Smoking voltage regulator!

[rwthomas1]

Here we go again....
The boat is on the hard and plugged into AC power, AC panel is on and the Xantrex/Statpower Truecharge 20 is on charging the batteries. No different than I have done many times before....

Working on wiring in new instruments I noticed that the battery combiner solenoid was quite hot. I removed the cover on the Ample Power NS2 voltage regulator and the error LED was lit solid indicating battery over-voltage condition, the combiner LED was lit indicating that the solenoid was indeed latched, and the status LED was flashing the system OFF message. A thin plume of smoke was emanating from the circuit board on the NS2. I pulled the fuse and shut it down. I did check the charging voltage and it was 14.2volts.

The Xantrex charger has the ability to charge two banks independently and is wired like that, one leg to the house and the other to the start batteries.

Apparently the NS2 combiner function is always on and it senses charging voltage from ANY source and then latches the solenoid tying the start battery to the house bank.

I spoke to Ample about the problem and they would have liked me to run diagnostics but that would require running the engine, which I can't do right now. They were unable to tell me if the problem was caused by the charger trying to charge two banks and the combiner kicking in and possibly screwing things up. I have sent the unit to them so they can check it.

I may or may not wait for Ample to respond and may just opt to replace the regulator. If the Ample is repairable, then it would become the spare, or vice versa. I am considering the following:

1. Balmar ARS5 w/Balmar digital duocharge
2. Aqualine marine regulator w/Blue Seas combiner
3. Xantrex XAR-12 w/Xantrex Echocharge

Currently leaning towards the Xantrex setup for cost reasons alone. Any pros/cons to this stuff? Any other ideas why I had the problem above? I do know that the AC charger will only be connected to the house bank from now on. AFAIK, the Duocharge, Echocharge and the Ample effectively maintain the start battery regardless of what provides the charging current.

Let me know what you all think....
RT

 

[cbreeze]

Battery Combiner / voltage regulator

For what it is worth...I have two 6V in series for my house and a grp 31 start. I am using the Balmar Digital Duo Charge as the combiner. It is working flawlessly. It was easy to install with good directions provided by Balmar. Good luck.

Glenn Knitter
S/V Celtic Breeze
1986 E35MK3
Seattle

 

[rwthomas1]

I had a long conversation with Jack Rabbit Marine, www.jrenergy.com The first time that a vendor talked me out of buying something. They recommended the Balmar ARS-5 and a Blue Sea ACR #7600 which is just a sophisticated battery combiner. They stated the Duocharge, Echocharge, etc. is overkill for my application. The Xantrex XAR is the same as a Balmar ARS-4, the older model. For a little more money the ARS-5 can be had. I think thats the way I'm gonna go. Thanks for the input though! RT

 

[Captron]

Similar set-up

FWIW,

On Kismet we've been cruising for 4 years now using two group 31 gel cells as the house bank and a group 24 gel cell for the starting battery. The batteries were there when we bought the boat and are now 8 years old.

I rewired the charging system using a Balmar 60 amp alternator with a Balmar ARS-5 three stage regulator reprogrammed for gel batteries. The regulator is identical to the Xantrex (I don't have the model handy)

We use a West Marine combiner (identical to Yandina) and a Truecharge 40 shore-power charger wired to the house bank. We also have a Kyocera 120 watt solar panel wired to the house bank.

I installed a Xantrex Pro 1800 Inverter with a built-in transfer switch that's wired to the house A/C system.

We keep an eye on things with a Xantrex TM500 battery monitor and shunt.

Here's a couple of comments.

Xantrex customer support has been very good. The Xantrex 3 stage regulator we had, went out and they replaced it under warranty. It's now our spare and that's how I know it's identical to the Balmar. They also replaced the battery monitor under warranty.

The West Marine combiner, while trouble free, has a thin plastic case that somehow became cracked and fell apart although the combiner still works ok. (I have a Blue Seas unit in my spares kit because West no longer sells that Yandina-like combiner)

The inverter works very well after two seasons however the on-off switch has been trouble although I can make it work with repeated hammer blows ... kidding. They are sending me a replacement switch panel for only shipping and handling costs. Thanks again, Xantrex.

Two years ago just as we arrived in the Bahamas, our alternator-regulator charging system went out . The alternator was a 110 amp unit from our old genset and somewhat suspect but I decided the Xantrex regulator was the problem since I could get the alternator to charge by taking the regulator out of the circuit and switching the field wire on and off manually. (an ordinary toggle switch is a permanent part of my spares kit).

Anyway, since I was a little uncertain about the alternator, the most expedient cure was to order a Balmar alternator-regulator package from West Marine (yikes) and have it shipped over, which we did.

When I returned to the states, I had the old alternator rebuilt, (it had blown a diode and needed bearings) and it's now our spare. The Balmar package has been fine since although our charging time has increased with the smaller alternator.

Sorry this is so long.

 

[Tom Metzger]

I told you before...

Rob - Get rid of the combiner, Echo charger, whatever. It's just that much more hair in the scupper, and you don't need it.

I know, you want a belt, suspenders, and a strap, but you just found out why I don't like the extra equipment approach. The more stuff you have, the more grief you have to put up with.

 

[rwthomas1]

Too late Tom, the Blue Sea ACR is already here and the ARS-5 is en-route. I understand why you don't like the complication however I don't see why a fairly simply device like an ACR should fail at all. Or a regulator for that matter. Electronics have progressed to the point where they can be completely reliable. There are far more complex electronic widgets that do what they do day in, day out, without issue for years. Seems that should also be possible in the marine world given what they charge for them.... FWIW, Blue Sea has plainly stated the ACR #7600 will not care how the Xantrex is wired and won't be affected. In retrospect, the separate ACR makes sense in that if it fails the regulator should be fine and charging the start battery could still be done simply by turning the battery switch to both. That and I like the charging system to be automated, for the $68 spent on the ACR, its not a huge investment. I don't want to have to worry about switching the battery switch to keep up. RT