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Post by moonshadow on Dec 15, 2018 14:03:03 GMT
I have slowly been learning the details of the electrical system on my 2014 SO469. My current issue relates to battery charging. I have two cristec CPS3 chargers. One of them seems to show lights appropriate to the charging phase. The other is showing a blinking light on the “Boost/Absorption” phase. I have looked at the operating manual and I can’t seem to find out any information on what this means. Has anyone else seen this.
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Post by puravida35 on Dec 15, 2018 17:55:20 GMT
The manual I have says that if the light is blinking it means the SW1 switch in set to boost and the charger is in Boost/Adsorption mode.
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Post by rc sail on Dec 16, 2018 1:05:56 GMT
Moonshadow-keep a close watch on your Cristec battery charger(s). I did a post on here earlier this year after my
3 year old Cristec charger appeared to stay in boost mode boiling and overheating 3 banks of batteries. Fortunately
I was still onboard otherwise the house bank of batteries under the rear berth probably would have eventually caused
a fire on the boat. 3 out of 7 batteries were runied. I promptly replaced the Cristec charger with a Pronautic which
has multiple settings for charging and floating voltage.
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Post by moonshadow on Dec 16, 2018 12:47:44 GMT
Thank you for the replies. My manuals are sorely lacking. I have two of these chargers on board and I am trying to understand what each does. Jeanneau manual of course is not very informative. Since I am seeing different indications I am thinking that each supports different battery banks. It would appear that my starboard CPS3 charges my house bank and the port one some others. I will keep digging through the diagrams.
And thanks for the report on that failure mode. So far my problem seems to be inadequate charging. I plan on doing a full charge for a few days and then check spec grav to help decide if the charger is a problem or just too much drain on my system.
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Post by rc sail on Dec 16, 2018 18:33:58 GMT
Moonshadow-have you banged around online for Cristec charger info/detail? . Might find some detail and perhaps a download owners manual on the Cristec website. In the case with my 15 44 I had only one Cristec charger for 3 battery banks(house,
start and bow thruster). For The house and start banks the charger output was wired into the battery on/off switches.
You should also be able to see your house battery voltage, and if batteries are charging, on your meter at the DC electrical
panel, unless some wiring had been changed by prior owner.
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Post by moonshadow on Dec 16, 2018 20:23:22 GMT
Thanks. I did download what I could find online. Apparently my chargers are no longer in production and the proper manual was not found. Surprising as this is a 2014 boat. I would expect cristec to support longer. I think my error was in not realizing that the two chargers are supporting different banks. When one was steady “on” bulk mode and the other was blinking I was confused.
I think the chargers are doing as they should. The blinking bulk light eventually became steady and float mode started. And the 14.2 volts at float seems appropriate for my lead acid batteries.
Overall I now have come to believe that I am simply not charging my house batteries fully. and when the freezer is running as well as the refridgerator and other useful items the draw is simply too much overnight for the system I have. It seems to need genset or engine a lot more than I expected. With 5 x 105 amp hour house batteries new this year I simply did not expect this to be the case. I have two solar panels that are helping a bit during the day, but overnight from drain I am pretty low.
And this is my first real trip on this boat so I am very much a beginner at understanding all the systems. It is now 40 days since I was at shore power and the boat, and all of you here, are teaching me a lot.
Thanks. Paul
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Post by Bora on Jan 13, 2019 9:32:41 GMT
Did you manage to find the correct manual? I was digging around for one the other day when I was checking that mine were set correctly for the AGM batteries that I have. Found the manual here: www.cristec.fr/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/06/CPS3OEM-1M-2M-DEE.pdfI've been trawling the internet after poking around onboard and found most of the manuals I need so if you're missing anything let me know. |
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Post by moonshadow on Jan 13, 2019 11:45:47 GMT
I did find the proper manual. Thanks. Interesting that the factory settings are for sealed batteries yet the actual voltage profile seems more suited to open lead acid batteries. I’m trying both settings and monitoring the actual performance. Maybe I’ll learn something.
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Post by Bora on Jan 13, 2019 11:53:33 GMT
Most of the electronic stuff is like magic to me....at least there’s some proper brainiacs on the forum that keep us straight.
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Post by wolferich on Jan 27, 2019 9:32:26 GMT
I had some comparable problems as RCSail last spring.
