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onboard charging


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Whats the best brand charging system,for the $ and how many amps should it be for a dual optima blue top set up. Is 12 amp to small,6/6 per bank ,or shoud I go with the 20 amp? I was thinking of guest brand.Thanks

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Need a few more details.

Do you have two batteries in parallel on the stereo bank plus one starting battery or two batteries total?

Group 34 or larger?

Both Blue Top deep cycles with a gray case or is one a Blue Top dual purpose with a black case?

Using a dual battery switch or an ACR and if so which model?

David

Earmark Marine

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I have a blue top with black bottom thats for starting , and I bought a blue top d 27M for the stereo,assc. I don't have it hooked up yet .I was planning in putting a blue sea switch in ,but not sure about the adding the on board charging system, and how big it needs to be to be able to charge them right.any ideas ,thanks.

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tuslake,

So you've got a 34M dual purpose Blue Top starting battery rated at 50 amp/hours and a D27M for the stereo battery rated at 66 amp/hours.

Here are a couple of options:

The Pro Mariner ProSport 12 dual bank (6/6) charger is minimum for your total amp/hours. This is a 12 amp charger for your total of 116 amp/hours which is in line. It has "distribute on demand" that allows most of its capacity to be delivered to the single bank in need. This is a good feature since its likely that your starting battery will be put into storage with a high level of charge while the stereo battery may be fairly depleted at times.

The ProSport 20 has a larger amperage capacity and is the largest charger you will need.

I like two small chargers by Ctek. The 3300 to service the starting battery and the 7000 to service the stereo battery. These use pulse technology in the 'bulk' charge stage which is highly effective in desolving the effects of sulphation and leads to a longer battery lifespan and higher performance throughout. While Optima is careful to not recommend charging products they have gone on record in recommending these chargers for their AGM batteries.

If you are looking at a regular manual dual battery switch the Blue Sea will be fine. If you are looking at an ACR (automatic set it and forget it voltage sensing relay) then there are better alternatives that I can recommend.

David

Earmark Marine

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How about the Guest intelligent choice charging system 12 amp, for the 2 optimas,with blue sea manuel switch?Is that close to the pro mariner 12amp sport? thanks david for all the help!!!!

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tuslake,

The thing that I like about the ProSport is the "distribute on demand" which fits this application perfectly. At times you may need more than 6 amps on a single bank. I've used Guest in the past and our experience was that because they were potted (completely sealed for waterproofing rather than just conformal coated) they ran very hot. And, that didn't work out so well with the considerable loads associated with restoration of deeply discharged stereo batteries versus a light drain like instrumentation.

We go with what we know best. Admittedly there could be large holes in my familarity of a product that I haven't used in several seasons.

All of these chargers are smart multi-stage, ie: bulk, absorption, flood. Each carefully profiles the battery(s) as to maintain and not overcharge once restored to full capacity.

David

Earmark Marine

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Hey David, can you use this type of charger whilst using the stereo? At the marina there is a powerpoint, I was thinking it would be good to plug in and forget about the batteries. I see the bigger boats doing it, but not sure what they are using, and they don't really have pumping stereos.

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Hey David, can you use this type of charger whilst using the stereo? At the marina there is a powerpoint, I was thinking it would be good to plug in and forget about the batteries. I see the bigger boats doing it, but not sure what they are using, and they don't really have pumping stereos.

I think its possible but typically I have my Perko turned off so the Prosport 20 can distribute to which battery needs the power most. I have the Prosport 20 as well purchased this nifty plug from David so I simply plug in my boat.

http://www.earmarkcaraudio.com/Xcart/product.php?productid=16871&cat=261&page=1 (Prosport 20)

http://www.earmarkcaraudio.com/Xcart/product.php?productid=16453&cat=311&page=1 (Battery Charger Inlet)

Here are some picks...

post-4887-002281800 1297052421_thumb.jpg

post-4887-016982900 1297052430_thumb.jpg

post-4887-040312400 1297052445_thumb.jpg

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arrydjay,

Yes and no.

If you are running LEDs then a charger will be up to the task with ease. But if you are approaching the chargers amperage capacity with audio equipment then its not going to last as you run it into the ground. Consider that these chargers only run at their capacity initially until the batteries get a charge.

If you want a dual purpose charger/power supply, then you need to step up to the "converter" class like what is used on a cruiser/motoryacht. And the capacity has to be equal to what your actual current draw will be. Look at the Intelli-Power chargers on our site for this type of application.

2000 watts could pull 50 amps on a continuous basis at a pretty good volume but less than full tilt.

Btw, the Intelli-Power will have all the multi-stage smart aspects of any other standard marine battery charger. In fact, its even a little more sophisticated.

You would still keep the battery(s) on-line during this type of use if for nothing else their filtering benefit as they behave like giant capacitors.

One more thing to keep in mind. Once you pass the 40 or 50 amp charger threshold you can trip standard 15 amp AC service if you're really standing on it. So you still have to have a little restraint in order to avoid the next weak link.

David

Earmark Marine

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