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Echocharger Alternative

Yahoo Message Number: 78611
I was wondering if anyone has come up with an alternative to the EchoCharger? The fuses blew on mine somehow and while fixing it I thought about whether there was an alternative that was a little smarter or at least better at telling you what was wrong besides a dead starter battery. Not sure if the EchoCharger killed the battery or the battery killed the fuses but I need to come up with a better alternative. If the starter battery (2 year old Interstate) is dead I am probably going to spend the bucks for a Lifeline as they at least don't die from one total discharge.

Bob

'05 Intrigue 11872

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78612
Bob,

I had Fountain RV install a MAGNUM Energy smart battery combiner ME-SBC 25 amp charger. Seems to have solved my Echo charger problem.

Jock Vargo
2005 Inspire
51248

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78615
Hi Bob

I'm the guy who has an echocharger but still can't find it. Mine stopped working as well. I bought a double bank charger made by battery tender..working great. They make extension cords 25 ft long so the tender can be indoors or a compartment that has 110v power. Indicators to tell stage of charge and smart circuitry so can be plugged in indefinite without concern.
Also is separate from house batteries so their health is not tied to your starters! Bought on Amazon with extensions for about $120.
Ed

08 Intrigue

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78619
I replaced my echo charger with the Magnum battery combiner at the same time I replaced my Freedom 20 with the Magnum charger/inverter. Works much better. The Magnum is adjustable for the float voltage so the batteries do not take a beating. The echo charger is a fixed voltage.

Jim Hughes

2000 Allure #30511

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78624
Bob,

I totally agree with Jim Hughes. I replaced my Echo Charger with a Magnum and it works better and costs less. Check any Marine Supply for prices.

John

05 Inspire #51399

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78625
Bob - In my case the echo charger has worked fine. We sit from between 3-8 months at a time and may wait 2 months between routine engine starts. So far my chassis batteries have remained "topped" off. I rigged this up: http://muniac.smugmug.com/Travel/Country-Coach-2006-430-Allure/IMG3354/749383635_XePRS-M.jpg to keep an eye on what's going on in the battery bay. It's important to accurately know how much current if flowing. That monitor is good down to 1 amp. If you have any phantom loads around a good monitor will reveal them.
The echo charger uses a diode threshold which allows a small current to trickle to the chassis batteries when the house voltage exceeds a certain amount. For example, I see several amps of charge during my bulk charge cycle (14.7V). It seems enough to get the job done. The echo charger is somewhat of a crude and dumb way to sneak power away from the house bank. No doubt better options exist. 5 years ago my fuse blew too and I also think the fuse holder was suspect. Both were replaced.
Lifeline makes good batteries. In my case I chose Odyssey group 31 (X2) for my chassis bank. Here's some information on that battery: http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc2150.htm Stay charged!!

At 02:25 PM 4/17/2012, you wrote:

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78626
Yes, check with Kevin Waite. He hooked me up with a marine substitute and the problems with the echo charger have disappeared. Installation took me less than an hour and problems resolved. The problems with the echo charger are many and you can reference these through the archive.

Roger Harper

2006 Intrigue #11990

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78627
Scott,

Looks like a great idea.

Where did you buy the DC monitor and what was the approximate cost?

Dave Trotter
01 Intrigue 11215

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78636
Bob:

These are the best two options for replacing the your Echo Charger.

1.) Magnum Smart Battery Combiner: ( 25amps Max. Combined Charge )
2.) ACR (Automatic Charging Relay): ( 80amps Max. Combined Charge )

Note: I have both of these in stock.

Kevin Waite (Former Country Coach Service Tech.) K&M Mobile R.V. Repair LLC
95430 Noraton Rd.

Junction City, OR. 97448
541-953-6162 (Cell)

kvn.wt.7629@...

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78641
Dave - The company that makes the Hall effect sensors and display is here: http://www.inpowerllc.com/ Visit their website for current pricing. This is professional/commercial stuff not cheap junk. My sensors are +300, -300 amps which read down to the last amp. As for the mounting, switches, data plate and alarm I did that myself. Many options exist from simple to fancy depending on your needs. At the most basic level two sensors will read what's going on with house and chassis amperage. One voltage can be displayed. I made that read chassis volts as I have house volt readings in several other places. The small display unit will thus read 2 amperages and one voltage. You pick what you want. Depending on how you face the sensors + and - will mean different things. In my case I oriented the sensors so a - (minus) reads power flowing from the battery. A + (plus) then reads charging amps. What lead you put the sensors on is important. I used the ground cable going right into the battery banks at the battery terminal. This allows a net current flow reading to be measured which is what the battery sees. That's the one you want.
If I'm drawing -50A from my battery and collecting +30A from solar I'll read a net of -20A. That's the final current draw required of the battery. If I'm drawing -20A and collecting +50A from solar I'll read +30A of charge current. And so forth. The chassis bank works exactly the same way. I'll see only small amounts of trickle charge current on this bank, however. Until I start the engine. Then I'll see what the alternator supplies making for much higher readings. If you are drawing amps for your invertor, the monitor clearly shows the battery drain. It gives you an idea of how long to expect the batteries to last. On my house bank I can draw a constant 15-20A from sundown until sunrise without see my house voltage drop too much below 12.4V. I collect between 2.6 and 3Kw daily on solar which easily charges the house bank (and chassis) batteries back to full charge. The charge controllers pull what they need. More information about how I'm hooked up is here: http://www.muniac.com/Power1.html As for solar, don't waste your money. The technology isn't here yet. And yes all forms of energy have a "tail pipe".
Overall the monitoring system has worked well for the last 5 years. Given the amount of bread investing in the battery bay I can't see not having a reliable monitor. Just my 5 Lbs of bologna in a 2 Lb bag.

At 08:46 AM 4/18/2012, you wrote:

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78648
Scott.......thanx for the additional info. I'll follow up with 'InPower'.

Dave Trotter
01 Intrigue 11215

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78677
Bob,

The Magnum products are available through any major marine supply such as West Marine. If you know someone with a Port Supply account, it is discounted.

Jim Hughes

2000 Allure #30511
 

Re: Echocharger Alternative

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 78741
Bob,

I replaced mine with a "Ultra Trik-L-Start 5 Amp Starting Battery Charger/Maintainer" for $39.95. I found the lowest price at WWW.rvupgrades.com but you can find on a lot of other web sites.
It works GREAT for me and few other RV friends.
Trik-L-Start also has a 10 amp model.
Here is a link: http://www.rvupgradestore.com/Ultra-Trik-L-Start-p/trik-l.htm
Don Stien

96 Affinity #5611