Sterling Battery Charger Problems

[Badger]

Hi all,Last year my Sterling International 30amp charger stopped working,when I switched it on the trip on my 2.3kw generator kicked out.I sent it back to Sterling who told me it was beyond repair.They offered me 10% off the price of a new one.By a stroke of luck I saw a brand new still in the box unit advertised in our local classifieds and brought that.This weekend this replacement has done the same thing.All was well it was working away charging my 3 x 110 amp bank plus the starter batt.After a couple of hours or so it dropped down to the lower charge rate (around 13.2 volts I think ).I did what I have done many times in the past and switched the charger off for 15 seconds or so and then switched it back on again (to restart the high charge cycle).That is when it tripped the generator out,and now does everytime I try it.Sterling themselves told me this was a common trick a lot of people use and it would do no harm.Has anybody experienced similar problems with Sterling?.Due to the horrendous weather over the weekend it was not practical to remove the charger for inspection,but I fear the worst.Any help /advice would be much appreciated please.

 

Badger

[blackrose]

Hi all,Last year my Sterling International 30amp charger stopped working,when I switched it on the trip on my 2.3kw generator kicked out.I sent it back to Sterling who told me it was beyond repair.They offered me 10% off the price of a new one.By a stroke of luck I saw a brand new still in the box unit advertised in our local classifieds and brought that.This weekend this replacement has done the same thing.All was well it was working away charging my 3 x 110 amp bank plus the starter batt.After a couple of hours or so it dropped down to the lower charge rate (around 13.2 volts I think ).I did what I have done many times in the past and switched the charger off for 15 seconds or so and then switched it back on again (to restart the high charge cycle).That is when it tripped the generator out,and now does everytime I try it.Sterling themselves told me this was a common trick a lot of people use and it would do no harm.Has anybody experienced similar problems with Sterling?.Due to the horrendous weather over the weekend it was not practical to remove the charger for inspection,but I fear the worst.Any help /advice would be much appreciated please.

 

Badger

 

Did Sterling give you any clues as to what had caused the first one to go wrong? Had you been running the charger from that particular generator before without a problem? If not and it's happened on a second charger that could point to the generator as the cause, but a 2.3kw generator should easily be able to handle a 30amp charger. I ran the same charger on a 1 kva (900kw) generator without a problem, but that was a honda with a good sine wave if that's relevant. You're probably best off talking to Sterling and asking them about it. 01905-453999.

Edited May 27, 2008 by blackrose

[Badger]

Did Sterling give you any clues as to what had caused the first one to go wrong? Had you been running the charger from that particular generator before without a problem? If not and it's happened on a second charger that could point to the generator as the cause, but a 2.3kw generator should easily be able to handle a 30amp charger. I ran the same charger on a 1 kva (900kw) generator without a problem, but that was a honda with a good sine wave if that's relevant. You're probably best off talking to Sterling and asking them about it. 01905-453999.

 

I have contacted Sterling today,and they said to send it back and they will check it out.Yes the first unit and this one have run off of the gene for many months with no problem.Sterling confirmed that turning off the unit then back on again should cause no problems at all.I guess I will have to go with that for now.Though I cant get back to the boat for a week or two to remove it.If it is terminal,I certainly will not be buying a third unit,and was wondering what to try instead.I am only a weekender and don't want to spend hundreds of pounds-any suggestions??

 

Badger

[blackrose]

What's the point of switching it off and back on exactly? Will this get it to float mode quicker? I have the same charger (actually I have 2 - a 30amp and a 40 amp which I can run off the generator simultaneously. From about 50% amp hours remaining (12.3v) I can get my 3 x 135a/h batteries back to float in about 3 hours. However at that stage they're still charging at about 5 or 6amps and getting it down to about an amp takes a further hour or more. Would I benefit from switching them on and off again and is there any point keeping both chargers on once they're both on float?

