Custom Excerpt is returning 52 characters and not 52 words

The function you want is wp_trim_words(), example:

function themeTemplate_trim_excerpt( $content ) {
    $more="..."; //where $more is optional
    return wp_trim_words($content, 52, $more);
}

remove_filter('get_the_excerpt', 'wp_trim_excerpt');
add_filter('get_the_excerpt', 'template_trim_excerpt');