To put my two cents worth into the "auxiliary battery" discussion. Several years ago I got tired of waking up in the morning to find my camper battery dead and not being able to start the engine. I built an "Isolator" by mounting two 50 Amp Stud Mount Diodes on a heat sink (Yeah! full wave is overkill). Also on this same heat sink I mounted a "Ford" starter relay (the kind that mounts on the firewall) in parallel with the isolator. I wired this with wire that I had from an old set of "Jumper Cables" that the clamps were bad but the wire was good heavy copper strand. The relay I wired to a button under the dashboard. wah-la, instant jumper battery at the touch of a button. This worked great for me, the only thing was that the auxiliary battery would only charge to the level of the primary battery. Therefore if the primary battery is bad don't expect to get a good charge into the auxiliary. Anyhow, It sure beat begging the neighbors for a "Jump Start". Neal |
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