Installing new Battery Charger.

seahawk

I wonder if someone  could help me with one other issue.....is a 20 amp Prodynamics charger going to be adequate to charge the a 2 battery house bank of Firefly's. 

I'm replacing all the ships batteries on my 'new to me" 280...2 fireflys in the House, and an AGM Starter. So I'm going to have almost 240 Ah capacity in the house bank and the charger is only 20 amps......and probably Original Equipment on the boat. 

In all the other reading Ive done, and in talking with the technicians at Total Battery Supply in Ottawa they have indicated that Firefly's can be charged at 10% capacity.      But in watching some  recent webinars, it seems that Firefly's need to be charged at 20% of Ah capacity. Therefore would I need to replace the charger with a minimum, 40 Amp charger.

 If so I'm considering a ProNautic 40.    Would this be a simple swap ...basically wires off the old one and right over onto the new one,.....or is there something else that I'd have to consider that would make this a job better left for the pros rather than doing it myself.  The original charger is an Intelli-power PD2120.    Again,...thanks so much for all the help and advice. Its very much appreciated.

Grahamu

I changed my battery charger to the ProNautic 40 and it was fairly simple. Make sure that all AC power is off to the charger, all battery switches are off and all battery grounds or positive cables dis-connected from batteries before starting. Also important when connecting the battery wires to the new charger that the feed to the house bank is connected to battery one terminal. Set up the charger for AGM

Dream_Inn

I agree, the swap to Pronautic is straight forward.  I did this years ago and no wiring to change.

seahawk

Thanks for the comments about the charger swap.   Does anyone have any enough experience with Firefly batteries to know whether they can be charged at 10% of Amp hour capacity,.....or do they have to be charged at 20%. From what I'm reading I'm starting to think more and more that I may need the 40 amp charger. 

YYZRC

What is the downside to the larger charger? Cost difference is minor, I would go big. I have a 12-40 and wish I had a 12-50 for no reason other than envy. 

seahawk

No real downsize to getting the larger one.  I'm becoming more convinced that its a good idea to replace it in any event. Its the original equipment.....13 years old and probably due for R and R anyway. I guess right now I'm just more curious as to what the charging requirement is for the Firefly's as a matter of interest. Cant seem to get a concensus on it one way or the other.  I've always heard that charging slower and longer is better for the batteries but apparently thats not the case with Firefly's.     They need the 20% to work the most effectively with the carbon foam plates.    And I'm thinking the same thing that you just mentioned....if I'm going to go 40 amps, why not just go with the 50 .......

PickleRick

Do the rest of you have a 110 outlet to plug your chargers into?  My rinker was hardwired so I cut the 110 plug off my new charger and did the hardwire.  My bayliner has a dual plug 110 outlet so changing out the battery charger is plug and play.   My boat was originally used in the great lakes, then in Idaho or Iowa before ending up on the west coast, could have been modified by any previous owner if not original.  I have it on the east coast now and its used only on fresh water until I at least semi retire.  I'm not sure if the outlet option would be salt water friendly.  My hot water tank has a burnt element so for now it's just an extra holding tank but when I replace it I'll be adding another outlet at junction box to doing the same there.  Plenty of electric grease on all the wires and on the plug.  

I don't have a slip, for now I charger batteries in the drive way with a drop cord during the week and run a portable genny at night on the weekends to run the AC.  

seahawk

Thanx everyone for the input. It’s appreciated.