my ctek died: thinking prosport 20...

[gride]

I need a new battery charger. i'm using a perko now, but plan to switch to a blue seas "add a battery" when i purchase the new charger. anyway, i have a flooded cranking battery, and then two agm in parallel for my house bank. do i need the prosport 20plus 3 battery, or can i use the prosport 20 2 battery? if i have to use the 3 battery then how do i make the wires long enough to reach 10' more? do I need to run all agm's or is a flooded cranking ok? or should i get a ctek 25000 w/ 2 comfort connects?

[axeman]

I've got the ProSport 20+ (3 bank charger) and love it. They sell a fused cable extension kit would you need to extend one of the cables. Since you have 3 batteries I would get the 3 bank charger. I only have 2 batteries right now but went with the 3 bank charger for future upgrades.

[core-rider]

You need all the same battery type because the charging profile is different between lead-acid and AGM. As far as 2 or 3 bank it depends on who you are talking to. Some believe if the house batteries are paralleled then it's just one big battery and a 2 bank will do, while other say the chargers are "smart" and can see indiviual batteries even if paralleled. I still don't know what to believe, but I have 3 lead-acid batteries and went with a 3 bank charger. Read through this thread... http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=799649 It has some good info on battery bank wiring towards the end that has me planning to chang up some of my system this Winter.

[AirTool]

.........while other say the chargers are "smart" and can see individual batteries even if paralleled.

Anything is possible (except Obama going down in history as a great President).

But that is hard to believe...unless there is an infrared eye checking the temperature of the battery. Or something magical.

[EarmarkMarine]

There is absolutely no way a single bank of a charger can read two paralleled batteries independently. NO WAY! I'd like someone to take a shot at explaining exactly how that functions. And, that is precisely why they make two and three bank chargers. Parallel batteries, or series batteries for that matter, behave as one. Unfortunately one bad cell can accelerate the degradation of the entire bank.
A 3-bank charger will have no advantages over a 2-bank charger when using two battery banks total, unless there is a difference in capacity. However, with most contemporary chargers as opposed to previous era products, you can hook two charger banks to two batteries in parallel with neither an advantage or disadvantage. It just acts like one charging bank on one battery.

David

[gride]

How about a straight answer? Prosport 2 or 3 bank? Ill even buy it from you. And I always disconnected my house batts from each other before charging.

[gride]

I was told today simply: a two bank charger for my setup would only give "leftover" energy to the 2nd battery of my house bank. Was that so hard? I appreciate when you chime in David, but many feel as though you just love confusing people by almost explaining things. Just do this:keep it simple stupid. I have more knowledge than most on here about audio and the electrical that accompanies it, but am still flabbergasted by most of your answers that do little more than waste people's time.

[ski4evr]

In my experience, 20 plus years dealing with fishing boat battery banks, a three bank charger will provide a quicker return to float voltages for the batteries because of the increased output of the charger, 30 amps vs 20 amps. They will also provide independent maintenance charging of each battery which will increase life especially during the off season. I frequently notice the charger "boosting" the voltage of different cells at different times keeping the float voltage of each battery at optimum levels. I routinely get 4 plus years out of my banks by keeping them on "charge" all the time. Just make sure to keep the electrolyte levels maintained in the batteries.

[EarmarkMarine]

I was told today simply: a two bank charger for my setup would only give "leftover" energy to the 2nd battery of my house bank. Was that so hard? I appreciate when you chime in David, but many feel as though you just love confusing people by almost explaining things. Just do this:keep it simple stupid. I have more knowledge than most on here about audio and the electrical that accompanies it, but am still flabbergasted by most of your answers that do little more than waste people's time.

That was nasty and totally uncalled for.
As stated above, "A 3-bank charger will have no advantages over a 2-bank charger when using two battery banks total, unless there is a difference in capacity." There is your answer as plain and simple as it gets.
These ProSport chargers are distribute on demand so the available current capacity will go where the need is.

Your welcome.
David

David

[gride]

It was not nasty or uncalled for David. I recommend your shop to everyone if they can't or don't want to go local. However, you darn well know you give your answers with a slight bit of non finality. I'm not the first to call it out either. I appreciate your help, and I trust your system design competence above most, and your reviews too. It just gets frustrating. Sorry if you got butt hurt.

[core-rider]

Here is your easy answer... Buy a 2-bank charger properly sized for your amp/hour load requirements. I would strongly suggest replacing the lead-acid battery with another AGM so they are all the same type. Install the charger B+ on one of the house batteries and B- on the other house battery so current is drawn through the bank. The load side should be wired the same way. This will help drain both batteries equally which will hopefully make them last longer. Pro Mariner makes a kit to lengthen the cables, but I just added the length with proper wire and fuse size myself. Pro Mariner said they would not honor the warranty that way, but I've had no issues and I personally don't like the way their kit is implemented.

I thought David's answer was pretty spot on... It gave you info you probably didn't want or need, but gave you an answer for the different uses of 2 or 3 bank charger.

Pro Mariner told me the charger would see all 3 batteries even though 2 would be paralleled. I thought it was BS too, but got a 3-bank for the price of a 2-bank so it didn't really matter in the long run.


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[EarmarkMarine]

It was not nasty or uncalled for David. I recommend your shop to everyone if they can't or don't want to go local. However, you darn well know you give your answers with a slight bit of non finality. I'm not the first to call it out either. I appreciate your help, and I trust your system design competence above most, and your reviews too. It just gets frustrating. Sorry if you got butt hurt.

Oh sure, I have gotten that criticism from a few that feel entitled to information or don't want to do the exercise of thinking for themselves. Sometimes answers have to be general or a technical explanation rather than an absolute because I don't have every bit of applicational information. I know enough to give information so that you can draw your own conclusion. But I often hold off on giving a final concrete opinion that could be mistaken based on info or circumstances I don't have. It's just a little odd that the character who is asking for help does the criticizing. If you don't like the answer then I would appreciate it if you just ignore it.
In this case the answers to several questions that arose in this thread were concrete.
Just a little FYI. After 34 years, I retired from Earmark earlier this year. I don't get a paycheck, I own zero stock now, and I have nothing to gain personally from helping out. I simply enjoy the category.

David

[EarmarkMarine]

Jason,
ProSport has some wire lengthening stipulations that are mostly born out of a protective mindset. They don't want to be liable. But in reality, your common sense approach is fine.

David

[core-rider]

Jason,
ProSport has some wire lengthening stipulations that are mostly born out of a protective mindset. They don't want to be liable. But in reality, your common sense approach is fine.

David

I wasn't worried about length since my wiring would be shorter than their offerings. They put another set of fuses in the kits that hold more current than the original fusing which makes no sense. The connections also aren't completely covered making for a possible short to ground situation. The idea was there, just poorly implemented.


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[gride]

Prosport gen 3 20plus. Done.