Battery charger

[honest mark]

I have a 2003 42 open it has a 50 amp battery charger, do these just die?? Went down in engine room , reads 0 on gauge and no humming noise , I took face plate off and it looks like it may b fried, and fan on top look rusted?? Boat was in saltwater for 16 years now freshwater, has 8 batteries, (4) 500cca that are about 6 years old and (4) 800 cca that were 1 year old , was thinking of getting a bigger amp charger, recommendations would b greatly appreciated, THANK YOU

[jclark003]

Checking the charger should be as simple as putting a dvm on each battery bank and observing volts after turning on battery charger (with engine off). You should see about >13.0 vdc when charging and about 12 or so when not charging. If it's a Charles you may want to check the internal fuses. A bad battery can blow the output fuse and I would think a shorted fan could take out the ac line fuse. Here is a link to the manual

http://www.charlesindustries.com/marine_...argers.pdf

No direct experience but I hear Mastervolt and Victron have very good equipment should you need to replace. As for increasing the amperage output from what I know the charge rate should be sized to keep up with the house load. if Tiara put a 50 amp charger in there that is probably enough. That said going higher output won't hurt anything.