In march the starter battery was replaced by a Jeanneau service company on my SU 439 from 2012 because it failed. When I came on board a month later the service batteries failed one after the other. The first battery almost boiled and generated a unpleasant smell. It was then disconnected. I was carefully following the charger activity but it looked normal. Next day the next battery failed, was disconnected ... was not a good feeling permanently mistrusting the charger/battery system.
Finally I changed all batteries and since than everything works like normal. The charger seems to work correctly. The Jeanneau dealer recommended to deactivate the boost mode because the boost mode increases the chance for failure. Strange enought.
Anyhow, I still wonder what happened and dont‘t have a full understanding.
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Post by rc sail on Jan 27, 2019 19:24:19 GMT
Wolf-sorry to hear about your charger/batt issues. Certainly replacing what may have been good batteries is not a
cheap date. In my situation I am still playing with the idea a bad or low charged battery in a bank resulted in the Cristec
charger staying in boost mode for the extended period. In my boat there are 3 banks of batteries and the charger boosted all banks frying one battery in the house bank, the starter batt and the 2 thruster batts. Again had I not been on board and discovered the "hot" batteries when I did I would probably now be boatless. Excellent idea to deactivate the boost mode on the Cristec and maybe a sound idea to pass on to others herein. A nice feature with the
Pronautic charger I replaced with is it monitors battery temperature which I have connected to the house bank and you can regulate the voltage when in "boost" mode.
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Post by wolferich on Jan 30, 2019 8:02:43 GMT
Also in my case it was pure luck (or not?) that I was onboard when the first failure occured. The battery was producing a strong smell and almost cooking.
After the failure of the first service battery I had a deep check of all batteries except the ones for the bow thruster ( also have 3 battery banks) which did not seem to be touched. The stinky one obviously was damaged and therefore disconnected. The others had a more or less good status. From that moment I carefully followed the charging voltage and the behaviour of the Cristec charger looked normal; first boost mode and later switch to regular mode. Nevertheless, the following day the next battery started to fail, was disconnected, everything looked good, next day the next battery....
Only after I changed all service batteries and the starter battery the problems were gone. As mentioned before the boost mode is deactivated now. I do not connect to shorepower anymore when I am not around and have my batteries charged in those periods by the 2x100W solar installation. Also in my case it was pure luck (or not?) that I was onboard when the first failure occured.
It would be helpful if someone could develop a theory about how such symptoms could be explained.
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Post by servdiv on Jun 15, 2020 18:07:52 GMT
Which direction is the plastic switch to be on or off on my Cristec 60 amp battery charger, I am still confused which way is open or closed for s1,s2 & s3...thanks...2015 Jeanneau 409...Kevin
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Post by moonshadow on Jun 16, 2020 0:38:40 GMT
The manual diagrams are a bit confusing showing black and white rather than up or down indicating position. There is one diagram that is a bit clearer somewhere in the manual though. Best to look at the battery monitor for actual voltage delivered after a change.
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Post by servdiv on Jun 16, 2020 14:00:14 GMT
Interesting idea, I will try that...
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Post by alrita on Feb 9, 2021 10:25:24 GMT
Moonshadow-keep a close watch on your Cristec battery charger(s). I did a post on here earlier this year after my 3 year old Cristec charger appeared to stay in boost mode boiling and overheating 3 banks of batteries. Fortunately I was still onboard otherwise the house bank of batteries under the rear berth probably would have eventually caused a fire on the boat. 3 out of 7 batteries were runied. I promptly replaced the Cristec charger with a Pronautic which has multiple settings for charging and floating voltage. |
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Post by alrita on Feb 9, 2021 10:26:57 GMT
Pity I did not see your post previously!
The Cristec CPS3OEM 12V25 Amp charger that was installed in my 2011 Jeanneau 36i killed my sealed lead acid starting battery and boiled away the liquid in my lead acid open batteries. (2 Trojan 6V 110AH).
I returned to my boat after a couple of weeks and found that the starting battery dropped from 13.1 V to less than 4V with a tiny load.
The house bank needed over 3 liters of distilled water.
I replaced the starting battery and filled the domestic bank. I found that the charger was set to setting 0, suitable for open lead acid, so I changed it to 1 for sealed lead acid as all three circuits use the same setting. The starting battery was connected to the D connector. The boost was on.
