blue Seas as well.

Thank you for the insights gentlemen, I have to do a bit more homework now, but your opinions really help me weigh the different options.

Also, didn't know that about West Marine, thataway. Good to know that about the company... wasn't a big fan for some time now already.

[kaelc]

I just went with a Victron charger, it includes blue tooth and was reasonable in price. I also added a Victron smart shunt for battery monitoring on Bluetooth. There are cheap battery monitors on Amazon but the Victron can monitor usage on the house bank and voltage on the starter.

[thataway]

On the C Dory 25, Thataway, we had two "house" battery banks. One for the lights, pumps and normal "boat use", the second was liFePO4, which gives it a different charging profile. This second bank was just to run refrigeration and the freezer, plus an inverter for induction cooking and microwave. We had a monitor on each of the banks. I have experimented with one of the Amazon's cheap copy of the Victron (about $45) in another li battery system I use in the truck for refrigeration and it works quite well so far. For the most part voltage is really all which is necessary on the starting battery, unless it is used for other purposes.