Monday, March 22, 2010

Re: [Electric Boats] Do I have a battery issue?

 

Mike,


You can have both chargers hooked up.  I would not recommend running both chargers at the same time.   Until such time that both Zivan and ProMariner agreed they would be compatible working on the same string, I would hook the chargers up to a selector switch, so they can't be powered up at the same time.

James



On Mar 22, 2010, at 11:57 AM, Mike wrote:

 

James:
 
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am leaning in that direction of installing some type of quad charger for the battery bank to keep them in balance. Though I am wondering what the connections of this additional charger would do when using the Zivan charger, solar and wind generator too. I like the Zivan because I can power the boat along at around 2.8 knots using the Honda generator and Zivan. Not sure if I would be able to do that with only a quad charger in the circuit.  I would think it should not make a difference to the Zivan or solar & wind generators. Do you see any reason why I could not keep both the Zivan and a quad charger hooked up? I would  only use one or the other when charging though. 
 
Capt. Mike


--- On Mon, 3/22/10, James Lambden <james@toolboat.com> wrote:

From: James Lambden <james@toolboat.com>
Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Do I have a battery issue?
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 7:42 AM

 
Mike,

It is inevitable that a string of batteries in series will unbalance over time.   You need to have a method of balancing the string.    The best way that I have found is to use Pro-Mariner' s Quad battery charger.   It uses what they call "distributed, on demand, charging"      What this means is if one battery is lower (battery one) than the others it distributes a greater charge to that battery, allowing all batteries to come to float at about the same time.   This tends to give the weakest battery a conditioning charge and adds to the longevity of all the batteries in the string.     Every time you use this battery charger, you condition your batteries and balance the string.    This charger is really 4 battery chargers in the one case.   Each battery can then be individually charged and monitored.

When your Zivan Charger charges the string when it is out of balance it can put to high a charge on the highest voltage battery and too low a charge on the lowest voltage battery, therefore reducing the life of the batteries.    

Additionally, every battery charger should have a battery temperature sensor.

We have a saying that AGM batteries do not die, they are killed.    Its another way of saying,   AGM batteries last a long, long time, if they are properly charged and never completely discharged.

I have 4 x 8D AGM batteries, and 4 x 4D AGM batteries and two Promariner Quad chargers on Kapowai.    

James

Propulsion Marine 



805 455 8444







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