Sterling or Adverc or "Other"?

[Martin]

I need to do a little work on the electrics on the boat and have bitten the bullet and decided to go for a battery management system.

Not solely for the advantages of increased charging - but also monitoring.

 

Any opinions from you guys as to which manufacturer to try.

I have had a meeting with Adverc at their prestigious(?) offices in Wolverhampton and have emailed my list of queries and had replies from Charles Sterling.

 

Both have slightly different philosophies and products and Sterling are cheaper.

 

Any views, recommendations etc?

Would you go for someone else entirely.

 

Martin

[Richard Bustens]

well if you talk to any one in the trade or any one with fitting experiance they all say to keep away from sterling .

if you read his book it makes a lot of sense ond tends to convert you.

If you talk to people on this forum they like them.

But if you way up the pros and cons i think you must keep away from sterling.

But i also know that on hear i am in the minority.

[Bernie]

Martin, When we bought our boat a Heart Interface battery management system had been fitted, not knowing much about these things at the time we didn't know that the alternator has to be modified for this particular one. After some problems we spoke to Rob at Venetian Marine who put us in touch with Matrix controls at Wheelock. After some discussion we had an Adverc installed, much easier and no modifications to the alternator.

[dor]

I believe that Sterling's latest digital controller does not need any modification of the alternator. Copes with multiple battery banks also.

 

My Sterling controller is now at least 5 years old and still gives me no trouble.

 

Do the trade get a higher margin on Adverc installations.?

[Richard Bustens]

Hi DOR

I genuinely dont think that is the case as i have argued the case with 3/4 diferent people from the boat yard that i have building the boat, to the people that are doing the controle panel all of which know they are not supplying the bits to me, so have no axe to grind.

But without exception all say i want my head examining if i look at sterling bits.

Even my wife is now saying we must have Victron not sterling after she overheard me talking to the yard manager and saying i was concidering the sterling bits

[Bernie]

Do the trade get a higher margin on Adverc installations.?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I wouldn't think so. Richard Johnson from Matrix is an electrical engineer who goes around the country advising and fitting electrical systems etc in narrowboats. I really don't think he has any axe to grind, just explained both systems and fitted the one we chose. We still have the Heart Interface connected to nothing, since we did not want any modification to the alternator. (I won't go into details about the alternator in this case, it's a bit of a sore point)

Edited December 6, 2004 by Bernie

[Gary Peacock]

We USED TO fit Stirling, need I say any more.

 

We then fitted Victron nothing at all wrong with their products but the UK dealer network left a lot to be desired.

 

We now fit Mastervolt and so far haven't had any problems at all with their products and have had excellent support from Mastervolt UK. (But time will tell!)

 

We can't afford to be running around in circles with electrical systems, so if the product or support is poor we move on very quickly.

 

Gary

[rustyduck]

Sorry to jump in on this one,

 

But exactly what reasons are given? If they said that they can't handle a continuous load, or the wires burn out, or they couldn't run a fridge light, then I'd say OK.

 

No axe to grind hear either - I'm going for struder as sterling can't do the 48v stuff I'm after.

 

Ah - took too long to post this one then!

Edited December 6, 2004 by rustyduck

[Richard Bustens]

Yep Bernie

And he is one of the people i have spoken to as well.

There must be something in this as to many people who fit more than 1 of anything dont like them.

RJ gave me an explanation as to why but it would take for ever to repeat it on hear but basicly it is a Aerican product made in china with cut price bits.

Someone on hear said that C Sterling made the bits himself but i think that is wrong, though he may have done once. but there are 4/5 diferent makes of inverters (all the lower priced ones)that are in the same cases with the same controles and diferent names on the boxes.

[DHutch]

we dont have a very complex electrical system, just two 24v domistix batterys, and the bow thurster battery - these are charged by a triple output, 6year old (yellow) sterling mains charger, and an alternator which can be switched between the three

 

- and i have to admit, the sterling had never missed a beat,

 

 

daniel

[David Schweizer]

The Sterling Digital Alternator is Made in the Far East - No secret about that Charles Sterling told me himself. But I bet almost all the others are as well, or at least most of the components are. The real issue is the quality of build, not where it was made. I considered the various options before fitting a Sterling Controller. I was unhappy about the Acorn Eagle because of a friend's experience of burning out the diodes in his alternator when using one (twice!!) and the others were just so expensive, and probobly too sophisticated for my requirements.

 

I have a simple electrical sysem on my boat, just one 110 amp starter battery, two 6volt 170 amp cabin batteries and a 55 amp alternator. Electrical demand is primarily lighting, radio, and the fridge (and TV when I can get reception) The Sterling Digital Controller keeps the batteries well charged with only a couple of hours cruising each day, the only criticism I would have is that because of charging peaks there is a tendancy for it to blow lower rated splitting diodes (I have blown two 75 amp jobs, but that could be the fault of the alternator as well) so I have reverted to a thumping great 180 amp Relay which works fine.

