Chargers

Justin Boyle · #1 17-11-2009, 04:56 AM

Hey guys,

I'm looking at buying a charger. I have a 75ah battery for the leccy at the moment and would possibly upgrade to something bigger(on a side note how much bigger would a 130ah battery be because I don't have a lot more room in the current position)

The chargers I would be looking at would be a CTEK 15a or a projecta 16a. I have no problems with the CTEK and know it will do an awesome job. Thing is that they are expensive and probably for good reason. The projecta charger seems to offer everything the ctek does at 2/3 the price. On top of that the amps are selectable from 2-16a in increments which is also attractive because that way I can charge smaller batteries(my dad has a 25a ctek and they say not to charge small capacity batteries with it)

I remember an article in 4x4 australia that I plan to dig up about the projecta chargers but does anyone have an opinion. The projecta is a 7 stage charger with all the options the ctek has.

Justin

Timmah · #2 17-11-2009, 07:33 AM

Hey dude,

I would go the Ctek. I started with a projecta and i wouldn't recomend it for charging your deep cycle. I have a 130ah battery and it would take a while for it to charge. I ended up upgrading to the ctek and i can charge my battery overnight. It also has a few more useful settings. Even though it costs more it is far better and will last you a lot longer.

Cheers
Tim

Justin Boyle · #3 17-11-2009, 07:48 AM

How big was your projecta Tim?

Brad Y · #4 17-11-2009, 08:48 AM

I have a projecta 7 stage 16 amp charger and while I dont think it really has 7 stages, it seems to charge my 90 and 83 a/h batteries perfectly fine. For years I did perfectly fine with a 6 amp arlec charger on my 130ah trojan. The battery lasted almost 3 years. I also have an 8 amp guest charger built into my boat and it does very well too. I think for a lead acid battery, your better off making sure the plates have enough water over them etc, they are pretty well built these days. If I went out and bought a couple of full river AGM batteries then I would go for a big $ charger to maintain them, but when a 90 a/h AC Delco lasts as long as they do with a moderately priced charger and some proper maintainence, then it doesnt really seem worth it.

Justin Boyle · #5 17-11-2009, 09:05 AM

Sounds like the one I'm looking at brad. Was the 130 in the tracker or in an old boat? It looks to me that it will be difficult putting anything in much bigger than the 75 I already have. How did the tohatsu go???

Brad Y · #6 17-11-2009, 09:18 AM

I went the etec and goes very well. Cant say too much yet. The 130 was in my first ever boat- a 3m leccy powered super punt rig, then in my stessco 3.9 tinny. Both these rigs ran the same 55lb kota and 130hr battery.

If you want a bigger battery, the 90 a/h AC Delco fits and i have had a great run out of these batteries. As soon as i get off my behind i will have to get back into a 55lb leccy I think as carrying the extra battery for 24V is a bit of a pain.

Noddy · #7 18-11-2009, 08:09 AM

My old man was telling me the other day that some company did a test of all different types of batteries and found that marine cranking batteries lasted alot longer than deep cycle batteries with a 4 amp draw, can't remember what company or don't know how much relevance it has to how'd they'd go with leccy's. I'm getting him to email me the info then I'll post it up.
I think he was saying that the company was going to discontinue it's deep cycle range and just make the marine cranking instead.
Will have to have a read through the info first before I can confirm that though.