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New Boat owner with Crusaders

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dcwyatt

New member
"Hello everyone. I have been

"Hello everyone. I have been lurking for a while, learning a vast amount of info on this board. I just bought a 1989 Wellcraft Gran Sport with twin 350hp Crusader engines.

My first question is a bit off topic for this board, but based on the wealth of knowledge I have seen thus far, it should be easy. It is regarding battery chargers. The boat has an old Professional Mariner 35 amp 2 bank charger that (I think) also feeds the electrical control panel with DC power - bypassing the batteries when connected to shore power with a third leg. MY question is do I replace it with a 2 bank charger or a three bank charger with the control panel being the third bank? Anyone care to suggest an appropriate charger for a large cruiser style boat? (all the trick chargers seam to be tailored to the sport fishing crowd)

All of my boating experience has been with small runabouts. This is my first intimate experience with a boat of such complexity."
 
"A lurker, eh? That's a s

"A lurker, eh? That's a smart way to learn what to look for in a boat before purchasing it. I spent months on the Marinette boat forum before buying one. Knew exactly what to look for by then.

Most boats do NOT run accesories directly off a battery charger! The DC items run off the batteries, with the charger 'refilling' them at the dock.

Jeff"
 
"Dan, Again Jeff is correct.

"Dan, Again Jeff is correct. The charger may tie in to the DC system at the panel, but it is not bypassing the batteries, it is merely making the connection to the battery circuit in the panel.

A third leg would only be necessary it you have an independent bank for a genset or thruster. If you don't, and don't care to add one (which I highly recommend, if you have a genset)you can replace it with a two bank charger but most of the two bank chargers are of lesser output than I like. Pro-Mariner and Charles are the two top manufacturers in the industry. Both make chargers suited for your needs but expect to pay upwards of $500.00-$600-00 for a 30A model. The Pro-Mariner Pro-Tech 4 30A has 3 banks with a jumper. You can not leave an output unused, it throws off the maintenance charge capability so the jumper is used to connect the unused leg with one of those in use.

Rick"
 
"NEw charger is in and working

"NEw charger is in and working fine.

Jeff,
This purchase has a story behind it. I was not shopping for the boat, but it became available to me at a fraction of it's value from a close family friend who was the original owner. He is not around to provide the background info that would make the experience much easier.

I went with a 40 amp Progressive dynamics Intelle-power charger convertor. So far so good. More questions to come..."
 
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