"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ps.com...


Got any tips based on observation or experience for maintaining or
troubleshooting a battery charger?


Mike wrote:

All I can do is echo Wayne's remarks about proper wire sizing, but that's
mainly for a fast charge, or starting amps. For a trickle charge it isn't as
important.

--Mike

Ideally, connect the charger *directly* to the battery terminals but at
least make sure there is no risk of a loose connection IN THE BOAT'S
wiring between the charger connection point and the battery. If there
was a loose connection you might over-voltage all your on-board
electronics. *Expensive*. Some chargers are protected against this and
are labelled as suitable for running 12V equipment even without a
battery connected, Otherers are not, so take care.

Make sure the charger is suitable and safe for use on a boat. A quality
marine charger has a fully isolated output. Many car chargers have the
-ve output terminal grounded. Your 12V system and your on-board mains
should only have the 0V and the protective ground joined at a SINGLE
point and the battery charger is *NOT* an appropriate or safe place to
do so. Depending on the design, the RFI filter at the input to a
switched mode charger may *by design* leak enough current from Live to
ground to swamp your galvanic isolator and render it ineffective at
protecting your propeller etc. from rampant electrolysis.

(This problem is not exclusive to battery chargers, any 3 wire mains
applience with a switched mode PSU can contribute to the problem as can
2 wire (no ground) appliences where some connection is made to the 12V
ground (laptop computers connected to the instruments, entertainment
centres with the aerial braid grounded where the aerial is mounted etc.
The only *certain* cure is an isolation transformer on the incoming
mains feed, but on boats with simpler equipment, carefull choice of
appliences and unplugging anything 'fancy' {i.e. with push-button
controls} when its not in use, can minimise the problem.

Gotta go, I have to fit a battery charger . . .


--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.

"Mike" wrote in message
...


He was helping the OP with a relevant post. Why did you have to destroy
the effort?

--Mike

Mike, the part you missed is that Gould's post *was* the OP.

On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 21:38:29 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

On 12/29/2006 9:08 PM, JimH wrote:
"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...
Here's a concise and handy guideline that was included in the
installation manual for my new Victron charger:



Do you ever stop thinking about boats and boating Chuck? There is, after
all, more to life than that.

What are you going to post next..........guidelines included in the
installation manual for your head?



How about "Chuck's Guide to Towel Drying Your Boat after Use"?

You know, selection of towels, brands (potential advertisers), which way
to rub, how often to wring, and, of course, color of towels.

While Jimmy was absent, there was much less rancor in the group. Now that
he's back, you've found someone to reinforce your bad behavior. Perhaps
Jimmy would do us all a favor and leave again, could you suggest that to
him. I didn't notice a groundswell of emotion upon his return (or departure
for that matter).

Give it some thought.
--
John

On 29 Dec 2006 18:25:59 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:


JimH wrote:
"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...
Here's a concise and handy guideline that was included in the
installation manual for my new Victron charger:



Do you ever stop thinking about boats and boating Chuck? There is, after
all, more to life than that.

Of course there is.
And when I'm not involved with either working or recreating, there's no
reason to think about boats.




What are you going to post next..........guidelines included in the
installation manual for your head?

Probably not.

I thought these might be useful as they will apply to a wide variety of
chargers, not just the unit I recently installed.

As far as "Omigawd, Gould is posting more boating related material on
the rec.boats site!"
Guilty. I am under the confused and misguided impression that boat
stuff is why the site exists. :-)

Have you any tips or observations to add to the topic "Troubleshooting
a battery charger"?

Here's a question: Which is better for maintaining the battery over the
winter, infrequent charges on the 10 amp setting or more frequent and
longer charges on the 2 amp setting. I've been using the 2 amp and leaving
it on overnight. It's an automatic charger, so it stops charging when the
battery is charged.
--
John

On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 03:15:35 -0500, "RCE" wrote:


"Mike" wrote in message
t...


He was helping the OP with a relevant post. Why did you have to destroy
the effort?

--Mike

Mike, the part you missed is that Gould's post *was* the OP.



And Jimmy's post was an effort to destroy the thread.
--
John

Hi, Chuck, and thank you.

Of course, we all know about www.batteryfaq.org, which I find a great
reference. Be prepared to spend some time digging and reading.

It continues to amaze me how technical a topic boating is. I can identify
with my new-boater friend who thought you just turned the key and pushed the
lever. He's not finding the old joke about "BOAT= 'break out another
thousand'" currently very amusing. However, the technicalities, over the
years, have proved to be a distinct part of the pleasure (and undeniably
also often a major pain in the transom), and paying attention to them makes
boating safer ... and less expensive.

My main battery problems over the years have been from corroded
connections - boy, can that ever sneak up on you! Also, a deep cycle
"suddenly" (?) went bad on me once, and fried the alternator. I'm not sure
that was foreseeable, but many boaters view a digital voltmeter as essential
for keeping an eye on a battery's health. Checking the specific gravity is
better, but in the real world, a voltmeter will get used more often. If
they're not _perfect_, replace immediately. (The literature says "or repair"
but I have never heard of it actually being done.)

The extra money spent on good batteries can more than pay for itself. I know
some friends who use a high-end brand but get 10 years out of them ... _and_
are very knowledgeable about maintenance. Really good charging matters, and
doesn't happen all by itself. See the reference quoted above. Charging is
the topic you started us on.

Batteries and charging is always a good discussion point among boaters. It
rivals "what's the best anchor" as a subject of controversy and strong
opinion. But they're good conversations to have, sifting fact from
speculation, and making mental notes ...

Batteries and charges are one of the essential systems on any boat with an
engine. We can manage without a fridge or a transom wash-down, but not
without well-charged batteries. Good winter topic. Thanks again.

Charles

====

Charles T. Low
www.boatdocking.com

====

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...

Anybody else got something useful to add?

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 04:09:28 GMT, Mike penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

He was helping the OP with a relevant post. Why did you have to destroy
the
effort?

Now you have *my* interest. Was there an original post? Was it the
same subject? Can you send me the message id of the original post.

Reason: nothing sinister. I'm running beta software and I never saw
the OP... so I might have a trouble ticket to initiate on this
occurrence.....

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats

The original poster is Gould and he posted it to google groups. Too bad you
missed it. It was one of his better efforts. :-) There are currently 12
posts in the thread including yours. I am watching 2 newsfeeds in parallel
and they both drop a post ocassionally. Sometimes the post will appear at a
later time. Sometimes bits fall into the bit bucket just because they can.
Message-ID: .com
Happy New Year,
Jim

Ok, just to make sure.... when Mike said, "He was helping the OP with
a relevant post," I got a little confused. Then there really was no
post prior to the above Message-ID.....?

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats

Correct

JimH wrote:
"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...
Here's a concise and handy guideline that was included in the
installation manual for my new Victron charger:



Do you ever stop thinking about boats and boating Chuck? There is, after
all, more to life than that.

What are you going to post next..........guidelines included in the
installation manual for your head?

go back into hiding, Jim. No one missed you and your constant ****
stirring. Did you notice not one single person asked anything about
you? Do you wonder why?

RCE wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
...


He was helping the OP with a relevant post. Why did you have to destroy
the effort?

--Mike

Mike, the part you missed is that Gould's post *was* the OP.

And aside from some assinine remarks tossed in by a couple of guys who
specialize in same, the thread has not done badly. How about you,
Richard? Got anything useful to add to the general subject of battery
chargers or charging?