Statpower truecharger 40 smart charger vs 40 plus

[hdavis]

>
>Henry. Could you point out thr difference. Do we really need the for the
>substatial extra cost.
>Frank SW Indiana

The TC 40 charges gel or flooded, deep-cycle lead acid batteries from 200-400 ampere-hrs.
Includes microprocessor control, 3 step charging, a battery chemistry selector switch, and
2 bank output.

The plus adds

1. battery type selections for sealed (gel), conventional flooded (wet), and Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries.
2. Additional control over the charging process: select 3-step (bulk/absorption/float) or 2-step (bulk/absorption/off)
depending on battery. Select 13.5 volt fixed to use as a pure DC power supply
3. optional automatic temperature compensation
4. equalization mode to help reduce sulfation
5. a 21 day cycle when connected to shore power to recharge batteries (top up) automatically
6. 3 banks instead of 2

1. The plus version is preferred if you are going to use AGM batteries. I chose wet batteries and could live without the
plus if I wanted to. There's no advantage there.
2. The additional control over the chraging process is nice but not required. I happen to like it since we use our batteries
very heavily.
3. OK. THis saves me from opening the electrical compartment door and flipping a switch.
4. This should extend the life of my batteries due to the deep discharge/charge cycles I use.
5. Well, I don't leave the coach sitting for this long. So, it's of little value
6. Split house, engine and a second (as yet not installed) house battery. The real reason I bought the 40+, but I could have
rigged mechanical switches. I wanted the convenience.

For the added cost you can afford to buy two sets of golf car batteries more than what the plus would require.

Do you need the additional features? I don't think so, unless you're a very heavy user of the house batteries. Even then you
can use the non-plus version just fine. Using an equalizer has its own set of issues that you have to decide to handle. For
example, halogen lights don't like the substantially higher voltage. Some electronics may be damaged by the equalization
charge. But it can extend the useful life of your batteries.

Without my particular set of requirements, I would have been more than happy with the straight 40.

Henry

Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (408) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (408) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com

 

[dave lowry]

Thanks J. R.

OK folks, let's see if I've got this straight; If I want the
converter/charger to separately maintain all three batteries (considering
the 2 6v. batts. as one), I'll need the 40+. But if I only want it to
maintain the coach and starting batteries, I can get by with the 40 (not
40+). Here's my logic for possibly excluding the Onan's battery:

1) The battery back at the generator is now charged by the Onan when it's
running and/or the engine's alternator when we're under way. If the Onan's
battery should ever be run down the point it would not start the Onan, I
could always start the engine, and then start the Onan off the alternator.

2) The Statpower could be wired to maintain both the house and starting
batteries as well as provide clean 12 volt power whenever we're plugged
into shore power.

Here's my current situation: I live in Santa Barbara (no freezing). My
coach run up to full operating temperature at least once every 6 weeks. I
am plugged in to shore power whenever the coach is at home. My current
system requires that I manually switch from shore power to generator when
maintaining my batteries from shore power instead of the engine's
alternator. In other words, if I've had the Onan running to provide power
to the A/C (the only thing I use the Onan for), I need to flip a couple of
breakers before shore power will charge the two 6v. coach batteries.

I understand that the Statpower 40 will do a better job of maintaining my
house and engine batteries. But will it also automatically switch between
shore power and generator power as the source of power to the converter and
A/C, instead of our having to do it manually? I've checked the Statpower
internet page, but can't find details on the 40 (not 40+).

Hope I've clearly stated my questions.

Comments..........

Dave Lowry, '76 Royale, Santa Barbara

 

[dave lowry]

Forgot to ask: what are the functiuons of the remote panel?

