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I have a narrowboat with a bank of 5 leisure + 1 starter batteries (110AH)
I have a 15yr old Victron charger that appears the same as a Phoenix. I've read an article in a reputable magazine that states that when I'm connected to shore power I can leave the charger on all the time to keep the batteries in good condition. I'd like this to be true as the boat is left unattended for weeks at a time but I'd like some confirmation.
Hi Blair. You could, but you need to recognize that a long-term-storage charge profile might be more suitable. Eg. a 'trickle' charge of maybe 13.2V, rather than something more aggressive when you're cycling them somewhat while aboard (presuming Pb's).
Maybe your kit has such an adjustment, but if not just any-ole small/cheap unit could suffice. Ask for it in blue of course :) , but make sure it does what you want.
Edit/: Something I do myself (for secondary batts in my case) is to use a $5 powerpoint timer to limit the time an aggressive charge is applied. Consider..
Hi JohnC, thanks for your input.
I've been to the boat today and can confirm it is a Phoenix 12V-30A charger so it should have the 4 stage adaptive charging with a storage mode. According to the data sheet the storage mode charges at only 13.2V and once a week is raised to absorbtion level if they've not been used.
So hopefully I can stop forking out for goosed batteries now.