I returned to the boat after a few hour to hear the voltage alarm. The engine battery was at 14.8 Volts! It should have never got anywhere near there. The domestic battery was drawing 22 Amps and its voltage was above the specified level for the #1 setting.
My conclusion is that the charger is not limiting the voltage as it should. I doubt than turning off boost mode will help and I am not taking chances.
The Cristec manual clearly states that they are not responsible for damages to batteries. The don't appear to have overcharge protection and they are not intelligent chargers. Mine is the OEM model for Jeanneau.
I just ordered 2 10Amp 7 stage intelligent microprocessor chargers. This allows me to have different programs for each bank. Total cost for both including shipping from China $58.
I have 480Watts of rigid solar panels through a Renology 40Amp controller charging only the house bank. I may add a VSR so that the panels also charge the engine battery.
The alternator only charges the engine battery.
So the chargers will only be used to keep the starting battery charged and to reduce domestic battery cycles when at the dock.
For those who have a battery charger that does not have intelligent protection, like the Cristec I had, its a lot cheaper to replace the 25 Amp charger with two separate controllers before you kill expensive batteries.
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Post by rc sail on Feb 9, 2021 16:09:09 GMT
Alrita, regret reading your issues with Cristec batt charger and batteries. Don't mean to rain more on your all ready
wet parade but keep a watchful eye on the batteries that were subject to the overcharge. After my incident, I replaced the 4 lead acid house batteris with 3 new group size 31. The start and 2 bow thrust batts checked ok after my incident but they failed within the following month. My "new" Pronautic charger has a heat temperature sensor which should shut down the charger in the event of overcharge.
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Post by zaphod on Feb 9, 2021 17:01:37 GMT
Pity I did not see your post previously! The Cristec CPS3OEM 12V25 Amp charger that was installed in my 2011 Jeanneau 36i killed my sealed lead acid starting battery and boiled away the liquid in my lead acid open batteries. (2 Trojan 6V 110AH). I returned to my boat after a couple of weeks and found that the starting battery dropped from 13.1 V to less than 4V with a tiny load. The house bank needed over 3 liters of distilled water. I replaced the starting battery and filled the domestic bank. I found that the charger was set to setting 0, suitable for open lead acid, so I changed it to 1 for sealed lead acid as all three circuits use the same setting. The starting battery was connected to the D connector. The boost was on. I returned to the boat after a few hour to hear the voltage alarm. The engine battery was at 14.8 Volts! It should have never got anywhere near there. The domestic battery was drawing 22 Amps and its voltage was above the specified level for the #1 setting. My conclusion is that the charger is not limiting the voltage as it should. I doubt than turning off boost mode will help and I am not taking chances. The Cristec manual clearly states that they are not responsible for damages to batteries. The don't appear to have overcharge protection and they are not intelligent chargers. Mine is the OEM model for Jeanneau. I just ordered 2 10Amp 7 stage intelligent microprocessor chargers. This allows me to have different programs for each bank. Total cost for both including shipping from China $58. I have 480Watts of rigid solar panels through a Renology 40Amp controller charging only the house bank. I may add a VSR so that the panels also charge the engine battery. The alternator only charges the engine battery. So the chargers will only be used to keep the starting battery charged and to reduce domestic battery cycles when at the dock. For those who have a battery charger that does not have intelligent protection, like the Cristec I had, its a lot cheaper to replace the 25 Amp charger with two separate controllers before you kill expensive batteries. The Cristec chargers certainly aren't the greatest chargers on the market, but there are many thousands of them on boats doing the job just fine. Like any charger they can malfunction as it appears yours did. I am not sure replacing a malfunctioning mid-range 3 stage charger with a couple of the cheapest Chinese chargers you can get is the best solution. If you want to protect your expensive battery bank you should be buying a quality smart charger from a reputable manufacturer. |
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Post by moonshadow on Jul 16, 2021 12:30:34 GMT
Reviving this old thread. Lately I have been using only my solar panels to charge my batteries. Recently I turned on the cristec chargers to give the batteries a top up while I was on board. All seems ok until I went through the battery monitor system while charging and the house and engine start battery seemed fine at appropriate charging voltages. But the generator start battery showed 16.5 volts. Not good. So I turned off the chargers and decided to ask here if anyone else has seen this issue with only one output going wonky?
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