Battery Chargers

[axeman]

Has anyone had any experience with the ProMariner ProSport 20 Plus Gen 2? If so, where have you mounted it on a 230 in order to charge both battery banks? This may be a stupid question but is battery bank #1 the one on the port side and bank #2 on the starboard side? I've got the stock setup right now, do I need to worry about the starting battery or focus more on the battery running the stereo? Any pics of mounted units would be great!

[core-rider]

I have the ProSport 20+ Gen 2, but on a 2003 210. It has been working great for the past year since the install. It is a 3 bank charger, meaning 3 separate batteries. If you are only running 2 batteries you could save a bit of money and get the ProSport 20. It is only 2 bank. I think I remember reading somewhere that you can run 3 bank chargers on just 2 batteries, but you may want to call Pro Mariner to make sure on wiring.

To answer your question, wire the charger to both starting and house banks. The ProSport chargers will send the most amperage to the battery that needs it and it will help condition all the batteries which should make them hold up better. If you plan to add batteries in the future the 3 bank charger will come in handy as well.


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[gride]

i could be mistaken, but doesn't charging banks really depend on the amps your charger puts out? i have what i call a 2 bank system. 1 starting battery(bank 1) and 2 deep cycles in parallel(bank 2) for the stereo. i have to unhook my paralleled deep cycles because my ctek 7amp charger doesn't have quite enough to fully excite the batteries when wired together.

[core-rider]

i could be mistaken, but doesn't charging banks really depend on the amps your charger puts out? i have what i call a 2 bank system. 1 starting battery(bank 1) and 2 deep cycles in parallel(bank 2) for the stereo. i have to unhook my paralleled deep cycles because my ctek 7amp charger doesn't have quite enough to fully excite the batteries when wired together.

The way I understand "banks" is how many total batteries you have. 1 battery = 1 bank, 2 batteries = 2 banks, 3 batteries = 3 banks... etc. Amps just has to do with how much current will be sent to the battery during charging. From my research 7 amps probably isn't enough to fully excite a deep cycle battery depending on the capacity it has. That is another nice feature of the Pro Mariner, or any other higher end chargers for that matter. They can send the current to the bank that neeeds it most.
Example: 20 amp charger, 2 batteries, 2 banks... 1 - starting and 1 - house. If the house battery is really depleted but the starting battery isn't, the charger could send 2 amps to the starting bank and 18 amps to the house bank. This is know as the "charging mode". Then comes "conditioning mode" which excites the each bank of batteries and desulfates them. Once all batteries are fully charged and conditioned, the charger will go into a "maintenance mode" to keep them fully charged without over-charging.

I talked with David at Earmark and the tech support guys at Pro Mariner a good bit before deciding on mine. I got some conflicting info between the two, but they both agreed that for my amp/hour load a 30 amp charger was optimum, but a 20 amp charger would get the job done. My electrical system consists of 3 batteries total, 1 - starting battery and 2 - house batteries. They are separated by a Perko switch where "1" is the starting battery, and "2" is the house batteries. "Both" will combine all 3 batteries in parallel, but I keep the house side disconnected from the boat charging system to save wear & tear on the alternator. If caught with a dead starting battery I could switch to the house side to get back to the dock. I use the charger solely for charging the house batteries, but with the flip of the Perko switch could use the alternator as well.

Earmark explained with my setup that a 2 bank charger would be fine, as the house batteries (wired in parallel) would be seen as one large battery by the charger. The second bank of the charger would go to the starting battery. Pro Mariner explained it differently in that since I have 3 batteries I needed a 3 bank charger. Even though the house batteries are wired in parallel the charger was "smart" and would still see them as 2 separate batteries and could charge them at varying current draws. I still don't understand this logic, but went with the 3 bank charger anyway jsut to be safe since I was already skimping on charging amps some.

I have each bank of the charger wired to their own battery, even though the house batteries are hardwired in parallel and are technically acting as one larger battery. All 3 batteries could be wired in parallel if I switched my Perko switch to the "All" setting, but I keep it on "1" to isolate the starting and house systems. I just make sure to always plug in the charger to refresh the house batteries (and starting battery) when done for the day.

Here is the downloads page for the ProSport 20+ Gen 2. http://www.pmariner.com/productFeatu...m=42021&page=1
Look at the wiring directions for it and you can get a visual idea of what I'm saying. If you are running 2 batteries now but plan to add more in the future, that may ultimately determine what charger and how many banks you need. Amp/hours for the batteries will determine how many amps the charger needs to output. Think to the future so you only have to buy once. The tech guys at Pro Mariner are really helpful as well as David @ Earmark, he just gets over my head sometimes with technical info.

[EarmarkMarine]

A battery 'bank' is any number of batteries (whether in series or parallel) that are in isolation. If you have two batteries isolated by any form of switch so that they can be used separately then you have two banks. The collective number of batteries is unimportant. The arrangement is what counts in determining the number of banks.
Jason, some of the technical information from Promariner is just plain wrong. If any two batteries are in parallel, no matter how "smart" the charger is, it cannot read and charge them independently. Seriesed batteries in an open-ended circuit is very different and can be profiled and conditioned independently. If two batteries are in parallel, they could receive a different charge based on a different impedance causing current to flow to the lowest potential....but they cannot be read independently and this would not be a function of the charger intelligence. This makes over/under charging a real possibility.

