Re: (ET) Battery charger question

[Larry Chace <RLC1 etnainstruments com>]

Joeaverage asked about bank chargers.  In the summer of 2015 the 
charger in my E-15 died; the transformer shorted out, but I'm not 
sure why.  As luck would have it, my I-5 came with some spare parts, 
including a charger transformer.  I got a new capacitor and new 
diodes (worried that they may have killed the transformer) and 
installed everything.  It hums along very melodiously; the old one 
made nasty growling sounds.

I then noticed that the NOCO "Genius" GEN3 3 bank external charger 
was misbehaving -- it would decide it was done after just a few 
minutes. Of course, the thing is a sealed unit that can't be repaired 
and its 3-year warranty had just recently expired.  I replaced it 
with a MinnKota MK330D 3-bank charger (10 amps per bank).  That seems 
to work nicely -- it gets the batteries bubbling as the charge tapers 
off.  I like using the original chargers, but they can over-charge if 
you aren't careful (and lucky).  The MinnKota will bring each pair of 
batteries up to a fully charged condition.  There is no need to 
re-wire the batteries.

The MinnKota is fitted with XLR plugs that connect to XLR sockets on 
the I-5 and on the E15, so that either can be charged as needed.  In 
the winter, when both the snowthrower and snowplow are in use, one of 
the ETs gets the MinnKota and the other gets the GE charger.  The 
battery voltage is available at the "top"ends of fuses FU2 and FU3, 
making a convenient place to measure the voltage and thereby gain an 
idea of the battery state of charge.

When I got the E15 I installed two 20amp 120v circuits, on opposite 
legs of the 120/240 service so that both GE chargers could be used at 
the same time if necessary.

Larry Chace, Ithaca, NY  E15 and I-5