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Sterling Battery charger


b0atman

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I have an intermittent fault with my 50amp charger that does not charge on float mode but runs perfectly through boost cycle .This has happened twice luckily i have been monitoring the smart gauge since saw it when volts had dropped to 11v. Does it have to go back to Sterling or are there official agents or knowledgeable service people about to do a quick turnaround repair ?

 

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Can't answer your question but falling to 11 volts suggests more is wrong than simply not charging when in 'float'.

 

The voltage should have been in the order of 14.8v during 'absorption' (which is what I imagine you mean by boost), then when 'float' commences the battery voltage ought still to be around 12.8 to 13.0v even if the charger is delivering no output.

 

The fall to 11.0v suggests a major fault in the charger which is draining the battery in short order.


(Or it suggests the charger was never charging in the first place, whatever you thought it was doing.)

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How are you powering the charger? Shore line? Genny? If Genny then you don't ever want it to go to Float anyway.

 

What voltage do you see with reasonable discharged batteries when...

  • You first turn on the charger?
  • After 2 hours?
  • After 4 hours?
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its an intermittent fault all leds are correct showing float when for some reason charger does not work .

I have put a timer in 240v feed that switches off then on each day.This starts the cycle again .

I am on bank power so need a quick turn around or wait until weather picks up and solar runs the 12v then it can be sent away.

Edited by b0atman
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I appreciate you asked where local service agents are, not for help in diagnosing it.

 

It looks as though nobody knows. How about calling Sterling and asking them?


I'm wondering though if the charger is fine and your batteries are worse than goosed. The fall in float voltage could be due to demand draining what little capacity them having and the charger not noticing.

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The only time i switched on our Sterling charger was when on shoreline or generator, the rest of the time it had to be switched off or it would drain the batteries. I am not sure if this is the way it was meant to be, but it was the only way it worked for me, other than that no problems with charger after 5 years live aboard. Perhaps this could be your problem.

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The only time this and probably most other multi-stage chargers will put out zero charge current is following the transition from higher absorb voltage to float, before the batteries adjust to the lower voltage. During this temporary condition a discharge current may be seen on a battery monitor despite charger remaining on.

 

Another charge source (solar, engine alternator or another mains charger) holding the batteries above the charger in questions regulating voltage will also cause it to temporarily cease producing a charge current. I have to say though that 11 volts is way below any float voltage so assuming this is an accurate figure, looks like the charger has a fault.

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its an intermittent fault all leds are correct showing float when for some reason charger does not work .

I have put a timer in 240v feed that switches off then on each day.This starts the cycle again .

I am on bank power so need a quick turn around or wait until weather picks up and solar runs the 12v then it can be sent away.

 

Further thoughts are that this may be a voltage sensing issue which only manifests itself in float mode.

 

The 50 amp Sterling charger I imagine you have is a three output one. If so any unused positive output must be strapped/connected to to one that is, typically the one feeding the largest battery bank. If only one output is used both the others must be strapped to it to avoid artificially high voltage sensing.

 

If, and I appreciate it's a big if, it proves to be the case, its something you could easily check and correct yourself.

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The only time i switched on our Sterling charger was when on shoreline or generator, the rest of the time it had to be switched off or it would drain the batteries. I am not sure if this is the way it was meant to be, but it was the only way it worked for me, other than that no problems with charger after 5 years live aboard. Perhaps this could be your problem.

 

 

No it isn't right. A battery charger should not discharge the batteries left connected but not turned ON.

 

Which model of Sterling charger was this?

 

And I think it would be helpful to know which model of Sterling charger the OP has too.

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The only time i switched on our Sterling charger was when on shoreline or generator, the rest of the time it had to be switched off or it would drain the batteries. I am not sure if this is the way it was meant to be, but it was the only way it worked for me, other than that no problems with charger after 5 years live aboard. Perhaps this could be your problem.

 

Could it be by any chance that you have the charger wired so the inverter tries to supply it if there is no generator or shore power?

  • Greenie 1
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