Charger solutions?

nyarelathodep · December 2015

Hey all, so I'm finding myself in need of a charger lately ( experiencing record levels of sunless days here), and pondering a few avenues. My system currently consists of 225ah of T105re @24v, 500w of pv, the classic 150, and a samlex 600sa. This system has, for the past 13 months, supplied all our electrical needs without a hitch. My eventual plan is to incorporate a much bigger inverter to handle the well pump, which will require something along the lines of a VFX3524 or the like, which I know is a rather large rig for such a modest bank, but it is what it is. The samlex evo line ( the 2224 in particular) looks really slick, but an utter lack of reviews leave me second guessing it's reliability.

So what I'm basically asking is, is there a cheap interim route I can go until I can afford the bigger inverter/charger a few months down the line?
The only chargers that I've seen that seem alright are the Iotas... And I'm guessing that the 24v 40amp model would fit the bill. Any recommendations on that? I've also seen this : "NOCO Genius G7200 12V/24V 7.2A UltraSafe Smart Battery Charger", and while I realize it's pretty small, lately I've just been running the house on my yamahaef2000is to avoid running the bank past a 65% discharge anyway... Often for 12 hours a day, so would adding that little charger for ~100 bucks be a bad move to bridge the gap until I can grab the bigger unit?

Are these units capable of going through the classic to charge? Or do they need to go through the shunt separately? Lastly, is a charger as big as the 3524 going to damage the bank? The generator that will be charging that is aa 5500ww Briggs elite. I'm not worried about wattage drain from running the pump (bout 900-1k running watts at less than ten minutes a day, into pressure tank with an 18 gallon drawdown), but the surge of a concern potentially, at somewhere around 5-6k... Would this create dangerous voltage drop on mybank?

M

nyarelathodep · December 2015

Looks like the noco charger is a no go... Finally found a couple reviews out of the almost 1700 of people trying to use it for similar applications and it clearly isn't up to the task of properly charging a bank of true deep cycles. Figured that one was a long shot anyway.

PNjunction · December 2015

How about the 40A, 24v Samlex SEC-2440ul charger?

2-stage or 3 stage selectable. (handy for using as a power supply, or just immediate float, etc), along with a half-power option, multiple banks, etc. I have the smaller 1215ul and love it. Nice large analog steam guages, yet the voltages are precise when measured with a Fluke 87v during the charge cycle. Recommend the temp-monitor wiring accessory.

I'm not sure what the PF is, and how it would handle being run from a generator though since I don't run a genny myself. Might be something to ask them.

nyarelathodep · December 2015

I've looked at them, but pretty steep at 5 bills. That's roughly 40% the cost of the evo2224, and I'm planning on getting an inverter of that class, if not the vfx3524, in order to run the well pump eventually. It's good to hear yours performs well... It bolsters my confidence in the evo should I go that route ( though I'm thinking it's needlessly complicated for my simple totally off grid system... But then again, it's like 60% the cost of the outback). Out of curiosity though, were I to go with a stand alone charger, what other components would I need to incorporate the unit into the system? Does the samlex connect into the classic, or does it go through the shunt separately, with its own breaker? Would I need an ac transfer switch? The only reason I would go that route is if I decided to solve my water pumping issues with finding an old piston pump and pairing it with a 24v motor, this forgoing the high surge submersible entirely. It's not ideal, but it is aa viable possibility.

Charger solutions?

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