ProMariner Battery Tender

[LADYBUG TOO]

A lightning strike damaged several components on Ladybug, Too. As I was checking the manual on the three bank ProMariner battery tender I noted that only one battery type selection can be made on the dip switches. My starting battery is an Exide XXHD-M-27 while the thruster and house batteries are standard flooded cell Exides. The dip switches are factory set for flooded cell and a 3 hour absorption rate. Since the XXHD ias an AGM type with a different charging profile has anyone experienced an issue with this? I have not had any issues but since I must replace the starting battery due to its destruction by the strike I thought about having all of them flooded cell. I keep distilled water in the battery compartment anyway and it is not all that hard to keep them topped off.

Pat, Ladybug, Too

 

[GulfSailor]

Sounds like a plan. I can't think of any advantage to having two flooded and one AGM anyway.

 

[Levitation]

Flooded cell is the best way -
less money up front
less money to replace
forces you to service them every 60 - 90 days (if you care about your boat) depending on use and temperature
And having to loosen those cruddy cable clamps to get the battery caps off should get you to clean and grease them on a regular basis, which an AGM will have you ignoring...
Given the attention, the flooded cells may outlast agm...

Besides TLC a big part of extending battery life is to limit the time of the 'equalizing charge' to the minimum (one hour on mine)... More than that just blows water out of the cells... Once every three months you can pop the timer up to 3 or 4 hours for one cycle to ensure matching the cell charge levels, then turn it back down... Actually, I leave it at 1 hour and put an external charger on for a few hours... If there was a way to disable the equalizing charge timer on the Pro-Mariner I would as it vastly overcharges the cells and I am able to keep track of when they need to be equalized...

 

[knotflying]

I would go flooded as well. Denny-O makes sense regarding the maintenance and everything. On another post I noted that I purchased a group27 battery from Walmart. You can't beat the price or the warranty. They are also made by a reputable manufacturer and sold under the Walmart label .

 

[LADY JANE]

Our R21EC is 5 mos. old & 50 hrs. now and the original house battery is No Good. Should I hook-up a Battery Tender? Everything is dead on the boat now except for the Flawless Volvo Penta D1-30 engine / Battery. I've talked to other R21 owners who've had their Original Batteries working for several years, rather than just a couple months. Like mine, everything on their boats is still original and in shipshape condition. My entire electrical system has been thoroughly checked out "Good" by a qualified diesel marine Sparky. Has anyone ever had a New Battery replaced as a Warranty Item? Should I get the Ranger Tug Factory involved with a "No Accessories Power" situation? Or, just contact the Battery Manufacturer? Without electricity, this boats safety features are completely compromised. "Safety is not expensive, it's Priceless!" - Ranger Tugs are Excellent boats, especially when the Battery power works, even after it gets to the buyer.

 

[knotflying]

I would definitely make sure there are no issues causing the batteries to go dead to make sure that it is just bum batteries. I think that the batteries that come with the boat are max one year warranty. I had trouble with my original Exide batteries and replaced them with Walmart flooded deep cycle and no issues since.
I am not familiar with the R-21, but on some boats there are several items that draw power even when the house battery is off. If you are not on shore power and do not have a battery charger on then eventually the battery will loose all it's charge if you are not using the boat for a while. If you do not have a battery charger than a small marine trickle charger should do the trick.

 

[LADY JANE]

Turns out, after thorough testing, my main battery was NFG. So I went over to LBYS and they got the Factory OK to swap it out for a Brand New Battery per the Warranty. Haven't had an electrical glitch since. A New Boat Warranty is a great backup to have. Might have to trade this boat in for a new one when this Warranty runs out. Anyway, she's good as new for now. ~ BB+LadyJane

 

[LADY JANE]

I took your advice, knotflying & Denny-0, and got a pair of flooded batteries and a marine trickle charger for when 'off' shorepower. Thanks Again! BB

 

[baz]

