Guest 2610A Charger

A

Alyssa Jean

New member
My charger on the 25 seems to be DOA. I have 120V coming into the unit, but no green or red indicator lamps. House batteries where down to 12.2 which is what caught my eye.

What would be a good replacement that would fit in the same space next to the water heater? This is charging two AGMs in parellel for the house side and one AGM for the engine.
 
I have had almost every Guest charger I have owned in the last few years fail. I recently went to Mastervolt. Probably the best for your 25 if you have two batteries, is the Charge Master 12/15-2. I have the 12/20-3 Power Charger in the 22 for 3 batteries.

Battery chargers seem like religion--some have ones that they love and are sold on.
 
Thanks Bob,
Will this be pretty much a straight swap? Looks like you only have to cut the 120V power cord and connect to the existing 120V wires. There doesn't appear to be a third green ground on the Mastervolt. Does it need to be grounded with the green ground?
 
David,

Here is a link to West Marine and the Mastervolt Power Charger that Dr. Bob mentioned. I think that it will be a very easy swap for the Guest. It has posts for the wires like your Guest and is close to the same size. Note: it is not water proof and must be mounted in a dry location. I installed one on our new 23V and love it (so far).

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=50535
 
Hi David,

After going through 3 Guest chargers (2621A), I considered the 2631, simply for the ease of a swap. It can provide 10 amp per battery. I was ticked with the young man on the phone at Marinco/Guest, when he had the audacity to tell me, "No one has ever had a problem with the Guest chargers."

Pretty bold statement, and one that he can no longer make, since I informed him of my experience. Then he told me, "Your use of that charger with a cabin-type boat is a flagrant abuse of that charger."

That was enough. Even if Guest had provided another charger on warranty (they didn't), I would have told him to keep it. I have little patience with snotty kids on the phone.

After researching a BUNCH of different chargers, I went with the ProMariner Pro-Tournament 300L. It's the model ProMariner recommend for a two-bank, 3-battery set up. It's also smart, in that it will distribute power as needed to each of the batteries, up to 30 amp, and gets them to a 100% charge (which the Guest never did).

It's only been a couple weeks, but it sure seems to be doing a much better job than any Guest I've had in the boat. It also has an indicator that shows the state of charge of each battery.

Greg (Aurelia) told me about a DC charger during the Friday Harbor gathering that also sounded good, but I had already installed the ProMariner; much simpler install.

If you are getting no lights on the Guest, and have checked the fuse at each battery, it is a goner. It is potted in epoxy, so nothing serviceable.

The only downside of the ProMariner that I ran into was not being able to run the larger fuse holders through the wiring conduit. Even with the "L" designation (stands for longer wiring), I had to splice in a couple feet of wire to make it fit in the 25.

Over the years, I've read plenty here about folks having issues with the Guest chargers... it works until it doesn't. If you aren't checking the lights on it daily, you never know until your batteries are discharged.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
The Mastervolt is pretty much a direct swap. I do not have a green wire on mine. Yes, it is inside of the cabin--and I don't leave chargers out in the weather. (My Caracal 18 has one in the lazarette--not much choice, and it is still working, but when it goes, I will have to get a fully water proof charger or move it to the center console (where I have a second charger for the 24 volt battery system for the trolling motor...)
 
Jim SDTX said:
"Over the years, I've read plenty here about folks having issues with the Guest chargers... it works until it doesn't. If you aren't checking the lights on it daily, you never know until your batteries are discharged."
Click to expand...

Unless you have a volt meter that you check regularly. I keep my cheapy Cig liter meter plugged in... Always. Just don't like surprises. It may not be perfect, but it won't miss the trend. Gets logged every time on the charger and every night on the CPAP.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
I have a digital voltage display that I wired in and mounted over the helm window. That is how I noticed it. I am looking at suggested replacements that are $300-$400. A new Guest is $118 shipped. MMMMMMMMMM. It did last 8 years, a 1/2 year longer than the fuel tank.
 
One thing to check when buying a charger is the total amps available per bank. I have a 15amp 3 bank charger but it only charges one bank at a time. It switches from 1 bank to the next every few minutes until one bank is charged.

Regards, Rob
 
I have bad radio interference from my Guest battery charger. I can not use my AM/FM at the dock while the charger is operating. The radio will loudly buzz while the charger is charging. Any suggestions?
Also-installed a new LED flexible white/red map light. Works great until you try to use the radio-again much interference-makes it tough to use the light for reading and listening to the radio while on the hook.
Pete
Pompano
 
Okay, I took the easy way out and ordered a direct replacement Guest. The last one lasted 8 years, one year longer than the Lewmar windlass which I replaced about 6 months ago.

BTW I did not have to disconnect hoses on the water heater to remove and replace. I just removed the two sets of 4 screws that hold it down, the clamps on the two forward hoses and slid the heater aft which gave me enough room to work.
 
Hi Dave;
I'm not at my '25 , but I thought there was enough room to remove the charger by removing the seat and getting at the unit from the top. I ask this from my 'gray matter'.

I remember there are wire cable clamps in the space for the 115vac and the 12vdc lines to charge the batteries. I don't know how much service loop there is for them.

I just had my LENCO Trim Tab Motor go out, so both are being replaced as I write this. Since I'm still on my original charger unit, I'm thinking this may be the beginning of the replacement cycle of "stuff" and a good time to do some refined checks on the 2005,CD-25, histories for me.

I must admit that I have been very blessed with the reliability and service I have enjoyed with the boat and motors(2 x HONDA 90s). OK, I did have to replace the bilge pump last year.

Do you know if anyone has removed the macerator pump and used the plumbing for an added bilge pump to take advantage of the existing discharge hose? AH, HA! New thread, right?

Art
 
HI Pete;
Have you tried to isolate the RFI source by removing everything from the 12VDC buss, like the LED lamps? They have a tendency to be noisey if they are of poor quality. A simple test (batteries only) is for the charger to be OFF and turn the LEDs and radio on on.

As to the charger, you can buy ferrite(powder iron core) chokes at Radio Shack and other electronic suppliers and place them around the charger's input and output wires. This is in addition to the simple by-pass (0.01uf) caps referred to in the reference link.

If you know any amateur radio folks near you, they should have some experience with this and would be glad to help you.

Art
 
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