Chargers
 

I have a Charles C-Charge 15 amp 5000 series on the Donzi and it went out some time ago. Talked to the manufacturer and they will recondition it for $134 flat rate and a new replacement one is just over $200. Has any one had trouble with these chargers and whats every ones thought on having it re ferb'ed over just getting a new one since the prices are close enough to justify it. How do Charles chargers rate over others? any suggestions? The charger in question is 8 years old, consequently the OEM charger on my 89 ScarabIII works fine and it has been under water twice . . . go figure . . . the one in the Donzi has maybe fifty actual hours on it. :rolleyes:

Know of a few that have Charles chargers in their cruisers and never any issues.

On 1 hand a refurbed will be repaired for less $$.
On the other, a new one will have all new parts.

Will they both have comparable warranties?

good point, i will have to check into that. Actually at this point i am leaning toward new. I mean heck the extra sixty some dollars is gotta be worth the piece of mind if nothing else. I had thought Charles was a good product but thought it odd that myself and a friend of mine had the exact same problems with the exact same charger on the exact same boat. His Donzi was bought right off the same showroom floor as the one i have. (forgot to mention this second bad charger) Honestly i think ours is still an isolated indecent and just freak coincidence. Figured i run it by the board and see what others have experienced or what else was out there for chargers. Thanks

Dave, worked on a Fountain years ago that would take out a Guest charger every 30 days or so. They replaced every one, but after 3 or so we did agree that there was something else going on. Turned out the charger was mounted to a panel that was carpeted which killed the convective cooling. Put it on some 1" spacers, end of problem. Some of them require mounting in a specific orientation for cooling.

Thanks Marc, i will look into that. Right now both are mounted on a hard fiberglass bulkhead on the factory mounts. Not sure about the orientation but i will check on it. interesting .


Charles wont stand behind these but i cant say as i blame them. Their are eight years old and they really have no way of knowing how they were used.