[GMCnet] Xantrex Truecharge 40+ Question

[Carey Bryan]

Got a Xantrex Truecharge 40+, just put in two new house batteries in the back. The old batteries I boiled out using the Xantrex plugged in over the course of a year. I had some of those hot air balloon- looking high dollar battery caps that are supposed to recondense the water, so with the three level battery charger, the caps, and the big batteries, I thought it made me immune from adding distilled water.

Wrong again. The batteries were toast. I just got two more from an auto parts place that shares the same initials as Alcoholics Anonymous. They offered multiple stacking discounts.

So, I put them in last night and left them charging on the Xantrex Truecharge 40+. It has a nice remote readout panel. The panel has three vertical rows of LEDs which indicate the present charge of two of the batteries, on the outside rows, and the charging amperage overall on the middle row.

Today, it seems to have finished recharging the batteries, but the LEDs on the remote readout panel not supposed to be lit are flickering rapidly, dimly like there's an oscillation back there. Is that normal? The LEDS that are supposed to be lit seem to light very well. Or should I ought to look at that charger and see what can be done about that fan noise along with fricasseed components? It has a way to charge both the house batteries and main engine starting battery, though I can't figure how as I have an isolator setup, and it makes no apparent difference whether the auxiliary battery solenoids are energized. More mystery.

Thanks to everyone's kind application of brain cells.

Carey Bryan
--
Carey from Ennis, Texas
78 Royale, 500 Cadillac, Rance Baxter EFI.
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[Ken Henderson]

Carey,

I can't offer any insight into your current problem, but the Truecharge 40+
is what I installed in the X-Birchaven when I rebuilt it in '98. It served
well for about two years, then went belly-up. It was a factory refurbished
unit so I didn't have much to complain about. Until I opened it to try to
repair it. The workmanship was so atrocious (resistors piggy backed on
others with only solder joining them, etc) that I immediately replaoced it
with a Progressive Dynamics PD-9145 -- what I'm still running (though
admittedly not the same one for a couple of innocent reasns).

You'd better put a votmeter on those batteries to be sure they're not still
being overcharged.

Ken H.

On Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 7:44 PM, Carey Bryan wrote:

>
>
> Got a Xantrex Truecharge 40+, just put in two new house batteries in the
> back. The old batteries I boiled out using the Xantrex plugged in over the
> course of a year. I had some of those hot air balloon- looking high dollar
> battery caps that are supposed to recondense the water, so with the three
> level battery charger, the caps, and the big batteries, I thought it made
> me immune from adding distilled water.
>
> Wrong again. The batteries were toast. I just got two more from an auto
> parts place that shares the same initials as Alcoholics Anonymous. They
> offered multiple stacking discounts.

...

[RJW]

Ken Henderson wrote on Mon, 27 January 2014 20:26

> Carey,
>
> I can't offer any insight into your current problem, but the Truecharge 40+
> is what I installed in the X-Birchaven when I rebuilt it in '98. It served
> well for about two years, then went belly-up. It was a factory refurbished
> unit so I didn't have much to complain about. Until I opened it to try to
> repair it. The workmanship was so atrocious (resistors piggy backed on
> others with only solder joining them, etc) that I immediately replaoced it
> with a Progressive Dynamics PD-9145 -- what I'm still running (though
> admittedly not the same one for a couple of innocent reasns).
>

> Ken H.
>
> On Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 7:44 PM, Carey Bryan wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Got a Xantrex Truecharge 40+, just put in two new house batteries in the
> > back. The old batteries I boiled out using the Xantrex plugged in over the
> > course of a year. I had some of those hot air balloon- looking high dollar
> > battery caps that are supposed to recondense the water, so with the three
> > level battery charger, the caps, and the big batteries, I thought it made
> > me immune from adding distilled water.
> >
> > Wrong again. The batteries were toast. I just got two more from an auto
> > parts place that shares the same initials as Alcoholics Anonymous. They
> > offered multiple stacking discounts.

Carey,

I've got my refurbished Truecharge 40+ at about the same as Ken's in 1998. Mine however has kept on running for the past 15 years. Yes, the "inactive LEDs" do flicker and the fan runs more than I would like. I do replenish the water a few times a season in my golf car batteries.

It didn't charge the chassis battery (I didn't hook that side up) until I installed a combiner ten years ago. Otherwise, there is supposed to be a separate cable from the 40+ to the chassis battery for charging to take place. It sounds like my unit works like yours does.

I have not taken mine apart to see if it has the same shoddy fabrication that Ken's had. I suspect not, since mine is still running.

The old timers here might remember that the Truecharge 40+ was the battery charger to have back in the late 1990s. Cinnabar endorsed it, not that Wes's blessing means that much.
--
Richard
76 Palm Beach
SE Michigan
www.PalmBeachGMC.com

[Emery Stora]

I have had the same charger for many years. I leave mine plugged in for months at a time and it doesn't boil out my batteries.

My lights on the panel don't flicker.
Check all of your connections including the grounds.

The 40+ can charge three banks of batteries. I only use two of the outputs. You normally have it hooked up to the house batteries. Run another wire forward and connect it to your starting battery and it will keep that charged as well. I believe I used either an eight or six gauge wire. It is hooked to the second output terminal of the 40+ and I have it connected to the starting battery side of the boost solenoid. It could also be connected to the start battery side of the isolator. Just so it has a direct connect to the start battery positive terminal.

Emery Stora

[Carey Bryan]

Thanks to Ken, Richard, and Emery,

Some news to report. I checked the battery voltage on the flooded house batteries, 6v golf cart batteries 105s, correctly connected. They are at 13.8 volts, but I disconnected the positive lead (I know, but it was right up front) and went back inside to see the light show that remote indicator of the Xantrex gives. Interesting. Lights still flickered, but it showed it was still charging two batteries. I postulate now that all the batteries are cross connected, house and chassis. I will disconnect the chassis battery and await events when the spirit moves but the spirit was getting chilly after a day when I actually had to do some critical work at my job. Thanks to you all for your kind feedback. I am getting interested to see why those lights flicker so much. Maybe just put on dark glasses and use a flashlight to see the panel and I won't notice. I am wondering just how much air those fans move. Mine sounds like a
healthy 6 volt fan connected to 12v.

Thanks again,

Carey Bryan


Ken Henderson wrote on Mon, 27 January 2014 19:26

--
Carey from Ennis, Texas
78 Royale, 500 Cadillac, Rance Baxter EFI.

[Thomas Phipps]

The Freedom 10 Charger on my coach, (Xantrex bought company for it' s technology) had a flickering problem with its indicator lights. Tech at Xantrex indicated that the microprocessor controlling it was "confused," and to turn it off for a few moments to clear the system. Do not know why, but it worked. No harm in trying the off method.
Tom, MS II
--
1975 GMC Avion

[Carey Bryan]

Thanks, Tom.

It was sure acting confused. Maybe there's no battery there to charge, just the light show.

Carey

--
Carey from Ennis, Texas
78 Royale, 500 Cadillac, Rance Baxter EFI.