In the hunt for a battery charger for a particular set up, charging two main battery groups and the generator start battery too via a trickle charge output, this Victron Energy unit was installed. This charger was replacing a very old and original to the boat (1998) 50A ferro resonant model that was being run though a pair of diode type charge splitters, these unfortunately remained but the charger would no longer be charging through them.
The batteries being charged are standard sealed lead acid type, two groups in parallel to create 190Ah in each group and a single 75Ah battery for the generator.
These sorts of chargers are not that uncommon among European brands (Victron Energy and Mastervolt for example), where there are one or two principal outputs and a separate smaller (trickle) charge for a starter battery.
Plus points
- Very well known brand with good reputation.
- Robust construction, feels like it´s going to last a long time.
- Reasonable instructions (see text about this)
- Fairly compact for a 50A charger.
- Full adaptive charging profile.
- On battery temperature monitoring via external sensor.
- Optional remote panel.
Could improve
- Some disagreements with the instructions (trickle charge)
- Not all items needed are supplied
- Very laborious set up when the standard profiles do not match your battery type, this is easier with the optional remote panel
Setting the charge profiles
We were using sealed lead acid batteries, a quick telephone call to the supplier and we were informed for the absorption (main charge profile) voltage, in a perfect world we want 2,35V per cell, so 14,1V (for the 6 cells of the battery). For the float (maintenance) charge we want 2,25V per cell, so 13,5V. If you in any doubt, check with the manufacturer of your batteries. We also enquired about the current rating (maximum of 50A on our charger) and were told these particular batteries had a current limit that far exceeded 50A so all was okay.
The Phoenix charger has some preset profiles already, in this case none were quite right for out installation, so they needed adjusting.
The one thing I would have done different is set up the charger on the workbench and not when it was installed in place, this is because to create the charge profile you have to disconnect the temperature sensor and voltage sensor cables, then use a digital voltmeter or multimeter and adjust the voltage readings on the charger whilst reading what they are on the screen of your digital voltmeter. With the charger on the workbench its much easier, installed on the boat it needed two of us as it´s tricky to hold the probes of the voltmeter in place and push buttons simultaneously.
Disagreement of cable & fuse size
The instructions for installation, what cables, fuses etc. are quite clear with the exception of a couple of things;
The cable for the trickle charge connection is for 1,5mm2 cables, the instructions say to protect this with a 25A fuse. After looking at a few tables to check cable cross sections and amp ratings, I did not feel comfortable installing such a high rated fuse in such a fine cable.
The trickle charge output is 4A, the instructions call for a 25A fuse to be used, I feel that´s way too high, its more than 6 times the amp rating. In short I ignored the 25A rating in the instructions and fitted a 10A fuse, the 1,5mm2 cable can safely carry 10A and the fuse is more to my liking (I am overly precautious by nature), actually on reflection a 7,5A fuse could have been used.
Voltage sense connection, in the instructions 0,75mm2 cable is recommended, but in the final pages of the manual is states there is provision on the PCB for 1,5mm2 cable. We used the thicker cable, terminated using a bootlace ferrule crimper, we don't really use 0,75mm2 cable. We did however fuse this connection with the recommended 5A fuse.
Overall
I would say this is a high quality item (like most things from Victron Energy) and would have no problem using the same model again. One take away from doing this installation that was not previously mentioned, the charger is quite expensive, couple that to the extra items you will need (cables for battery connections, high amperage fuses), we used a Blue Seas surface mount fuse block for battery fuses and the fuses themselves. The 25mm2 battery cable, the cable lug terminals and so on, costs can go up quite quickly.
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| Blue Seas surface mount fuse block, this is the model with independent fuses, not a common source, the cables have been protected along their entire length. |
With something like a battery charger, especially one of this amperage and price point, cutting corners is a false economy, but the price of the extra items required for installation should not be ignored, especially when as in this case the replacement charger was a major upgrade from the original.
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