 

One of the reasons I was put off Adverc was because of the high pressure sales pitch I got from their rep at a boat show, He kept on insisting that I had to have this, and I had to have that etc. etc. I ended up with a wiring diagram that looked like a spider's web and a costing estimate that went through the roof. I am sure that if you have a complex electrical system with a high demand, it is worth splashing out on one of these fancy ststems, but if your requirements are modest the Sterling is fine.

[Bernie]

but there are 4/5 diferent makes of inverters (all the lower priced ones)that are in the same cases with the same controles and diferent names on the boxes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Sorry, thought we were talking about battery management systems not inverters.

[Richard Bustens]

Dooooo yes bernie we were but as usual i got the wrong end of the stick and lumped the lot together.lol

[Martin]

I too got a spiders web wiring diagram from Adverc!

Plus, all their bits are available seperately and so the total project cost is more difficult to price than with Sterling.

"OK Sir, you want the Remote Control; that's £x, then of course you need a shunt at £x for amps measurement and your alternator needs modification at £x...."

Sterling's stuff is all inclusive - buy the remote unit and you gets all the shunts.

Buy the alternator controller and you get the battery and alternator temperature sensors included - not extra.

 

The Sterling "online" price for the stuff I want is £526.40 against Adverc's £950+ - and that probably misses a couple of "extras" that I didn't realise I need.

The only reservations about Sterling voiced by Adverc was the high charging voltage and "timed" charging cycle but this has gone with the new digital controller which measures voltages, temperatures and such in real time - so you get the charge the batteries require, and it's different every time you start the engine.

 

No-one seems to have come up with any real reasons for not choosing Sterling - and "we USED to fit Sterling - need I say more" doesn't really help (sorry Gary!).

Please say more - what were the problems??!!!!!

At the moment, I am persuaded by Sterling - not simply on the basis of cost either.

 

Will be buying in the next week or so, so please keep the examples coming!

I will let you know how it pans out!

[Richard Bustens]

well im'e in the same boat as you Martin, and i spose the reason i have not bought as yet is that every time i decide to go one way someone talkes me into something else. first its mastervolt then sterling then victron then sterling again then victron ow ow ow im'e getting a head ache again.

I like Sterlings prices but some of the stories i have heard put me off.

[John Orentas]

The most important thing to consider when buying any type of elecronic equipment is customer support, it is not reallistic to expect anyone other than the original manufacturer to repair it other than perhaps to replace obviously blown components. The kinds of electronic wizardry we talk about at great length all seems to be designed and made to a good standard so there is probably not much between them.

 

The original supplier is therefore in a position that he could hold you to ransom every time some backup is required, wether through greed or incompetance or general laziness. If any supplier shows a leaning in that direction he must be weeded out and avoided like the plague, that is where a forum like this one can be of great value.

 

A simillar situation appllied in industry 20 or so years ago when inteligent elecronics first came out. People where hawking around very clever little controllers dedicated for every industrial process you can imagine, everything was ok untill something went wrong or you wanted another one. Then you find out that the young whiz-kid who designed it has left the company leaving no documentation or anything else behind.

 

Entire factories would grind to a stop because of a few thousand pounds-worth of electronic junk all over the place that could not be repaired.

 

John Squeers

Edited December 7, 2004 by John Orentas

[weeble]

I had a Sterling charge controller fitted last month, together with 3 new 110AH batteries. I must admit that the chief engineer at the marina tried to talk me out of the charger to begin with -- on the grounds that it was unneccesary. But when I explained that I only got to the boat every 3~4 weeks at this time of year, and then only take a 3~5 hour trip up and down the cut, he agreed the suitablility of using a controller.

 

Why did I choose Sterling? Well price obviously played a part, but also after talking to the the same engineer it seems they're fitted to virtually all the Canaltime fleet that he also looks after and his experience of their reliability and performance is extremely good.

 

I've only been out once since the unit was fitted and it certainly wacked in a heap of charge in a very short time, so (fingers crossed) a satisfied customer in the making.

 

Cheers.... mike

[David Schweizer]

I have had first hand experience of Sterling's After Sales Service, and it was excellent. I was having problems with pulsing when the alternator was on high charge, and numerous emails passed between Charles Serling and myself, systematicly trying to solve the problem. In the end it turned out to be a problem with the alternator, but the help didn't stop there. Charles Sterling sent me a brand new Digital Alternatotr Controller (which was the new model at the time), which he claimed should solve this sort of peroblem. He asked me to try it out, and if it worked I could keep it free of charge. It did work and it is still fitted to my boat and works fine. Do The others offer this level of technical assistance?