Problems with Protech1240i

[Paolaa]

Hello everybody!!

I want to know If someone know the name of a responsable person in the technical support of Promariner

After using my charge battery for 2 years, it started to make odd noises.
Like a relay that shuts and opens continuosly or a like static noise. It depends which bank wants to charge. And of course it does not charge anything

I wrote Promariner telling about the problem.
Unfortunatelly the email goes to technical support, and they did not sign it.
The first answer I received , it was full of questions.
I answered it.
As I did not receive any answer I sent another email asking for it.

Five minutes later i receive an answer. You need to buy a new one, go to West Marine as we do not fabric this model any more.

I believe that techinical support try to help you when you have a problem.

What can i do???

[Stu Jackson]

WADR, dump it and buy a good charger. Our group's experience has been that PM does not make a good unit. Their old Fly Back chargers were fire hazards.

[mitiempo]

I agree. I recently replaced a ProMariner that died with a Xantrex TrueCharge2.
The ProMariner was totally sealed so if there was an internal fuse (doubtful) it couldn't be replaced. A good charger has accessible fuses.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

I agree. I recently replaced a ProMariner that died with a Xantrex TrueCharge2.
The ProMariner was totally sealed so if there was an internal fuse (doubtful) it couldn't be replaced. A good charger has accessible fuses.

Good luck with that TrueCharge 2... About the only charger from Xantrex I will install these days is the cheap little 10TB. While not very "gourmet" it has proven to be a simple little work horse.. Had too many failures of the new TrueCharge chargers to go back. They can't seem to make a fan that will run for more than 6 months in our climate hopefully they tolerate yours better....

[mitiempo]

Maine

I have had a few fan problems as well, one last week and one last year.

What low amperage (20 or 40 amp) do you recommend? Victron?

The charger I own is a 10TB - a real workhorse.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

Maine

I have had a few fan problems as well, one last week and one last year.

What low amperage (20 or 40 amp) do you recommend? Victron?

The charger I own is a 10TB - a real workhorse.

For basic wets, with an Echo or ACR, Iota is cheap & simple and while not "marine rated" or as "fancy" they seem to hold up very well..

For all others I have been liking the Mastervolt and Victron chargers. The Sterling chargers look promising but not enough real world experience with them for me to "test one" on a customers boat.

Many of the high end builders in Maine are using Mastervolt and they seem to have been very happy with the service, support and lack of issues. I have a tough time installing 40A or larger chargers unless someone has a gen set and they cruise and need to replenish quickly via the gen set.

Dock side a 10-30A charger is often more than adequate as you have plenty of time to fill the bank with a small shoreside charger.

[billyruffn]

Originally Posted by Paolaa

What can i do???

I had a problem with a Protech 1250 and got the same response, but they did offer me a big discount on one of their new units. My reaction was why would I want to buy a new product from a company that won’t support their old (inherited) products? IMHO, they’re very short sighted and don’t realize how small the boating community really is. Word gets around.

Fortunately, in my case the fault was only with the LED displays. The unit still worked well, but one of the LEDs was out. I’m still using it.

[Al Harmon]

Dang, I just bought a new Promariner 1240i at west marine a month ago. It was on sale for $299. They never mentioned that it was out of production. geeesh!