Our R21EC is 5 mos. old & 50 hrs. now and the original house battery is No Good. Should I hook-up a Battery Tender? Everything is dead on the boat now except for the Flawless Volvo Penta D1-30 engine / Battery. I've talked to other R21 owners who've had their Original Batteries working for several years, rather than just a couple months. Like mine, everything on their boats is still original and in shipshape condition. My entire electrical system has been thoroughly checked out "Good" by a qualified diesel marine Sparky. Has anyone ever had a New Battery replaced as a Warranty Item? Should I get the Ranger Tug Factory involved with a "No Accessories Power" situation? Or, just contact the Battery Manufacturer? Without electricity, this boats safety features are completely compromised. "Safety is not expensive, it's Priceless!" - Ranger Tugs are Excellent boats, especially when the Battery power works, even after it gets to the buyer.

I'm confused... The R-21EC does have a battery charger built-in. When boat not in use aren't you leaving the boat with it being connected with power via a decent gauge 15amp 110v cable of proper length ?

My new R-21EC (not yet received) has two maintenance-free lead-acid batteries. I assume "maintenance-free" because when seeing them on the boat in the factory this past week they had no fill caps.

 

[SGIDAVE]

Our R21EC is 5 mos. old & 50 hrs. now and the original house battery is No Good. Should I hook-up a Battery Tender? Everything is dead on the boat now except for the Flawless Volvo Penta D1-30 engine / Battery. I've talked to other R21 owners who've had their Original Batteries working for several years, rather than just a couple months. Like mine, everything on their boats is still original and in shipshape condition. My entire electrical system has been thoroughly checked out "Good" by a qualified diesel marine Sparky. Has anyone ever had a New Battery replaced as a Warranty Item? Should I get the Ranger Tug Factory involved with a "No Accessories Power" situation? Or, just contact the Battery Manufacturer? Without electricity, this boats safety features are completely compromised. "Safety is not expensive, it's Priceless!" - Ranger Tugs are Excellent boats, especially when the Battery power works, even after it gets to the buyer.

I'm confused... The R-21EC does have a battery charger built-in. When boat not in use aren't you leaving the boat with it being connected with power via a decent gauge 15amp 110v cable of proper length ?

My new R-21EC (not yet received) has two maintenance-free lead-acid batteries. I assume "maintenance-free" because when seeing them on the boat in the factory this past week they had no fill caps.

My 2013 21EC has a high quality factory installed battery charger. It is a ProNauticP 12/20 like this:

If I wanted to I could keep that plugged in to 'maintain' the batteries. I DO USE the Battery Tender products on the golf cart, etc but I don't see the point in bypassing the onboard charger.

dave

 

[STELLA L]

When I bought my boat (2011 Ranger 25SC) it had wet cell Centennial Group 27 Maintenance Free batteries. These were installed by the Ranger factory and are sealed. These batteries have lasted me 4 years (just started to fail) and we do a lot of anchoring so the batteries are constantly drawn down. However, I never let the batteries go below 12.2 volts and try to charge them to 12.8 volts as soon as possible either by running with the boat or the on board generator. I was very skeptical of sealed batteries as I had been a bass fisherman for many years and with the electric motor on the bow of the bass boat healthy batteries are a must. These were deep cycle that you checked constantly to keep the proper water levels and charged to 12.8 as soon as possible.

We were on our boat (STELLA) 3 months consecutively the last 2 summers boating the Canadian waters from Seattle as far as 100 miles above Vancouver Island. Our issue was the refer running at night and it is the biggest draw. To get around this we switched the refer off when we went to bed and whoever got up first in the early morn hours switched it on. Never had an issue with ice melting or food spoiling. And since we were usually moving after breakfast the batteries were brought up to 12.8 before we stopped for the next night.

NOTE - I did make one change to my battery system. I hooked up the thruster battery (same as the house batteries) with a Perko switch to the house batteries so that gives me 33 percent more "power" at anchor. I always turn this switch off before I start the engine and only switch it on when stopped for the night.

Since I had such good service from the Centennials I am replacing them with the same. No water levels to check and I had no issues with corroded wires at the battery connections which I check at least twice a month. I will wire brush and grease the connectors when I make the change.

