May 21, 2015

I completed the installation of a new  battery charger and revamped the wiring on the starboard side of the engine room bulkhead.  The new charger decision was driven by the need to prolong the life of my expensive new batteries, although the irritating hum of the old Newmar charger will definitely not be missed.  I also wanted to eliminate the battery isolator diodes because they cause a slight voltage loss that is enough to result in the batteries never getting a full charge.  After a bit of research, I settled on a ProNautic 1250P from Amazon at $70 less than West Marine.  It is a modern computerized charger that has all the capabilities I wanted:

• 50 amp capacity (a bit more than the recommended 10% of house bank amp/hour capacity).
• Monitors and charges each bank separately as needed, allocating amperage accordingly.
• Uses multi-stage charging for maximum battery life.
• Programmable for a variety of battery types.
• Allows equalization charging for desulfating the plates.
• Includes a battery temperature sensor to avoid cooking the batteries.

Installation was reasonably normal: takes longer than planned and requires a lot of painful contortions.  I also had to drill out a stripped screw to remove the old charger, and modify the new charger's terminal lug cover to accept a larger size AC cable.

Next I’ll tackle the port side wiring and install a new starting battery.  When away from shore power, the addition of a series regulator (Xantrex Echo Charger) will direct alternator charging current from the house bank to the starting battery as needed without the voltage drop of diodes.  That’s the theory anyway.

One of the two missing parts for the watermaker arrived this week, but no welding of the high pressure pump mounting bracket yet.  Since I have plenty of electrical work to do before starting on the big watermaker project, it's not an issue.  I'm sure it will all work out.