Is A Charles Industries Charger Great?

[Pgitug]

I have three battery banks that currently run off of a 14 year old 40 amp charger.
I am considering replacing the charger with a Charles Industries Series 2000 Fifty amp, 3 battery bank charger.
Are Charles Industries products on the higher end? Are they reliable?
I have no experience with this product.
Thanks for any feed back.

 

[alormaria]

I bought a Charles charger in 1993. It still works.

 

[Bruce B]

I purchased one about 3 years ago after finding that the model was actually manufactured in the USA. I'd do it again.
Bruce

 

[SteveD]

I had one that died soon after it went out warranty. I think they are overpriced on a dollar per watt basis. Magnum inverters, in my opinion, provide the best and most cost effective chargers. (I have two, which can provide 100 amps each at 24 volts.) Or, if you want a charger only, I think Sterling is a better bet. (Stay away from Xantrex, if you want support and service).

 

[OreWa]

I went with a Blue Sea 40 amp 3 batt charger when I changed mine out. So far....so good.

 

[HopCar]

Charles has a good reputation. I'm partial to Newmar because I've been selling them for about twenty years with only two or three problems in that time. Their customer service is the best.

 

[caltexflanc]

Great luck with products and service from Charles; American owned, made and US personal customer service. I'd have to say the same for NewMar as well. And in both cases both their marine products as well as their offerings to the telecom industry. Yes, they are on the higher end end price-wise and IMO well worth it.
To another poster's point, I had a Magnum inverter which is a great product but they 1)don't offer dedicatedchargers and 2) it was no better a charger than a Charles or NewMar

 

[Baker]

I have an 80 amo Charles charger installed as OEM on my boat. It still works just fine. I would ask how many batteries in each bank and what type of batteries??? 40 amps is pretty weak for a charger in this day and age. I have seen some pretty big boats with 40 amp charger that have battery issues. Why??? Because the normal household 12VDC loads approach and even exceed 40 amps on bigger boats. Also, AGM batteries desulphate by the charge the receive....the bigger the charge, the better. So if you have AGM batteries and a weak charger, you are potentially shortening the life of your batteries.

But, back to your original question, Charles chargers are damn good and their customer service is even better.

WIth that said, I also needed an inverter so bought a Magnum Energy 2000 watt inverter combo 100 amp battery charger. If you do not already have an inverter, I would highly recommend going this route.

 

[Insequent]

I am using a couple of Charles transformers, one as isolation duty and one as step down/up from 120/240 V. I think they are quality products, albeit a bit heavy.

For chargers, consider the Victron range. They are high quality Dutch products. Something like the Centaur charger: ....features auto-ranging input covering 90-265VAC 50/60Hz input meaning they can be used anywhere in the world.https://www.victronenergy.com/chargers/centaur-charger-12v-24v

The ability to just plug into shore power, wherever you are in the world, to charge a battery bank is invaluable if you cruise beyond home waters.

 

[Conall63]

I have a 85 amp, three bank Charles charger which has been trouble free for four years. I'm also using their 30 amp isolation transformer which has also been trouble free.

Conall

 

[FF]

Why would you wish to replace a good functioning charger?

Don't sink it , don't fry it you may get another 14 years, no problem.

 

[swampu]

I have a newmar, it quit and they fixed it 2 times under warranty and they finally replaced it with a brand new unit. New unit works great, by the way I changed out my battery bank when I got the new unit.

 

[clynn]

A friend replaced a non-functioning Charles charger and gave me the broken charger. I contacted Charles and sent it back for refurbishment (for a reasonable cost). Excellent, personal customer service and the charger has been working on my boat flawlessly for several years.

 

[Mule]

I just put in a two bank marine rated Samlex. 2 year warranty advertised at 80 amps. Discussing chargers in general with a Yachtwright I was told that the 80 amp rating was 40 for each bank, not 80amp for a given bank. Because of my large house bank I wanted a single bank 80amp. Seems to do the job just fine though.
Still more I was told that the banks needed to be approximately the same size or the smaller would get cooked. IE: my 1100+ house bank vs my single group 31 starter battery. So I do not have my starter battery tied in.
Any comments to help educated this somewhat confused boater.

 

[FF]

Let it charge the house all the time and every few weeks if the start batt is old use the rotary switch to merg it with the house, overnight.

ONLY DOCKSIDE!

