1220i Battery Charger Replacment Question

N

Namaste

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
94
Fluid Motion Model
C-248 C
Hull Identification Number
FMLT2510G910
Vessel Name
Namaste
I have a 2010 R25 with a ProMariner ProTech 1220i charger. We live aboard for several months continuously and the refrigerator and other uses cause many recycles of the house batteries. House battery bank = 2 Group 27 lead acid batteries. Both house batteries have required replacing each year for the last three years. The batteries bubble a lot under charge and eventually developer dead cells even though water levels are maintained. Starter and thruster batteries were replaced after three years and are fine.

So I am looking at replacing the ProMariner ProTech 1220i charger. Is there any unit that can simply be swapped out using the same wiring? What unit would others recommend?
 
Jim,
When it comes to the inverter/ charger details I know enough to be dangerous, but here is a link to the promariner site. I have the 1500 QS in my boat. Perhaps if you call promariner they can help you with a replacement or even what is causing your problem.
 
OK - I have posted a number of times on this subject - ask someone how to search as I don't keep track of my babbling.
Likely you have a defective charger - I went through two of them in 2 years before the third was a charm (knock, knock) - and they ruined my first battery set before I caught on.

Promariner is neither better nor worse than any of the other brands - they are all bad.
Some of the things you can do to enhance battery life:
1. Change the CONDITIONING cycle to 1 hour from the 4 hours the maker sends it out set at. Look in your manual. Best would be to turn conditioning off, but it is not an option on the Protech 1240i I'm currently using (nor the 15 and 20 I went through).

Conditioning is a Equalizing charge. If we had large battery banks of a dozen or more individual 8D's it would make sense where some would not charge to the same level each time and need that overcharge to equalize all the cells. But the big ships with large battery banks have manual control of the equalizing charge instead of every time the charger gets turned on.

The 'almost' car batteries we use don't need to be overcharged - period - your car does not get that and the battery lasts many years.
The issue on our boats is that every time the 110AC is interrupted for more than a minute or two and then comes back on, the charger merrily goes through an entire charge cycle including 4 hours of bubbling and burping the batteries did not need. Also, you come back to the dock and plug it it with nicely charged batteries from the running engine, it is going to get another 4 hour session on the torture rack. I have talked to Promariner a couple of times about this - like talking to a petulant 3 year old :mrgreen:

2. Don't leave the charger on all the time. If the boat is where you can get to it every few weeks or months, then turning the charger on for an hour on each visit is all it will take to get the batteries through a winter. Turn all battery switches off (3). Pull the fuse on the CO detector. and the batteries will go for months with zero stress (assuming they started out charged)

Now, one last thing you can try (no guarantees) On the end of the charger that the 12 volt cables connect, remove the end cap (cover).
With the 110AC off exercise the little snap switches by snapping back and forth a dozen times. Reset the switches to the original configuration (except 1 hour not 4). Hook up a known good battery to the charger leads going to the house set and turn the charger on. You might be good to go.

Lastly, service your cable clamps. Even a fine layer of oxides will throw voltage sensing by the charger off stride. Once a year take the cables apart (one battery post at a time), check and polish the fittings as needed, smear with a bit of grease (any kind of grease) and tighten the nuts back down. Just finished my annual servicing this morning, in fact.
And my fingers are smooth as a babies behind from the grease :lol:

cheers
 
Thanks Denny, but that wasn't the question. The charger is configures for lead acid / one hour. Tried that last year.I just cleaned all terminals when I launched December 1st. Topped off water then and again last week.

Searched this site and others and have been reading for hours.

I am looking to replace the 1220i. The fan no longer works regularly . The unit overheats and shuts itself off.I do not need to get the boat every few weeks. I am living on it. If I turn the battery charger off (or the fan does) the refrigerator will not work. I am sitting here with all the cabin lights off looking for a place to get a new 1220i as I can not find a reasonable replacement . As Denny said it seems all the chargers are very iffy.

All I am really trying to learn here is what unit I can replace the 1220i with without having to hire an electrician to rewire the boat. I see Denny has put in a 1240i. Is that a unit that can plug right into the same wiring as the 1220i ? Does the 40 amps of the 1240i make the overcharging issue worse than the 20 amp 1220i ? Is there any other charger that can simply be swapped out for the 1220i. Please, I am not trying to start another thread about golf cart batteries, inverters, etc.

Thanks.
 
