Hey Tom, et al The Sure Power battery separator you're using is a definite improvement over the simple battery relays like the Hella or its higher-powered cousins. It allows higher power charging of the auxiliary after your starting battery has been nearly fully charged, which usually happens after only a mile or so of driving. This can greatly ease the load on your alternator. The battery combiner from West Marine is similar in operation, but appears to use a solid-state switch instead of a relay. As Mr. Bill points out, though, there is almost always a down side. In this case, the increased complexity of the control circuitry over a simple relay or diode isolator means more electronic parts to fail. But the enhanced performance and elimination of alternator overloading likely more than compensates for this. Stanley |
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