Trying to decide on a charger & inverter

[Nepidae]

To all;

The Albin 43 we bought 3 years ago has a 60amp charger from 1985 and no inverter. The charger is what is called a cooker, by an electrician friend. I'm looking to replace that with a charger with intelligence and different charging abilities and add an inverter.

I have a few questions;

1) Are there any recommendation on purchasing a charger/inverter unit or whether I should stick to individual items?

2) Any recommendations as to brand?

Thanks for your input.

[mike66]

My 40' has Xantrex inverter/charger (older model) that works well. It charges/draws off 6 6v golfcart batteries, and has an automatic switch from shore power to inverter. This is wired into our main ac feed, so the outlets, fridge work on either. We also have a separate xantrex 40(?) amp 3 output charger going to our starting battery, gen battery, and 2 4D house deepcycle for dc loads. Both chargers operate under shore/gen power. I have to remember to turn off the stand-alone charger when we're on inverter power. The charger is on the forward engine bulkhead, the inverter/charger on the aft engine bulkhead. Batteries are portside along the fuel tank, and just forward of the gen on the starboard side. Hope this helps. You can go seperate units, but newer combined units have interfacing potential with your gen, etc.

[amber jj]

We purchased a Magnum2000 pure sine wave inverter/charger.I like the idea of everything in one package.The inverter will work seamlessly from shore power back to inverter power automatically.The units charger is a 100Amp smart charger which comes with a battery temperature sensor.We also purchased the remote monitor so we can turn the inverter on or off and monitor the battery banks.You can also purchase a relay to turn the genset on or off automatically.The only other items we may purchase is a couple of battery combiners.The xantrex is also a good choice.
I will install our unit as soon as the weather breaks up here for more than a day or two at a time.

[whwells]

Xantrex inverter/gen does a fine job for me. They are smart and do not overcharge. I leave the boat for weeks at a time without a problem. It keeps up 3 8D
AGM and a Golf AGM series of 4 batteries. Have heard Xantrex sold out and was purchased by another company. So their current status is unclear to me.
whwells "Howard"

[crowra]

We replaced our Xantrex inverter/charger a few years ago with a Magnum 2000 Pure Sine inverter/charger and have been happy with it. TV, appliances and the Admiral's blow dryer and curling iron all run great off the inverter (although the latter two just about suck the life out of the house batteries). We also have a combiner so the starting battery gets charged as well. Here is a link to a blog I wrote that will give you more info.

http://kawhyknot.blogspot.com/2013/05/i ... ttery.html

Another link to the Beach House blogspot -- plenty of great projects on his blog!

http://trawler-beach-house.blogspot.com ... erter.html

[joreyn]

I highly recommend getting a pure sine wave inverter charger combination with the charger side having a multi-stage smart charger setup. Pure sine wave is increasingly important for sensitive electronic devices. For example, I purchased a new coffee maker for the boat. Its circuitry caused it to shut off due to the fact that there were voltage fluctuations. Same with the new toaster oven.

With the smart charger, you'll be able to charge your batteries all the way to 100%. Old fashioned chargers never fully charge the battery before they shut down.

The other thing to recommend is shop carefully for the features you really need. Some inverter chargers have features that you may not need to pay for, For example, I do not have a generator. So I don't need the gen-start function that some of them have.

Take a look at the Pro-Mariner line, or Sterling. Sterling can be found on E-Bay for $899 for a 2500w model. Defender has the pro-mariner in a 200w version for $989. Bay Marine Supply has it for $945.

[Chester B]

Just to muddy the waters, our Xantrex combo unit died a while ago and the electronics guy said they were never made to be repaired, no schematics were available and it was junk. After some discussion with marine electricians we decide to go for separate units which in the end I think proved less expensive. We got a 40amp MasterVolt charger through West Marine which handles up to three banks and we found an inverter on Amazon but purchased directly from the supplier, Inverter Supply, Boca Raton. It is a Cotek (I know, I never heard of them either) but apparently they manufacture inverters for GoPower and other vendors. It is 1500W, pure sine wave and has hard wired ports (not plug-ins) and a remote, all for about $650. Service was great, free shipping and it works perfect so far. I called their tech guys a couple of times about the install (me being confused) and they were great. The fall over from 110V to inverter is automatic and instant; I don't even see a flicker in a light. Just another option to consider.