 

[123]

The absolute top in chargers, converters and combies is Mastervolt.

Example 12v 50A Charger.

Mastervolt - Innovative power systems - for autonomous use

 

[Carolena]

Can't speak to Charles, aside from reading generally good things about them on the interwebs. But, for what it is worth, we replaced the original pos Xantrex 40 AMP on our Tug with a 40 AMP Sterling/ProMariner (same model, just marketed by different companies). Here is some info from one of our member's website on the unit: Installing A Marine Battery Charger Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

 

[psneeld]

This is where the marine industry is really lacking.

Every year I hear of what's the best charger or inverter or combo, but it's all just opinion.

There is no real definitive info on what lasts, performs as advertised, or lives up to real customer service.

I am ready to upgrade to a great inverter/charger or separates, but I have read of no clear cut winners.

I have heard great things about Charles, yet some years back, almost every Charles charger installed in dozens and dozens of Sea Rays I delivered during the sales process had their Charles chargers replaced under warranty the first year or so.

Even then people were saying how great they were, yet I had great personal/in industry experience to the contrary.

So for existing chargers/inverters and combos...especially now the Xantrex is retooled, who has any real evidence of superiority in these categories?

Just having luck with yours helps the discussion, but hardly proves anything.

Maybe time for forums like these to have a favorites/reviews section where people could come up with somewhat weighted ratings based on knowledge of the people rating the equipment.

Oh well......

 

[Carolena]

As to product reviews, we generally been very happy with Practical Sailor. While it does lean toward sailboats, many of the products and systems are relevant to all boats. It is actually the only subscription we have kept up.

 

[BandB]

This is where the marine industry is really lacking.

Every year I hear of what's the best charger or inverter or combo, but it's all just opinion.

There is no real definitive info on what lasts, performs as advertised, or lives up to real customer service.

.

Reviews and ratings will never be definitive. The issue is that there is no site with any volume of reviews or ratings. With many products I'd look to Amazon for reviews. For all Charges chargers combined there are only 6 reviews, none with more than 3. We can check on marinas, on anchorages, but not on the every day products we use. We do get some good threads here on TF regarding many products so that using search can help gather information, but would be great if there was a site with nothing but boater reviews and ratings of products.

 

[Baker]

This is where the marine industry is really lacking.

Every year I hear of what's the best charger or inverter or combo, but it's all just opinion.

There is no real definitive info on what lasts, performs as advertised, or lives up to real customer service.

I am ready to upgrade to a great inverter/charger or separates, but I have read of no clear cut winners.

I have heard great things about Charles, yet some years back, almost every Charles charger installed in dozens and dozens of Sea Rays I delivered during the sales process had their Charles chargers replaced under warranty the first year or so.

Even then people were saying how great they were, yet I had great personal/in industry experience to the contrary.

So for existing chargers/inverters and combos...especially now the Xantrex is retooled, who has any real evidence of superiority in these categories?

Just having luck with yours helps the discussion, but hardly proves anything.

Maybe time for forums like these to have a favorites/reviews section where people could come up with somewhat weighted ratings based on knowledge of the people rating the equipment.

Oh well......

It is hard to find a decent stand alone inverter with any sort of power. It is why I now have another battery charger in my boat because it came attached to the 2000 watt inverter that I wanted. And it is Magnum Engineering brand. If you do some research, Magnum does a ton of work with off grid applications as well as RV applications so there is plenty of feedback on the interwebz....and it it generally very good. The equipment is not cheap though Like B&B said, Amazon is usually a good place to go for reviews.

Also, I may be wrong but it is my belief that chargers are now smart enough to know which bank needs charging and which bank does not.. IOW, the small bank does not get fried if the big bank needs more juice.

 

[FF]

Chargers get smarter and smarter , and more complex.

Rather than the all in one multiple use wonder box , perhaps 2 smaller individual chargers would last better? .

And if one does go you are not SOL.

 

[Mule]

I guess a combo inverter-charger is ok if you split your AC panel properly. I do not like them though. I feel better when I am in control. A friend has a Great Harbor with a full sized, huge 120V Frig-Freezer and his inverter is running all the time, pass through. Likely 3000+ amp hour battery bank of hi tech batteries. Works good for him, too rich for my blood, but it can be done. We talked about solar, he said not necessary right after his electrical refit. 6months later he is adding 1000 watts of solar.