[Gibbo]

What's the point of switching it off and back on exactly? Will this get it to float mode quicker? I have the same charger (actually I have 2 - a 30amp and a 40 amp which I can run off the generator simultaneously. From about 50% amp hours remaining (12.3v) I can get my 3 x 135a/h batteries back to float in about 3 hours. However at that stage they're still charging at about 5 or 6amps and getting it down to about an amp takes a further hour or more. Would I benefit from switching them on and off again and is there any point keeping both chargers on once they're both on float?

 

Turning it off and on again puts it back into bulk charge so it runs another bulk/acceptance cycle. It will charge the batteries up faster.

 

Once they are in acceptance (let alone float) you might aswell switch one of them off. As long as the remaining one stays in acceptance the other one would be just wasting power.

 

The common problem with all these charger is that they go into float too early. If you're still charging at 5 Amps after having gone into float your batteries are *nowhere* near full. That adaptive charging is the culprit (I told you it didn't work).

 

Gibbo

[blackrose]

Turning it off and on again puts it back into bulk charge so it runs another bulk/acceptance cycle. It will charge the batteries up faster.

 

Once they are in acceptance (let alone float) you might aswell switch one of them off. As long as the remaining one stays in acceptance the other one would be just wasting power.

 

The common problem with all these charger is that they go into float too early. If you're still charging at 5 Amps after having gone into float your batteries are *nowhere* near full. That adaptive charging is the culprit (I told you it didn't work).

 

Gibbo

 

Yes, after they went onto float (still putting 6 amps in), I just switchd both of them off and back on again. I guess this is the right time to do it?

 

So can someone with a Victron (or other charger without adaptive charging) tell us what sort of charge is taking place when their charger goes onto float?

 

If you're on shore power I suppose it doesn't really matter if you've got adaptive charging or not since the charger stays on and you've got as much time as you want to charge - the issue really only arises when you're running the charger from a generator.

[davidandheather]

Yes, after they went onto float (still putting 6 amps in), I just switchd both of them off and back on again. I guess this is the right time to do it?

 

So can someone with a Victron (or other charger without adaptive charging) tell us what sort of charge is taking place when their charger goes onto float?

 

If you're on shore power I suppose it doesn't really matter if you've got adaptive charging or not since the charger stays on and you've got as much time as you want to charge - the issue really only arises when you're running the charger from a generator.

Hi our Mastervolt charges at around 1 amp in float seems to cut in and out not a clue if its adaptive or not

David

Edited May 27, 2008 by davidandheather

[Badger]

Turning it off and on again puts it back into bulk charge so it runs another bulk/acceptance cycle. It will charge the batteries up faster.

 

Once they are in acceptance (let alone float) you might aswell switch one of them off. As long as the remaining one stays in acceptance the other one would be just wasting power.

 

The common problem with all these charger is that they go into float too early. If you're still charging at 5 Amps after having gone into float your batteries are *nowhere* near full. That adaptive charging is the culprit (I told you it didn't work).

 

Gibbo

As Gibbo says,by switching off momentarily then back on again puts the charger back on to the high charge rate.As I said I have done this many times without a problem.........until last saturday, so beware!.

 

Badger

[Gibbo]

As Gibbo says,by switching off momentarily then back on again puts the charger back on to the high charge rate.As I said I have done this many times without a problem.........until last saturday, so beware!.

 

Badger

 

It's not the switching off then back on again that's caused the problem. It might have brought it on quicker, but it was going to happen anyway.

 

I can't help you though on what has caused it. It may be some odd compatibility issue between that charger and generator or you may just have been unlucky.

 

Gibbo

[smileypete]

I sent it back to Sterling who told me it was beyond repair.

 

Can they tell what component(s) need replacing, and whether they can obtain spare parts?

 

cheers,

Pete.

[Badger]

Can they tell what component(s) need replacing, and whether they can obtain spare parts?

 

cheers,

Pete.

 

When they told me the first unit was toast,I just accepted it and found another one.If they again tell me the same I will pursue it further.

 

It's not the switching off then back on again that's caused the problem. It might have brought it on quicker, but it was going to happen anyway.

 

I can't help you though on what has caused it. It may be some odd compatibility issue between that charger and generator or you may just have been unlucky.