David

[core-rider]

A battery 'bank' is any number of batteries (whether in series or parallel) that are in isolation. If you have two batteries isolated by any form of switch so that they can be used separately then you have two banks. The collective number of batteries is unimportant. The arrangement is what counts in determining the number of banks.
Jason, some of the technical information from Promariner is just plain wrong. If any two batteries are in parallel, no matter how "smart" the charger is, it cannot read and charge them independently. Seriesed batteries in an open-ended circuit is very different and can be profiled and conditioned independently. If two batteries are in parallel, they could receive a different charge based on a different impedance causing current to flow to the lowest potential....but they cannot be read independently and this would not be a function of the charger intelligence. This makes over/under charging a real possibility.

David

I agree with this thinking, which is why it didn't totally make sense to me, but the great price I got on a 3 bank charger justified moving to it over a 2 bank. If I one day need to replace it I will probably find a suitable 30 amp 2 bank charger.

[axeman]

I'm only running the stock battery setup for now but may add another battery for the stereo down the road. That's why I'm loooking at the 3 bank charger. Like you said above, plan for the future so you don't have to buy twice. So what does each position (#1/#2) on the perko switch belong to? #1-> Port side / #2 -> Starboard side? Where is it normally mounted? I think each cable is about 6 ft long. Would I mount it somewhere in between the two banks so that its equal distance to each bank?

[EarmarkMarine]

axeman,
You will never be in a situation in the context of a towboat that will make a 3-bank charger useful because you will always be using two banks regardless of the number of total batteries in use. The amperage capacity is what will need to change if you add more battery reserves. And a ProSport 20 or 20+ have the same amperage capacity. On the other hand, while there is zero to be gained, there is no harm that can come from having a 3-bank cherger in a 2-bank application. Once you get into the 30 amp capacity and above category, three bank chargers become the dominant choice as two bank chargers all but disappear.

David

[core-rider]

I'm only running the stock battery setup for now but may add another battery for the stereo down the road. That's why I'm loooking at the 3 bank charger. Like you said above, plan for the future so you don't have to buy twice. So what does each position (#1/#2) on the perko switch belong to? #1-> Port side / #2 -> Starboard side? Where is it normally mounted? I think each cable is about 6 ft long. Would I mount it somewhere in between the two banks so that its equal distance to each bank?

My guess is you already have a Perko switch from the factory on a 2012 boat. It may take some wire chasing to figure out what goes where. I added the Perko switch as my boat came factory with a different brand switch and was not user-friendly. I made the starting battery "1" and the house batteries "2" simply because I had 1 starting battery and 2 house batteries. Just made better sense in my head, but could easily been opppsite. You can wire it however you want depending on your situation. I mounted mine in the same spot as the existing switch so the cables would work. I just had to add a 3rd battery and wire it in parallel with the other house battery sitting right next to it.

Here is a pic of my setup. You can see the starting battery box and Perko switch on the left with the house batteries on the right.


This is a pic of one of the factory switches I added back to the house batteries for a quick disconnect in case I ever had a problem.


This switch only disconnects the power to the stereo system whereas the Perko switch disconnects the house batteries from the rest of the boat electrical system. The only way the house batteries can be tied to the rest of the boat's electrical system is if the Perko switch is in the "Both" position. The only way the starting battery can be tied to the stereo system is if the Perko switch is in the "Both" position and the second switch is "On".

[gride]

did you mod your port battery box? i do remember that DIY step by step, but i didn't think that was you.

[core-rider]

did you mod your port battery box? i do remember that DIY step by step, but i didn't think that was you.

That was me!

[TX-Foilhead]

I've got to disagree a little David. I have a 3 Bank charger with an extra switch between the stereo batteries, 2 banks when working and then 3 banks for charging. My setup is a little different with amps and batteries on both sides of the boat. I have short cable runs to all amps and in theory I can change one battery at a time and not have to worry about an older one doing damage to the new one.

[EarmarkMarine]

Tx-Foilhead,
Right, but when you engage the manual switch to 'Off' that separates the two stereo batteries and you have effectively created three distinct battery banks for a 3-bank charger. That is a different scenario.
Then you have to look at the realistic advantage of doing this when you have two identical batteries normally in parallel on the stereo bank that are discharged and recharged within the context of the boat's usage and alternator. With 'distribute on demand' what is the specific advantage? Most don't want to bother with the secondary switch. Again, there's no downside but there isn't an advantage either.

David

[core-rider]

did you mod your port battery box? i do remember that DIY step by step, but i didn't think that was you.

That was me!

Sorry, missed the first part of your question... I modified both sides. The starbord side I enlarged to fit up to a Group 31 and the port side to fit up to 2 Group 31's. Preveiously I could only hold 1 Group 24 on either side.

[axeman]

Does anyone know what the battery box stock location size is? I know the boxes are Group 24 boxes but I'm wondering how large of a battery can I fit in this slot. With or without the battery box? For example, will a Group 31 battery fit with or without the box on a 2012 230? If adding a third battery are people doing Group 24/27/31?