Edd;

 

>From earlier posts I have the impression that you have a 12v flooded house 
>bank of around 500 AH, plus a single gel cell 12v battery of 100 or less, I 
>seem to recall from an old discussion that you were planning to install a bank 
>of 6v golf cart batteries for the house bank – though my recollection may be 
>wrong.

 

You have a Blue Sea SI or Battery Link ACR connecting the house and start 
batteries.

 

For starters, the Pro Mariner 43006 charger is a single bank charger delivering 
a maximum of 6 amps. Per the Pro Mariner catalog is designed for a SINGLE BCI 
24 through 31 series 12v battery. Which means a battery with between 50 and 
100-120AH. And if you do have a house bank of golf cart batteries, Pro Mariner 
specifically says the 6 amp charger is not suitable and recommends another 
charger model for GC, 4D and 8D batteries.

 

The rule of thumb explained to me by a tech at Pro Mariner (I have a ProNautic 
50A charger on my 38 based on their recommendation for my 460AH house and 115AH 
start banks – all flooded batteries) is to have charger amperage at least 10% 
of the bank AH rating. So you need a larger charger, probably in the 50A range. 
Among other things, if your house bank is 500AH and is depleted to 50% 
(somewhere around 11.5v) the 6a charger would take a minimum of 42 hours to 
recharge the house bank.

 

The charge profile shown for the charger shows that after system checks 
(probably initial voltage, continuity, and resistance) it starts at battery 
voltage and goes to 14.6v for absorption charging. It almost certainly ramps up 
the charge voltage in response to what it calculates as the internal resistance 
of the battery (remember it is designed for only 1 battery of relatively 
limited size). During absorption charging the voltage is constant and current 
falls as the internal resistance of the battery increases. When the current 
flow reaches a certain point, the charger reverts to a 13.4v float charge and 
periodically bumps up to 14.6 to measure state of charge, and then drips back 
to 13.4 to trickle charge the battery.

 

Now your large house bank will absorb a lot of current before the internal 
resistance rises appreciably; which the charger is possibly interpreting as a 
low state of charge. So it ramps up the voltage to increase charge current. 
There is an overvoltage cutout at 16.0V, so it would not go over that level. 
And I wouldn’t think it would go over 14.6 unless there is a glitch in the 
control software. But I would suggest calling the techs at Pro Mariner to see 
what they have to say.

 

Another potential cause – though it seems sort of a long shot - might be your 
mix of flooded house and gel start batteries. They have different charge 
profiles, and the gel battery absorption charge and float charge are done at 
different voltages than the flooded batteries (14.1 and 13.8 respectively). Is 
it possible that after the ACR closes the charger sense less internal 
resistance, interprets this as lower state of charge, and ramps up the voltage 
to produce higher charge current? Which since it is limited to only 6A does not 
change, and the charger continues to ramp up the voltage until it gets to the 
16v overcharge voltage limit? Again a question  for the techs at Pro Mariner.

 

I suspect your short term solution will end up being to shut off the ACR when 
charging the house bank (after all, your start battery should never get below 
about 90-95% charge – call it 12.5v). Longer term you might think about an 
appropriately sized two bank charger. Or you might want to replace your ACR 
with an Echo Charger (which would only close when the house bank was charging 
and the start bank was significantly discharged).

 

 

Rick Brass

Imzadi  C&C 38 mk 2

la Belle Aurore C&C 25 mk1

Washington, NC

 

 

From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Edd Schillay 
via CnC-List
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2016 5:20 PM
To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
Cc: Edd Schillay <e...@schillay.com>
Subject: Re: Stus-List Battery Charger / ACR -- Some Details

 

It’s one of these: http://www.promariner.com/en/43006 

 

                

 






 

On Nov 11, 2016, at 5:17 PM, Dennis C. via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com 
<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote:

 

Is it a two bank charger?  If so, are both charging circuits connected to the 
batteries; one to the house bank and one to the start battery?  If so, 
disconnect the one to the start battery and see how that works.  Let the ACR 
charger the start bank.

I think some chargers don't like to be wired to two banks when there's an ACR 
or echo charger between the banks.

Dennis C.

 

On Fri, Nov 11, 2016 at 3:19 PM, Edd Schillay via CnC-List 
<cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote:

OK — So here’s what happens. And this may be OK, but somehow it feels like it’s 
not — please let me know. 

 

I plug into shore power and turn on the battery charger. It’s a ProSport and 
it’s hooked up to the House Bank, a set of flooded batteries. Within a few 
moments, the voltage goes over 13 volts and the ACR kicks in, linking the house 
bank to the starting battery, a sealed starting battery. 

 

After a few hours, the voltage on both battery banks are reading well into 
15-16V, which makes me worried and I shut it off. 

 

I could turn the ACR off when using the charger, but that really, in my mind, 
defeats the purpose. 

 

Any thoughts? 


All the best,

 

Edd

 

 

Edd M. Schillay

Starship Enterprise

C&C 37+ | Sail No: NCC-1701-B

City Island, NY 

Starship Enterprise's Captain's Log <http://enterpriseb.blogspot.com/> 

 







 






 


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