TIA

Dave Lowry, '76 Royale, Santa Barbara

 

[thomas g. warner]

Dave, there seems to be some confusion relative to how 120 volt AC and 12
volts DC is used by the coach. There was no 120 Volt AC INVERTER to change
12 volts DC to 120 volts AC on the coach as original equipment. In addition
there is no provision for you to "manually switch from shore power to
generator when maintaining my batteries from shore power instead of the
engine's alternator" unless you are talking about unplugging the external
power cord from shore power and plugging it into the motor generator
receptacle to switch to generator powr. I can't understand what you are
doing here "if I've had the Onan running to provide power to the A/C (the
only thing I use the Onan for), I need to flip a couple of >breakers before
shore power will charge the two 6v. coach batteries." There is no provision
to do this in the original wiring for the coach.
>

I guess I am confused relative to how many batteries everyone has. I know
that I only have 2, the auxiliary battery next to the Onan, and the main
battery. As a note, two golf batteries connected in series acting as the
auxiliary battery are considered one battery by the charger.

1. The coach can only get 120 volts AC from one source at a time either:

a. Shore power (the external power cord is unplugged from the motor
generator receptacle and plugged into shore power) or

b. The Onan generator(if the external power cord is left plugged into the
motor generator receptacle)

2. You cannot get 120 volts AC from both sources at the same time.

3. Either 120 volt AC source (shore power or generator) supplies 120 volts
AC to the air conditioner, water heater and AC receptacles in the coach and
also the 120 volt AC to 12 volt DC CONVERTER that supplies all of the
internal lights, furnace etc. This CONVERTER in turn also charges the
auxiliary (living area) batter BUT NOT THE MAIN (automotive) BATTERY. The
isolation diodes on the engine firewall prevents that.

Now lets talk about the automotive battery. The alternator has a built in
temperature sensitive charger to independently charge both the house battery
and the engine battery. It is able to do this because the output of the
alternator is split by the isolation diodes so that two independent outputs
are provided to charge each one independly.

The original converter does a poor job of charging the auxilary battery
since it never puts our a high enough voltage to get the battery up to a
full charge (the alternator has to be running to do that) and has no
provision for a float charge.

contrary to what several have said the statpower 40 will provide 12 volts DC
to the coach without drawing from the auxiliary battery if the load does not
exceed 40 amps.

The optional remote LED panel indicates the charger status (float or
charging), output in increasing amp increments, and battery voltage in .3
volt increment. it costs $39.95

In my opinion the Statpower Truecharge 40 is a perfect replacement for our
old technology ferroresonant converter. In addition it has features that
cost many hundreds of dollars more than the nearest competitor. It is a
steal in refurbished form for about $175. My coach only has two batteries
and the 40+ would be of no additional use to me.

Hope this clears up the misconceptions.

>Thanks J. R.
>
>OK folks, let's see if I've got this straight; If I want the
>converter/charger to separately maintain all three batteries (considering
>the 2 6v. batts. as one), I'll need the 40+. But if I only want it to
>maintain the coach and starting batteries, I can get by with the 40 (not
>40+). Here's my logic for possibly excluding the Onan's battery:
>
>1) The battery back at the generator is now charged by the Onan when it's
>running and/or the engine's alternator when we're under way. If the Onan's
>battery should ever be run down the point it would not start the Onan, I
>could always start the engine, and then start the Onan off the alternator.
>
>2) The Statpower could be wired to maintain both the house and starting
>batteries as well as provide clean 12 volt power whenever we're plugged
>into shore power.
>
>Here's my current situation: I live in Santa Barbara (no freezing). My
>coach run up to full operating temperature at least once every 6 weeks. I
>am plugged in to shore power whenever the coach is at home.
>I understand that the Statpower 40 will do a better job of maintaining my
>house and engine batteries. But will it also automatically switch between
>shore power and generator power as the source of power to the converter and
>A/C, instead of our having to do it manually? I've checked the Statpower
>internet page, but can't find details on the 40 (not 40+).
>
>Hope I've clearly stated my questions.
>
>Comments..........
>
>
>Dave Lowry, '76 Royale, Santa Barbara
>
>
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach