Best on board charger for Kinetik batteries?

There has been a lot of talk about on board chargers lately on the board, and it has been very good information. Here is my specific situation:

I have a pair of KHC 2000 Kinetiks that I will be using for my 'house' system and a KHC 1800 for my starting battery. All Kinetik AGM batteries. I have a perko switch and a Voltage Sensitive Regulator already in the boat.

I sometimes use the boat for a week at a time at Lake Powell, and do not have access to shore power, so simply putting the stereo batts completely separate is not a possibility. I do need the alternator to sometimes recharge them, but would rather have them full every time I go out by charging them at home. It is not that often that I let it sit and play music for more than an hour.

The kinetik guys (of course) would like to sell me one of their on board chargers. They give me some mumbo jumbo about how it is specifically designed for their batteries and it would condition them to run better and last longer. It is pricey, and it only has 1 bank. I don't like the idea much of connecting 2 different battery sizes together on 1 charger, as that they might discharge and charge back and forth and decrease the lifespan. I believe they should be isolated. It also is not waterproof.

The pro mariner sounds great and has a 3 selections for 'Flooded(lead-acid)/STD AGM, GEL & High Performance(HP) AGM'. This is the 'Gen 2" charger. I think the only difference I can find is that the first generation charger has 2 settings for batteries instead of 3.

I am leaning towards the promariner Gen 2 chargers and would put it on the high performance AGM setting. Any thoughts on this or other setups?

Go with the ProMariner. They have really good customer service as well.

I have the pro 20 Gen 2 20 amp 3bank I like it so far...

I got 4 KHC 2400's and use the promariner 3 bank setup. 1 bank goes to my starting battery and the other 2 to my 2400's. I've have it for a couple years now and it has been working great.

Jason,

Thanks for your input! That is the kind of experience I am looking for. Anyone else with any input is greatly appreciated.

I am not sure you can select the specific type of battery for each bank--I was under the impression it was one type of battery that should be used throughout. I've never used the promariner so maybe someone who has one can answer that for sure....

When I did the research a few months ago I ran into a LOT of reviews where people said they went through multiple promariners before they finally switched brands. Some people even wnet through a few that all broke (seemed to be good about replacing under warranty though). Like I mentioned, I've never owned one so I have no first hand experience with them. But, after reading all the negative reviews I settled on a Xantrex 40 amp 3 bank charger. I didn't find any negative reviews (except the price). I haven't even mounted it yet so I can't even tell you how it works. I liker the way it looks better and it's a tad smaller--which means nothing for its performance obviously.

I recently charged my Kinetik 2400's with the Schumacher 12000A. The West Marine would never charge them over 12.3-12.4 at rest. They hold 12.6-7 after charging them with the Schumacher. It was $125 or so from an ebay seller.

Mikeski did you hard wire it or do you just take it out after it's finished charging. You peaked my interest in a different product and I may have to check what kind of voltage I'm seeing after a full charge with the promariner. the 1200a is for sale on Schumacher's site for $82.00.

I have a Schumacher plug in charger and the Kinetiks stay between 12.8-13.0 when charging them on the bench. My other option is to just keep using that and attach it each time I feel the boat won't be used for a while, but an onboard charger would seem to be better, especially through the winter.

Originally Posted by mikeski

I recently charged my Kinetik 2400's with the Schumacher 12000A. The West Marine would never charge them over 12.3-12.4 at rest. They hold 12.6-7 after charging them with the Schumacher. It was $125 or so from an ebay seller.

MIkeski, I cannot find a 12000A. Maybe another number?

I currently have the Promariner on my batts and I am very pleased with it. It will get hot, but most onboard chargers will. I put some spacers between the charger and the wall for air and it work perfectly.

I heard they went under but apparently they are still alive?? Anyone know what happened here? Their phone lines were down for about a month as well as they orders/shipments?

Brian, who are referring to in your above post?

IMO, the Xantrex chargers are some of the best "on-board" set ups out there. Dual-Pro, Guest, Pro Mariner are all good as well. Just make sure that the charger has a minimum of 3 phases. Bulk, Absorption and Float.

IMO anyone of these chargers will do, the longetvity of the batteries depends on how consistent your charging routine is. I have optima Blue tops in my boat that are going on their 4th or 5th season (I forget). The only time that they are ever not on the charger is when we are on the water. I run a Dual Pro 2 bank charger.

If you want to go the Dual Pro route you can save some money by buying a refurb from Dual Pro.

I think that the promariner may not be the perfect fit for these batteries. After finding the exact specs that are recommended by Kinetik, the Promariner charges a bit differently.

http://www.kinetikaudio.com/2009/before.asp (the last question on the bottom of the page) says that the charger should charge to 13.5 to 14.4 volts and then maintain between 13.5 and 13.8 Volts. The promariner does not do that exactly...not sure if I am picking hairs here or not. Neither of the AGM settings in the generation 2 charger are within these ranges for both the charging and maintenance range. Although the gel setting is a 14.1 Volt charge and 13.8 Volt maintenance.

Would I put it on Gel, even though this is an AGM battery? And then I am pushing the maintenance charge on the upper limit of what they recommend...is that bad?

The Xantrex Truecharge 10TB has dual outputs and has the exact right charging requirements, but interestingly, does not say it is recommended for AGM batteries. Will call them on Monday and see what they have to say about that.

Talked to the Xantrex folks today and I will be going that route.

I was able to talk to a human being pretty quickly, and that instill confidence. They said the flooded setting will do AGM batteries just fine. It meets the specs set forth by Kinetik.

Thanks for all the help!