 

Gibbo

Sorry,what do you mean "it was going to happen anyway".Do you mean I was doing something to initiate the problem?.

 

Badger

[blackrose]

Sorry,what do you mean "it was going to happen anyway".Do you mean I was doing something to initiate the problem?.

 

Badger

 

I think Gibbo probably means there was either something wrong with the charger, or it was going to happen because of some incompatibility between the generator & charger. Switching the charger off and back on did not create the fault but it may have brought it to a head.

[Badger]

I think Gibbo probably means there was either something wrong with the charger, or it was going to happen because of some incompatibility between the generator & charger. Switching the charger off and back on did not create the fault but it may have brought it to a head.

 

What is an incompatability?,and if that is the case there isn't much point in replacing the Sterling for another Sterling.Should I look for something simpler,something that isn't digital (whatever that is).Is there infact a simple bullit proof 30amp 12volt charger still available in this digital age?.

[Gibbo]

I think Gibbo probably means there was either something wrong with the charger, or it was going to happen because of some incompatibility between the generator & charger. Switching the charger off and back on did not create the fault but it may have brought it to a head.

 

Yes that's exactly what I meant.

 

What is an incompatability

 

In this case it could be related to the power factor correction. Without getting too technical this is an input system whereby the equipment tries to draw as clean an input current as possible. If the waveform from the generator isn't also clean this can cause all sorts of problems and it may well be that a messy generator waveform could "catch out" the power factor correction and make it draw its input current in a very odd, and incorrect, manner. This could easily blow a unit up.

 

I'm not saying that's what's happened. It's just an example of "an incompatibility".

 

Gibbo

 

Should I look for something simpler,something that isn't digital (whatever that is).Is there infact a simple bullit proof 30amp 12volt charger still available in this digital age?.

 

The "digital" bit has nothing to do with it. That's simply the way they chose to make the charger circuitry for controlling how it charges.

 

I don't understand why they still (or ever) stressed this "digital" point. It's not like it's new. The biggest selling charger ever made (Statpower Truecharge 20) was introduced in the early eighties and that was digital.

 

Gibbo

[Badger]

If it is dirty power coming from the gene,is there some sort of gizmo available that could clean the power that I could plug into the line?

Badger

[Gibbo]

If it is dirty power coming from the gene,is there some sort of gizmo available that could clean the power that I could plug into the line?

Badger

 

No I'm afraid not. Well there is, but it will cost more than the generator. It's called a resonant transformer. If anyone mentions a "power conditioner" of the type used to remove spikes just ignore them.

 

Gibbo

[larkshall]

No I'm afraid not. Well there is, but it will cost more than the generator. It's called a resonant transformer. If anyone mentions a "power conditioner" of the type used to remove spikes just ignore them.

 

Gibbo

 

 

Gibbo now you are talking mucho spondolacks

[Gibbo]

Gibbo now you are talking mucho spondolacks

 

I know. Probably more than a new generator. Though I did pick a 2kW one up last year on ebay for 12 quid! And 40 quid for shipping.

 

Gibbo

[blackrose]

If it is dirty power coming from the gene,is there some sort of gizmo available that could clean the power that I could plug into the line?

Badger

 

I've got a Honda EU10i for sale that would run your charger for £300. It's had its 20 hour service but I've hardly used it since then (apart from starting it up every couple of weeks to maintain it), because I'm normally on shore power and now I've got a bigger generator.

 

To be honest, if you're buying a generator you'd be better off with a EU20i, but I just thought I'd mention it in case you're interested.

 

And yes, this is a commercial posting!

[Badger]

I've got a Honda EU10i for sale that would run your charger for £300. It's had its 20 hour service but I've hardly used it since then (apart from starting it up every couple of weeks to maintain it), because I'm normally on shore power and now I've got a bigger generator.

 

To be honest, if you're buying a generator you'd be better off with a EU20i, but I just thought I'd mention it in case you're interested.

 

And yes, this is a commercial posting!

If I was going for a Honda it would be the 2kw version.Thanks anyway.

Badger