Xantrex True<i>Charge</i>153;2 10Amp Battery Charger - 1 Bank 12V

It works

I purchased the 10 amp version of the Xantrex Truecharge 2. As a charger it worked as expected I use 2 Trojan T105 6 volt golf cart batteries in my camper and it charged them from 50% discharge in about 7 hours. It's a nice looking charger, seems to be well built and was delivered promptly. Unfortunately this model didn't have all the features in the description so I had to send it back. The Amazon description says "Battery-equalization feature" but this model doesn't have equalization. There is actually a section in the manual that walks you through equalization but this model won't go into equalization mode and has no Equalization indicator on the front panel. A call to "Wendy" in customer support confirmed this to be fact. Trojan recommends monthly equalization so this charger just doesn't meet the minimum requirements to maintain deep cycle batteries.

This is supposed to be a direct replacement for a Truecharge 10TB, but everything is different. Mounting is different. Battery connections are different AND on the opposite side. The shore power connections are different from the 10 TB and also on the opposite side. Be prepared to do some soldering and rearranging when using this to replace a 10TB. It is not plug & play. On the plus side, this unit provides more information than the 10TB and has more features.

I am using this in a battery backup application in an outbuilding. I have some electronic stuff that I want to be able to use even in a lengthy power outage. So I have a small sine-wave inverter, this battery charger, and a deep-cycle battery. The inverter runs from the battery 24/7. The charger keeps the battery topped off. Fan failed after 5 years, which is reasonable. I will attempt to replace the fan. Another charger I had kept cycling back and forth between bulk and float charging modes. This one doesn't do that. When I first installed it, it stayed in bulk mode for several hours and then timed out. Now it floats at 13.5V. This is much better for the battery. It is supplying around 2.5 Amps to the load and keeping the battery topped-off. It does have a fan, and the fan is fairly loud. Not a problem in my application, but you might want to consider this. I deducted one star for this. Note that in my application, the total supplied power is under 35 Watts. Assuming something like 80% efficiency, the dissipated power is well under 10 Watts. It should not be necessary to use a loud fan with this kind of dissipation. I suspect the fan is always on and has only one speed. It would be better if it were speed controlled so that it only runs when needed, and can run in a quieter mode when appropriate to do so.

As described and performs well

Functions well -- somewhat loud fan, but Xantrex said it was normal, on customer service call, where prompt contact was made with very helpful answers to questions. Actually, person spoken to did not know this charger would work on modified sine wave AC input, which it does. My application is somewhat unusual, as I am using a charger, now upgraded to the 20A model for more features, in an solar electrified dwelling with modified sine wave inverter powered outlets to charge batteries powering a pure sine wave inverter, also a Xantrex, as recommended for sensitive electronics.