JIM and KARYN
STELLA 25SC

 

[baz]

I had the same battery brand on my 2010 R-25 (Classic) purchased new from factory in late 2009. I checked the cell levels every few months and topped up as necessary. They were still going strong at the point I sold the boat a few months ago. I did point out to the new owner that the batteries were some 6 years old and quite likely would need replacing within the year. Yes, prying the caps off the two batteries close to the port side were a PITA and care had to be taken not to short across the +ive and -ive terminals etc. After 6 years the battery terminals were pristine and no evidence of corrosion.

 

[LADY JANE]

I use my marine battery tender to maintain the onboard batteries instead of overcharging them 24/7 through the onboard charger. Basically, we need to give onboard chargers a break while periodically using a marine battery tender. Onboard chargers cost an arm and a leg. The speed that our desktop towers have failed throughout the years is ridiculous, and they weren't cheap. And now, we have no idea how long each individual computer/charger will last. So, that's why we need to let the onboard units cool off. They shouldn't be running all the time because they just won't last.

 

[baz]

I use my marine battery tender to maintain the onboard batteries instead of overcharging them 24/7 through the onboard charger. Basically, we need to give onboard chargers a break while periodically using a marine battery tender. Onboard chargers cost an arm and a leg. The speed that our desktop towers have failed throughout the years is ridiculous, and they weren't cheap. And now, we have no idea how long each individual computer/charger will last. So, that's why we need to let the onboard units cool off. They shouldn't be running all the time because they just won't last.

I have to disagree strongly about these statements.

My late R-25's onboard charger did a great job. I used it 100% of the time when on shore power and it never overcharged my 4 batteries. My stock/original batteries were still good after 6 years and the onboard battery charger never failed. These onboard battery chargers only run when necessary so they aren't running all the time.

Overcharging as you've stated would mean the charger would 'boil' the liquid in the lead acid cells. Was this happening for you ?

Desktop/tower computers do not need charging... so I'm confused on this issue... at least the computer towers I've owned have not needed this. Now Power Supply Units (PSU) are a different matter, but even so, modern PSUs are pretty robust so long as adequate cooling is being provided for them.

 

[Levitation]

The biggest problem with the 25 Classic has been the Promariner charger - I have no experience with other model tugs.
Every time there is a power interruption on the 110 volt input, when it comes back on the Promariner insists on going through an entire equalizing charge on a set of fully charged batteries. As set up from the factory this is a 3 or 4 hour over voltage charge with the attendant bubbling and water loss and it can happen multiple times a week if the power is flaky.
This boils batteries dry that are not closely watched.
I spent time of the phone with Promariner discussing this. They claim I am wrong. I'm the guy who did a series of tests with an amp meter and a voltmeter and an oscilloscope proving this is happening. I am the guy who went to using a 1 amp trickle charger across a 6 battery set up in the off season to protect my batteries.
The only other thing you can do is set the equalizing charge to the minimum of 1 hour on the switches under the cover.

 

[SGIDAVE]

The biggest problem with the 25 Classic has been the Promariner charger - I have no experience with other model tugs.
Every time there is a power interruption on the 110 volt input, when it comes back on the Promariner insists on going through an entire equalizing charge on a set of fully charged batteries. As set up from the factory this is a 3 or 4 hour over voltage charge with the attendant bubbling and water loss and it can happen multiple times a week if the power is flaky.
This boils batteries dry that are not closely watched.
I spent time of the phone with Promariner discussing this. They claim I am wrong. I'm the guy who did a series of tests with an amp meter and a voltmeter and an oscilloscope proving this is happening. I am the guy who went to using a 1 amp trickle charger across a 6 battery set up in the off season to protect my batteries.
The only other thing you can do is set the equalizing charge to the minimum of 1 hour on the switches under the cover.

On my ProNautic 12-20P the Equalization function works only when the user initiates it. Equalization/reconditioning should not be done with every charge cycle but more like once or twice a year. It is not part of the 'normal' charge cycle.

dave

 

[Levitation]

The 1215i that came from the factory behaved as described.
The 1240i I replaced it with behaves the same..
Glad they finally learned something :roll: