Regarding requirement #3, individual battery charging: this is important for longevity of AGM Lead-Acid batteries. Flooded L-A cells are weekly or monthly equalized, or reset to the same cell voltage by overcharging them all. Replace the boiled water. No replacing the water in AGMs, which are water starved to begin with.
The lead-acid chemistry slowly diverges cell voltages. When charging, the runt cell eats less, and when discharging, the runt cell works harder, all based on a slightly different cell resistance value. AGMs from the same manufacturing lot minimize this long-term tendency, and flooded cells can be reset.
Also, one single 4-bank charger is pretty, but a failure would be more impacting. Four individual chargers are more fault tolerant and cheaper to replace individually, though arguably more likely that one of them will fail.
It's all a balancing act, like the opposing forces on a sail and a keel. I appreciate that we all have different "perfect" solutions.
Mark Stafford
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "kotyara73" <krollokot@...> wrote:
>
> One thing that I never really gave much thought to is the battery charger. But now, having read the recent discussions on the topic, I started doing some more research on it and now I more confused than ever. So, I'd like some help choosing the right unit. Battery bank will likely be 4x100-150Ah AGMs feeding ME907/Sevcon kit. Here're the requirements (or at least draft requirements :)
>
> 1. Has to be able to work with the Honda genny. I gather that means drawing between 13.5 and 14 amps from it, which should result in ~25amp on DC side.
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> 2. Has to be able to supply that power to the motor when the batteries are low. Otherwise, what's the point of a backup genny?
>
> 3. 4-bank 12v charger so as not to worry about battery imbalance? Not too sure about this one, but it seems reasonable.
>
> 4. Has to be robust enough to be left plugged in for a couple of weeks and keep the batteries happy. There won't be any other load at this time.
>
> 5. Solid state rather than transformer, for efficiency.
>
> 6. Not too expensive. I'm figuring $500 tops, but obviously the lower the better.
>
> Here're the options that I've gleaned from discussions in this group:
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> 1. Elcon. Sounds like the right unit (except for being serial), but it's $750...
>
> 2. QuickCharge. Transformer, doesn't sound very robust.
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> 3. DualPro. Issues with motor load while charging.
>
> 4. Zhivan. Not sure what to think of this one.
>
> 5. ProMariner. Saw it mentioned once. Sounds good, but I can't figure out their specs. When they say it's 4-bank 60Amps 12/24/36/48, what exactly do the amps refer to? They don't list their input amp draw either.
>
> 6. 4xWFCO converters. Arby's special :) Seems like a good solution, but single unit would be nicer. They also sell main boards, would it be difficult to put four of them in a single enclosure?
>
> So, as I said, I'm confused. What say you? What would be the best option?
>
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