Battery charger comparison: Sterling vs ProMariner

[dwh]

190w x .82pf = 156w
156w ÷ 14v = 11a
156w ÷ 12.2v = 12.7a

If Big Red has a pf of .82 and is drawing 190w, I don't see how it can actually be delivering 20a to the battery.

I won't argue about it doing a bulk charge faster...I can believe that. But bulking a battery is not getting it to 100%, and chronic undercharge (repeated failure to reach 100%) is definately going to shorten battery life.

Surface charge is a factor. Bulk hard and fast, you're going to ramp up the voltage faster, which means hitting the target voltage while the surface charge is heavily built-up and the battery at maybe 70% SoC instead of 80% SoC...which will need even more absorb time to get to 100% SoC...

 

[67cj5]

190w x .82pf = 156w
156w ÷ 14v = 11a
156w ÷ 12.2v = 12.7a

If Big Red has a pf of .82 and is drawing 190w, I don't see how it can actually be delivering 20a to the battery.

I won't argue about it doing a bulk charge faster...I can believe that. But bulking a battery is not getting it to 100%, and chronic undercharge (repeated failure to reach 100%) is definately going to shorten battery life.

Surface charge is a factor. Bulk hard and fast, you're going to ramp up the voltage faster, which means hitting the target voltage while the surface charge is heavily built-up and the battery at maybe 70% SoC instead of 80% SoC...which will need even more absorb time to get to 100% SoC...

Well using 115A/h DC/LA battery they read 91% and 3. 38mOhm, It delivers 20Amps at that setting on start up and drops to around 12.5A within a couple of seconds.5/10secs, And the voltage is not a fixed value because it can start off at around 12.6 and can climb right up to 15.5+v if I was stupid enough to let them, But I never let it go above 14.7 for very long, Once it gets to 14.7v I normally switch it to the low setting which takes the voltage down to about 13.84v and then I let it climb back up to 14.7+/- using less than 1.5amps,

If I have time every 10 days or so I run a full charge using one of the smart chargers and run the Repair mode to de-sulphide the battery, and If I don't need to use that battery I will then leave it hooked up to a small smart charger for a few days, I never leave my batteries in a less than 100% SOH, baring in mind that I never run them below 12.5v and they are charged within 24 to 36 hours max from first being hooked up to run some thing like a fridge etc.

The most power Big Red has used is about 470w where as my smart charger used 1125+Amps doing the same job, Smart chargers are great for maintain batteries and for repairing/de-sulphiding batteries or if you want to leave them on charge for ever to keep a battery at it's peak, But as the OP said wanting to run a generator for 2 or 3 hours at the end of the day to top up his batteries then a smart charger just won't get the job done in that time, I have spent the last 4 weeks doing this daily the only way to get it done is with big red,

Don't get me wrong, I think Smart Chargers are Great at what they can do and they work well I was so impressed I bought 3 or 4 of them in 2 days, But this is one area where Horse Power rules the day, And yes once a person has time on their hands it is best to run a smart charger at leased once a month just to make sure the battery is free from build up, but that is just a part of maintaining batteries.

 

[67cj5]

Another thing to note is because the out put voltage of the charger is variable as is the wattage it uses it is impossible to write down the figures using maths alone because the numbers are constantly changing, and it's power factor can still read 82.2 even when it is using 26w at then end of charging from the main AC supply and again those numbers vary too although the PF numbers can go +/-2 as does the supply voltage.