Battery Chargers (again)

S

ssobol

Active member
There is a number of posts about this topic, but I was hoping to get the current opinions on this matter.

It appears that my Guest 2621A charger has died (I'm still troubleshooting it).

My boat is set up with 2 group 24 lead-acid batteries. Reading through the posts on chargers, there seems to be a variety of opinions on a suitable replacement. The general consensus seems to be that the Guest chargers are not the best. However, the Guest 2621A is one of the pricier options. There are multibank chargers available priced between about $100 and $1000.

I believe that the Guest charger in my boat is the original. That makes it about 9 years old. It has certainly been there since I've owned the boat (which is about 5 years).

Should it come to that, I am looking for a decent (through not necessarily top of the line) charger that can be installed in place of the Guest 2621A without extensive rewiring. My current charger is installed in the interior cabinet, near the sink.

I have a Victron battery monitor, so it is not necessary to have a battery monitor feature built into the charger.
 
The problem with the Guest and their like, is that they are more "maintainers". They are not adequately cooled for any use when you are aboard running appliances--or long time doing heavy charging.

Probably the best now is the Blue Seas -P12 25 amp. This is a 3 bank charger however and samples each each battery independently.

I am using a Mastervolt 3 bank--30 amp charger, but have 3 batteries. It is a little older, but the current closest to it is the Mastervolt Power Charger 12 V 20 amps. About $300.

Victron I would look closely at the I P 22 12 volt 15/20/30 amp for in the mid $200's

All of these have fans--and I believe all are variable speed. They can be used as "power supplies" as well as maintenance chargers. Even though they may be 3 bank, they will work fine with 2 batteries. No change in your wiring.
 
I just finished installing a 40 amp PronauticP, about $320.
Plenty to read about that series out there, from 10 Amp to 60 Amp I believe.
They are made by Promariner.
 
I installed a ProTournament 36 amp battery charger about a year ago. So far I am very happy with it. It is a 2 bank charger and has the nice feature that if one bank does not need more charge, the charger sends the un-needed amps to the other bank.......in this way either bank can get the full 36 amps instead of never more than 18 amps per bank.

I had nowhere good to install it (my factory charger is near the hot water heater and that space was not large enough). The ProTournament is water proof (with fan), so I mounted it to the underside of the splash well. No problems so far.
 
I decided to try the ProNautica 1215P charger. I only really charge the house battery (the start battery gets charged by the engine). Since the ProNautica charger will put all the current into whichever battery needs it, the 15 amps into the house battery (most of the charging) should be sufficient.

About $200.
 
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