Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 18:12:37 -0700
Reply-To: Bill Davidson <wdavidson@thegrid.net>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bill Davidson <wdavidson@thegrid.net>
Subject: Re: Auxillary battery installation follow-up (long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Tom,
Great Post! Thanks for keeping us informed...
Now, could you please post us again in a year or so to let us know how that
isolator is holding UP?
Thanks,
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Moritz" <tmoritz@bmi.net>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2000 11:37 AM
Subject: Auxillary battery installation follow-up (long)
> A little over a month ago I posted some e-mail describing an auxillary
> battery system using Sure Power Industries' battery separator between the
> chassis or starter battery and the auxillary battery. At that time I was
> seeking anybody else's experience with this product. While I didn't get
> any response detailing past experience I did get several e-mails asking me
> to report back how my installation went.
>
> Sure Power Indust. manufacutures two models, the 1314 and 1315, which work
> with 12V negative ground charging systems of 100 amps or less. These
> separators allow multiple batteries to be charged from one charging
source.
> When the batteries are not being charged the batteries are isolated.
This
> prevents discharging the chassis battery when drawing power from the
> auxillary battery. The battery separator also prioritizes charging. This
> is where these two models differ. The 1314 is for systems with a single
> charging source. This describes most vehicles. When the battery
connected
> directly to the charging source reaches approximatley 13.2V the separator
> will close its high amperage contact connecting the auxillary battery in
> parallel. The 1315 is the same except charging sources can be connected
to
> either the chassis or axillary battery. When would you want the 1315? I
> purchased it in anticipation of adding flexible solar cells and/or an
> inverter/charger to our electrical system. These charging sources would
be
> connected to the auxillary battery. With the 1315, when the auxillary
> battery reaches 13.2V, the contact would close and the extra power would
be
> used to top off the chassis battery. The 1315 was only $5 more. Both
> models also have spade terminals for an auxillary battery status lamp and
> manual override switch. The battery status lamp is illuminated when the
> auxillary battery has sufficient voltage to assist the chassis battery for
> starting the vehicle. The manual override allows you to force the
> separator to close the contacts and connect the batteries. (This turned
> out to be quite handy as I explain later.)
>
> Installation:
>
> The first step after acquiring all the parts was to remove the driver's
and
> passenger seat and captains chair swivels. I probably didn't need to
> remove the passenger seat but it made lifting the chassis battery out
> easier. The next step was to remove enough of the sheet metal from under
> the driver's seat to allow me to install the Optima deep cycle battery. I
> was able to do this with a 3/4" hole saw to drill the corners and a small
> electric jig saw with a heavy duty metal blade. A test fit of the Optima
> battery confirmed there was enough room to mount both the battery and the
> battery separator in the auxillary battery box.
>
> Next step was to drill holes in the bottom of each battery box. This is
> the reason I had to remove the chassis battery. I lined the holes with
> rubber gromets and ran a 5 foot length of 4Ga. battery cable from one
> battery box to the other. I terminated both ends with a crimp on eye and
> soldered it. I bolted the separator to the floor of the auxillary battery
> box using self-tapping hex head screws. I then connected the chassis
> battery (positive) to the battery separator primary terminal and the
> auxillary battery (positive) to the battery separator secondary terminal.
> (The primary and secondary terminal designation is not really important
> with the 1315 model but very important with the 1314 model.) I also
> installed a small normally open momentary pushbutton switch up on the
front
> of the seat pedestal where the driver can hold the button and turn the key
> at the same time. This switch is connected to the start-signal and ground
> terminals on the battery separator to manually close the contact. I also
> installed a ground connection to the negative terminal of the auxillary
> battery. Make sure you remove any paint from where you attach the
> grounding lead to improve conductance. At this time I also replace the
> chassis battery with a new one from the local NAPA auto parts store.
>
> With that all done I was ready to test the installation. Turn the key
> and....nothing! I checked my wiring and the voltage of the batteries.
The
> new chassis battery was at 11.2V. Hmmm...must have been on the shelf for
a
> while. Okay, let's test the manual override switch on the separator.
Push
> and hold, turn the key and the engine comes to life. I would have taken
it
> for a drive at this point but the seats were still out so I kept the
engine
> at about 2000rpm with my volt meter hooked to the chassis battery. When
> the voltage was up to 13V I shut the engine down and installed the seats.
> She started up right away and I went out for a test drive. Everything
> seemed fine so I went home and parked her. Later that afternoon I went
out
> to start her and....nothing! I checked all my wiring to make sure I
didn't
> have an unintentional ground. Everything was good according to my meter.
> I figured the battery was severly discharged when I purchased it so I
> rented a charger and hooked it up for a slow charge. Three hours later
> things looked fine so I returned the charger figuring the chassis battery
> just needed a full charge. The next morning she started but with
> difficulty and I drove to work. After work she wouldn't start without
> connecting the auxillary battery with the manual override. Well, I drove
> right to the NAPA store, pulled the "new" chassis battery, and told them
> the battery was bad. Well, the skeptically put the battery on their test
> stand. First test - failed. Test again - failed. This time I asked them
> to test the replacement battery before I left the store. Something to
keep
> in mind five years from now when it's time to replace the battery again.
> Fortunatly the bad battery wasn't too much of an inconvenience because I
> was able to start the engine using the auxillary battery and manual
> override on the battery separator.
>
> I also hooked the fridge and water pump leads directly to the auxilary
> battery instead of going through the relay which disconnected the DC when
> the engine wasn't running. Now I can put the fridge on DC while we are
> traveling and if we stop during the day I don't have to change over to
> propane. I don't like to drive with the propane valve open in case of an
> accident and I don't even know if our fridge will stay lit while driving.
>
> We've used this setup for about three weeks of camping this summer. The
> system works very well. Before the heat exchanger would defrost during
the
> day because I wouldn't take the time to change over to propane if we were
> only stopping for an hour or less. Now that isn't a issue. The fridge is
> doing a much better job keeping things consistantly cool.
>
> Next phase is installing a low battery cutoff switch to protect the
> auxillary battery. I have bought a product from Mobiletronix called
> Voltminder. It is a solid state 15A/12VDC low voltage relay. This will
go
> between the auxillary battery and the camping equipment. The cutoff
switch
> will disconnect the battery from the camping equipment if the battery
> voltage drops below 10.5V. It will turn on again once the voltage reaches
> about 12.5V. While I don't expect to discharge our auxillary battery this
> far intentionally I figured it was good protection in case the frige gets
> left on DC for an extended period of time ie. after a long return trip
home
> and we are all very tired. I will let you know how this product works
> after we've been using it for a while.
>
> Parts list:
>
> Battery separator - Sure Power Industries, Inc. 1314 or 1315. Web site:
> http://www.surepower.com
>
> Auxillary battery - Optima Battery D900M. Web site:
> http://www.optimabatteries.com
>
> Low voltage cutoff - Mobiletronix PC15A1VM. Web site:
> http://www.mobiletronix.com - make sure you specify the a shutoff voltage
> of 10.5 and reconnect voltage of 12.66V. They have a newer model with a
> shutoff voltage of 11.5V. This is for applications where the battery has
> to retain enough power to start the engine.
> ***********************************
> * *
> * From the computer of: *
> * Tom Moritz *
> * *
> ***********************************
>
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