Good morning all,
I have a question concerning my on board charger. Im suspecting its over charging as i found my batteries dry. There are no leaks and ive checked the alternator outputs and they are fine. The charger was installed in 1983 by chris craft brand new with the boat as shown on my blueprints. The boat is a 1984 360 commander sportfish. Was just wondering if anyone knew anything about these chargers or not and what amperage they should be charging at. This unit is one of the few things i dont have info on. thanx for you help. Dan

They are JUNK compared to what is available on the market now. The old style chargers will do what you just described, they will boil your batteries dry and they can set your boat on fire too. On a Chris Craft in our harbor, we heard the sniffer going off in the alarm mode. The owner was out of town. Guess what?

His battery charger had overcharged his batteries, they were both hot, and they were puffed up like a balloon ready to blow. Had we not found the situation and investigated, his boat would have set the harbor on fire.

My own hard earned experience has included buying unnecessary batteries that were destroyed by inferior chargers. Here is what you and every other serious Commander owner should have on board. It's not cheap, but it does an absolute SUPERB JOB ! You can find a cheaper unit, you can even find one on ebay, or perhaps one that someone claims is "reconditioned". I suggest you buy a new one in the box and have the assurance of a factory warranty and factory endorsed safety program.

I am pretty opinionated on this issue, and it is because of the numerous unnecessary batteries I bought in the past, the near fire situation I saw, and what a difference it made for me when I installed the Xantrex Truecharge on my 38' Commander.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/424840/message/1127389120

Regards,

Paul

Very true, nothing worse than a cheap (or old style) battery charger.
Those things will abuse a batter worse than anything.

JB

Thanx Paul,
I will definately change that out this weekend. I assumed being cc installed it was a good product of course without taking age into effect. I will look into the brand you recommend as i have 8d's. thanks for the advise.
Dan

Iwent down to the marina tonight because now im worried. the batteries are still full from when i filled them a few weeks ago. i load tested and cell tested the batteries and they are fine. the unit is a triad utrad convertor/ charger wich after some research was used in a lot of campers also. it constanly charges according to info. the unit is buzzing pretty good but not hot. when batteries checked with dvom they read 12.1 volts. after unit turned back on it reads 12.5. this doesnt seem to excessive to me but thats not to say it isnt sticking at times. the unit calls for 3.25amps to 20 amps max. i shut it down tonight and all my thruhulls are closed. the battery should be able to handle any bilge pump operations until this weekend. im going to research new chargers on your advice. you certainly know these boats much more than i do. you say the 20 series charger is ok for 2 8d's? thanks again for your input and safety warnings.
Dan

The new units take your battery through a cycle that is impossible without a chip. The solid state units run the battery though a routine to actually overchaqrge it a bit, trickle down, etc., as noted in the referenced link. It works, thats all I can say, one heck of a lot better than the standard charger/converter that was on board. This is one case where newer IS BETTER.

The batteres I have saved, and had extended life with, have paid for the unit. In addition, I have the benefit of enhanced safety and automatic reliability. I leave my unit on 24/7. It does the thinking automatically, and adjusts based upon the condition of the batteries. My opinion, of course. Others who have tried this unit report similar good results.

If you try one I hope it works equally good for you.

Regards,

Paul