On a regular basis I maintain the batteries on my 3 cars with my favorite charger/Maintainer, the BatteryMINDer 12248 (I also have the successor 128cec1, but I prefer the 12248). It does a very good job, but it does not go higher than 8 amps for deep discharges, nor does it have the ability to set a specific absorb time and/or tail current on deep discharges for proper 100% charging. I really like the idea of being able to quickly monitor the status of the battery/charger via an app over bluetooth. I also contemplated the CTEK CS One (Gen 2) which adds Wifi monitoring, but that just adds WiFi monitoring without addressing the above shortcomings of the BatteryMINDer.
Then I discovered this Victron Bluesmart ip67 charger, which is not talked about enough. I think it flies under the radar because it is mostly only discussed or marketed in RV or Marine forums etc. I was actually first looking at the ip65, but I averted my gaze to the ip67 for two reasons. The IP65 was actually the first one that caught my attention. But the IP65 12/25 version is hard to come by and only seems to sell for at or near the MSRP. Where as the IP67 12/25 that I have transacts for quite a bit less. Settings wise they are identical, the only real differences in addition to the obvious ingress protection, the IP67 has a potted aluminum casing (vs plastic), no included clips or quick connects etc. Also, not sure why exactly, but likely due to the IP67 rating, and the associated step up in build quality, the IP67 seems to have a far better reputation for durability. Which is always welcome. I also briefly considered the ip22 12/30, but since I was going to use it inside and outside, I chose the ip67 again.
Enter the Victron BlueSmart IP67 12/25. I won’t go into all of the details here, but it fixes these two shortcomings and adds a lot of other very useful settings, including Bluetooth monitoring through the Victron Connect App. Through the advanced and expert mode settings in the app, the IP67 can be set to exactly replicate the Odyssey battery recommended charging algo and temperature compensation settings.
The IP67 arrived last week. Since this charger is more or less designed to be semi permanently installed, I have customized it a little. I wanted to make it more practical/transportable like a shop charger. I wired a couple Anderson connectors and ordered a set of nice alligator clamps pre-wired with a Anderson connector. I also installed some rubber feet to the existing mounting bolt holes, so that it won’t have to sit directly on the ground or floor and get scraped up. This will make it a lot more flexible and useful for me, as I can use the bluetooth app, I can make adjustments to to charge nearly any battery I come across.
Speaking of the app, the app works amazing. 100% glitch free for me. Also, I love that you can demo the settings on the app for all these Victron products in the app before you buy. This is genius! Why don’t more manufacturers do this? Any questions or reservations about the Bluesmart chargers were immediately answered with this feature. With other “smart” brands (not just chargers, inverters etc) , finding out what settings or features that are actually available in the app FOR THE EXACT MODEL YOU WANT, you have to BUY THE PRODUCT first and connect it to the app. Then surprise! It does not have the feature that you hoped for. Add up all of the above, and only Victron made what I wanted.