Onboard Charger Question

[The River Rat]

I'm looking at getting an on-board charger for my boat, I'm sick of trying to charge 3 batteries with two chargers. There seems to be quite a discrepancy between people who love and hate each product. From my limited research, this brand ProMariner seems to be the one with the best reputation. I need a plug in style rather than a alternator powered unit since most of the lakes around here don't give you the option of long enough runs to fully charge 3 batteries. Through my research I've narrowed it down to these two models.

http://www.gandermountain.com/modper...view&from=grid
This is the "Sport" model and comes with a 2 year warranty. A lot of people seem to like it but some absolutely hate it and seem to think that it is designed to fail right after 2 years if not sooner.

http://www.gandermountain.com/modper...view&from=grid
This one seems to be the Professional model but comes with an extra 130 bucks added on to the price tag. I plan to have this boat for around 7 yrs, and if the first model is as bad as some say it is, then this one, in the long run, would be cheaper.

I was trying to compare them myself using what little I could find out about them, then I had a thought... "Hey I'm on this forum and there's probably a few folks out there with on-board chargers who might have an opinion!" I'm not dead set on any one brand, this one just appeared to be posting the fewest complaints, but if you've got an opinion on these two models or another brand you'd recommend, I'd sure appreciate hearing about it.
Thanks,
Chris

[Dux2bux]

I'm looking at getting an on-board charger for my boat, I'm sick of trying to charge 3 batteries with two chargers. There seems to be quite a discrepancy between people who love and hate each product. From my limited research, this brand ProMariner seems to be the one with the best reputation. I need a plug in style rather than a alternator powered unit since most of the lakes around here don't give you the option of long enough runs to fully charge 3 batteries. Through my research I've narrowed it down to these two models.

http://www.gandermountain.com/modper...view&from=grid
This is the "Sport" model and comes with a 2 year warranty. A lot of people seem to like it but some absolutely hate it and seem to think that it is designed to fail right after 2 years if not sooner.

http://www.gandermountain.com/modper...view&from=grid
This one seems to be the Professional model but comes with an extra 130 bucks added on to the price tag. I plan to have this boat for around 7 yrs, and if the first model is as bad as some say it is, then this one, in the long run, would be cheaper.

I was trying to compare them myself using what little I could find out about them, then I had a thought... "Hey I'm on this forum and there's probably a few folks out there with on-board chargers who might have an opinion!" I'm not dead set on any one brand, this one just appeared to be posting the fewest complaints, but if you've got an opinion on these two models or another brand you'd recommend, I'd sure appreciate hearing about it.
Thanks,
Chris

I have had the promariner brand, and didn't have much luck with them after having the first one die and the replacement lasted just past the warranty. Went with minnkota and haven't looked back. The customer service with minnkota is by far better then at promarnier.

[flushmaster]

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...ID=&subcatID=0

I am also looking into a charger and found this, makes me want to shy away from a linear style charger.

[Mattrix]

http://www.gandermountain.com/modper...view&from=grid
This one seems to be the Professional model but comes with an extra 130 bucks added on to the price tag. I plan to have this boat for around 7 yrs, and if the first model is as bad as some say it is, then this one, in the long run, would be cheaper.

I have the Pro Mariner Pro Tournament 300. I died on me last summer and was technically out of warranty. It took a bit to get someone on the phone in the tech support shop (no endless menus, they just don't answer) but once I did they were very nice and knowledgeable. They told me to send my charger in and they would look at it and let me know what it would cost to fix it. Cheaper than buying another $400 charger I thought. Three weeks later there was a package on my doorstep when I got home from work... an upgraded replacement charger.(refurbished I'm sure, but free)

It worked great through the rest of the summer and I was a happy camper, until this spring. Went for the first charge, deadola. At first I assumed it was the batteries because how could it be my new replacement charger. Long story short, all batteries fully load tested good and once again voltage output on my charger was wrong. I still have yet to send it back.

That's because I bought...

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...ID=&subcatID=0

I am also looking into a charger and found this, makes me want to shy away from a linear style charger.

...this charger. Still made by Pro Mariner and still a triple bank even though it's half the amp output at 5 amps/channel. So far everything has been great with no hickups.

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The Pro Tournament is a much more expensive charger but it's older tech now. The BPS XPS IT chargers are now Gen 4 digitally controled multi-stage chargers that are I believe less than 6 months old. That and having owned both, let me tell you the 50% lighter claim is true. Might even be conservative.

The major downside to the XPS is at 5 amp output it takes longer to charge than the PT. On my rig (3 batteries) the PT took five hours for a full charge and the XPS IT takes about ten. Realistically you'll be charging it overnight most of the time so that shouldn't be a huge concern.


So IMHO skip the Pro Tourney and get the BPS XPS IT series instead.

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If that doesn't interest you and you've got the bucks, then get a Minnkota or Pro Charging Systems instead.

http://store.minnkotamotors.com/prod...D_%283_bank%29
http://www.dualpro.com/products/professional/

Minnkota speaks for itself, and as for PCS... there is a reason Lund has been installing them on their boats for years.


Sorry for the long winded answer. I hope I helped a little!

[DingerFlinger]

Had the sport 20 for just past two years and it died on me as well. Went to plug it in one day and just would not power up at all. I haven't bought a new one yet so I can't help with recommending one but I probably won't be buying a ProMariner again.

[Pitbull22]

Minn Kota is what I have and it works well. I think its the best one out there right now. Mine is a 3 bank charger. Here is a website to order from http://www.thetrollingmotordepot.com/. He will beat or match any price on the net. You might be able to get free shipping also.

[bradh]

Had Promariner. It failed outside of warranty. I have had a Minnkota for the last year, so far so good. I left the promariner plugged in all the time since it was supposed to switch to maintainence mode once the battery was charged. Who knows, maybe I should not have done that.

Right now I recharge for a day or two after a trip and after that I plug the boat into a timer set to turn on once a week. The two bank Minnkota charges the two batteries for the 24V trolling motor and I have a 1.5 amp Peak battery maintainer (Menard's, $16) that charges the starting battery. The outboard keeps the starting battery well charged but the maintainer was cheap.

I'm guessing the Promariner would still be going strong if I used a timer on it. The Minnkota is rated for about the same amps as the Promariner but it's about double the size and weight. The cooling fins are bigger as well.