The 1240 is a direct replacement for the 1220 except for the size. I had to move mine to the other side of compartment it was mounted in as there was not enough space where the 1220 was mounted. The 1240 does try to put a larger dose of amps to a discharged battery causing the original 20 amp fuses in the charging lines to blow. Beaware, you may need to change the fuses out to 40 amps, I did. After that no issues.
 
On the 25's the 1240i will screw to the bulkhead right where the other charger was. Once you have your tools assembled it is a matter of minutes.
As was said, the 40 is essentially a direct replacement item.
The AC wire was a bit tight to get onto the new charger as the body of the charger is longer
And the mechanical ground wire needed a bit of coaxing to get the extra slack
I don't remember having to make any wiring changes..

Yeah, the 15/20 series chargers seem to have problems - though I did resurrect one as I mentioned by working the oxides off the programming switch contacts.
If you are living on the boat and pulling a decent amount of current from the house set that the charger has to constantly replace, it may be loaded beyond what is was designed to do on a continuous basis and failed. A 40 amp charger will do the job better.
No, a 40 amp charger does not boil the battery compared to a 20 amp. Voltage - and therefore current - applied to the battery these smart chargers is controlled regardless of the amount of current the charger can supply. If the charge state of the battery is such that is is down to a 5 amp charge, it will be a 5 amp charge even if it is hooked to a 100 amp charger. Now if the battery is asking for 40 amps and the charger can reach that number, then it will. Fuses and wire gauge need to be appropriate. I don't see you having to do anything other than replacing the smaller value fuse. The existing wire gauge on that short of a run will be fine.

How about borrowing a car charger from someone and using that on the house set just for a test to see if the batteries have survived. Just pull the fuse on the charging line from the Protech to get it out of the circuit..
 
Thanks, I am awaiting delivery of a new 1240i. Hoping to get a good one!

Installed new house batteries yesterday and the overheating of the charger has lessened but not gone away entirely. The new batteries held a charge through the night but there was at least one time when the charger kicked off (no lights) and was hot. We will run on minimum power until new charger arrives.

I called Promariner to see if the fan could be replaced but they are closed due to storm.

I have looked at a lot of battery chargers online over the last couple days. It seems sites that allow user reviews all have the same story regardless of brand or size; the product either get one star or five stars. Chargers either work or they do not.
 
Follow up:

I talked to the rep at Promariner. He would "let me have" a 1220P for $249.00. He thought repairing the one I have would not be cost effective. The 1220P would have a five year warranty. My 3 year old 1220i apparently only had a 2 year warranty.

I ended up ordering a refurbished 1220i from this guy. http://chargerguy.com/. I figured if spending $250.00 for a new charger gave me roughly a 50 / 50 chance of getting a good one and I could just about get 3 refurbished ones for the price of new one then going the refurbished route gets me a three shots at success. In any event the charger arrived four days after being ordered and is now in place and working fine so far (about five hours, jury is still out).

Meanwhile I have my old charger which does work but overheats. The fan stopped coming on regularly. I pulled the fan and found it to be a SUNON KD1204PKS1 http://www.pchub.com/uph/laptop/656-71143-19935/SUNON-KD1204PKS1-Server-Square-Fan.html

I intend to break the old charger down, clean it, replace the fan, and keep it as a spare for when the refurbished gives up the ghost.

and so it goes . . .
 
Good on ya.

Need to determine if the fan itself is failed or is the thermistor not working.
Fan is simple, just apply voltage to the fan wires and see if it runs.
Thermistor a bit more problematic - first to find it (I have not opened my first 15i that failed - maybe someday - and second to identify the device number.
Lastly - as a back up unit - would be to hard wire the fan to power. Noisy but effective :mrgreen:
 
Hope you don't mind if I insert a novice question here. Obviously I'm missing the obvious here, but my question is: especially when you live on board for longer periods, don't you use shore power for frig, etc. rather than battery power?

Thanks,

Jake
 
Fair question Jake. If you are absent from the boat for long periods of time, such as months, the batteries can gradually lose their charge. The battery charger keeps them topped off. But, that is not the main reason. The bilge pumps operate only off the battery. If the boat springs a serious leak, causing the bilge pump(s) to run a lot, the battery(s) can be depleted in a day or two. Bilge pumps stop running, boat sinks. Bummer.
 
Also, the refrigerator on the later model tugs is strictly 12 volts hence if you don't keep the charger on the batteries will loose charge. Additionally lighting and such is 12 volt so hence additional draw when living aboard.
 
Thanks for the responses, nice to learn something new everyday. I made the false assumption the frig would be dual power. Important to realize every boat is/can be different regarding what can be operated with shore power.

Jake
 
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