I have 1100+ amp hours wet cell of stowage, 750 watts of solar, 80 amp stand alone Samlex charger, Samlex stand alone 1500 watt inverter. The main house load is 3 Engels 12volt Freezer-Refers. The Engels can be either a freezer or a reefer but not combo.

The inverter has one plug, near the TV and kitchen appliances. Seldom used. With all 3 Engels running all night with floating batteries at sundown I get up to 65-70% total remaining charge. I like to keep it above 70%, I get nervous when in the 60's and shift to semi panic in the 50's. I have a Xantrex link pro meter. I really like it. A glance tells me all about battery health, corrected charge rate vs amp out flow, length of time at current charging rate till float.

This charger and meter are new. I have learned from the meter while at the dock. Need hot water, water maker water or other high load appliances then fire up the charger, time it just before bed, give the batteries a sip from the charger and shut down with the batteries at 95+% with a get up @80%+ then the sun kicks in. So from that, on the hook, genset replaces the shore power.

With the real time info from Link-Pro I manually manipulate the charger, generator or shore power, refrigeration and solar. If I am away from the boat for a few days I shut down one reefer and go solar. 6-7 hours of Sun floats the bank. The link pro has educated me to the characteristics of my system so I can project and Taylor the load to the system. I think and hope I have the bases covered.

 

[sunchaser]

The quality of the overall install, electrical system maintenance and owner abuse trump brand name with but a few exceptions.

I won't cite the very well known Chinese boat builder, but the system engineering and electrical install has bedeviled many an owner of these high end vessels. Chargers, inverters, switching devices and alternators were all too often cited as the culprits when in most cases bad connections or faulty design have been found to be the problem.

Bottom line, most of today's chargers are pretty good on a stand alone basis. But are our boat electrical systems equally good?

 

[Pgitug]

I have an 80 amo Charles charger installed as OEM on my boat. It still works just fine. I would ask how many batteries in each bank and what type of batteries??? 40 amps is pretty weak for a charger in this day and age. I have seen some pretty big boats with 40 amp charger that have battery issues. Why??? Because the normal household 12VDC loads approach and even exceed 40 amps on bigger boats. Also, AGM batteries desulphate by the charge the receive....the bigger the charge, the better. So if you have AGM batteries and a weak charger, you are potentially shortening the life of your batteries.

But, back to your original question, Charles chargers are damn good and their customer service is even better.

WIth that said, I also needed an inverter so bought a Magnum Energy 2000 watt inverter combo 100 amp battery charger. If you do not already have an inverter, I would highly recommend going this route.

After thinking about your post i have to agree that a larger charger would cut down the generator run time to bring the batteries back to full charge. Plus the larger chargers have temperature compensation to treat the batteries more kindly.
So the Charles 80 amp 5000 series it is.

 

[Baker]

After thinking about your post i have to agree that a larger charger would cut down the generator run time to bring the batteries back to full charge. Plus the larger chargers have temperature compensation to treat the batteries more kindly.
So the Charles 80 amp 5000 series it is.

That is exactly the one I have. It is 15 years old and still going strong. Of course it has a stable mate as well in the Magnum 100amp/2000watt inverter/charger.

 

[BandB]

The quality of the overall install, electrical system maintenance and owner abuse trump brand name with but a few exceptions.

I won't cite the very well known Chinese boat builder, but the system engineering and electrical install has bedeviled many an owner of these high end vessels. Chargers, inverters, switching devices and alternators were all too often cited as the culprits when in most cases bad connections or faulty design have been found to be the problem.

Bottom line, most of today's chargers are pretty good on a stand alone basis. But are our boat electrical systems equally good?

A couple of European builders with similar situations.

 

[Pgitug]

Looking forward to installing it.
Pretty good price at $875
I'm happy. ?

 

[FF]

"After thinking about your post i have to agree that a larger charger would cut down the generator run time to bring the batteries back to full charge."

A huge tempature monitoring charger might be fast till a LA batt set is 85% or so full, then even 10,000 amps of charger can not speed up the final process.

That's where solar or wind works very well.

Folks that want the fastest charge from the noisemaker can simply install a 135A alternator and smart charger on the front of the noismaker.

Check first for a dual pulley and what power can be taken off the front end from the assembler.

 

[Pgitug]

I had two large solar panels on the boat when we bought it. I took them off because i could not keep the boat clean underneath them and the solar panel control failed and cooked the battery set.