Date: Wed, 6 May 2009 22:36:46 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Surepower 1315, auxiliary fuse block,
Progressive Dynamics charger,
and Vitrifrigo installation questions
In-Reply-To: <ffd6b090905061731j686da061we07c68b263290a12@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I have used these devices. The 1315 is a bi directional charge control
relay. If either battery bank goes to 13.2 volt it will engage connecting
the two banks together. This does allow a charger connected to the house
battery to also charge the chassis battery.
The Progressive Dynamics de-sulphation or equalize charge will not cause
harm and in fact is also helpful for the starting battery. Do you also have
the "Charge control wizard" This is a really helpful add on for these
chargers. I had the 80 amp charger in my last motor home. From experience,
the equalize charge would peak at 14.5 volts. This was charging two golf
cart batteries and a group 27 starting battery. National RV had their own
design combiner that worked similar to the 1315 except the drop out voltage
all the way down at 11.5 volts.
The 1315 does cut in at 13.2 and seems to drop out at 12.8 volts. During
periods of high demand and low alternator output such as idling with the AC
on or the radiator fan on high speed will cause the 1315 to drop out. This
is lousy as during these times it would be helpful to have the house battery
carry some of this load.
To get the best results the alternator wiring should also be upgraded. I
like to run a separate #8 line from the alternator to whatever relay used
for charging the house battery. Of course this can't be used for starting
assist.
GM batteries have unique charging requirements. While they do need a shot to
14.6 volts for a full charge, this peak has to be for a controlled time
period. AGM do not like frequent de-sulphation or equalizing charges.
I hope this helps,
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Harold Teer
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 8:31 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Surepower 1315, auxiliary fuse block, Progressive Dynamics
charger, and Vitrifrigo installation questions
Loren,
Thanks for the response to my message about the surepower, fridge, charger,
etc. Your thoughts are helpful and I am learning more by the day.
After reading a recent post about the 1314 I was worried I may have the
wrong separator so today I spoke to someone at Smith Auto Electric (bought
the 1315 from them at www.smithae.com ) about the 1314 and 1315 and
explained my situation. He said the 1315 was the correct separator for the
van and our application. Said the 1315 will not allow the starter battery
to be charged from the auxiliary battery unless the starter battery is low.
Thus, the Iota or PD with the smart charger will work its magic on the
auxiliary battery.
Before receiving your response, I called Iota and asked a tech person what
size wire to use between the 30amp charger and the auxiliary battery. He
might have been being cautious, but he recommended #8 unless I had a long
run, which I will not have.
Thanks,
Harold
___
Harold Teer
1991 Westy (Vangaux)
Harrisonburg, VA
On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 8:36 PM, Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry for the slow response on this, I was out camping over the weekend.
> I have a setup nearly identical to what you describe. Difference: Norcold
> vs. Vitrofrigio and larger aux battery under the rear seat.
>
> On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 9:12 AM, Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> At present, I plan to use the regular group 41 battery under the
passenger
>> and driver seats since both batteries are relatively new.
>
>
> You may find the Group 41 a little smaller than you want then you start
> using the setup, I went to a 110 AH Group 31 AGM under the rear seat and
> wired with #2 up to the old aux battery compartment to make connections
easy
> to the existing wiring.
>
> While I think I have a pretty good understanding of the equipment, I am
>> uncertain as to the
>> correct wire size and some of the connections and want to do this
>> correctly.
>>
>> 1) I have the Surepower 1315 and plan to use it to replace the silver
>> fridge
>> relay and do not plan to use the "starter assist mode" built into the
>> Surepower 1315. In that case, it appears that there is no advantage to
>> replacing the existing wire from the starting battery with a larger wire.
>> Is that correct?
>
>
> That's exactly what I did, used the existing wire coming from the starting
> battery connected directly to the 1315 and the 1315 NOT set up for
starting
> (though I've had one occasion since that I wish I had).
>
>>
>
>
>
>> Am I also correct that I should just "tape up" the westy
>> blue wire from the alternator and the ignition switched on wire?
>
>
> I can't remember what I did with the infamous 'blue wire', I assume I did
> just that, taped it up and stuffed it into a corner.
>
>>
>>
>> 2) I plan to run wires from the auxiliary battery to a Blue Sea ST blade
>> fuse block (http://bluesea.com/productspecs/5025) to do away with the
>> current jumble of wires and inline fuses running from the positive
>> terminal
>> of the auxiliary battery. This fuse block will be mounted either on the
>> wall behind the drivers seat or in the cabinet by the new fridge. My
>> intention is to run wires from the fuse block to the existing Propex
>> heater,
>> to fuse position #3, the new Vitrifrigo fridge, etc.. What size wire
>> should
>> I use from the battery to the positive and negative terminals of the fuse
>> block?
>
>
> I have that exact setup on the cabinet wall behind the drivers seat
> (actually will be replacing another type fuse block with the Blue Sea). I
> have about a #4 feeding it through a 40 amp breaker.
>
>>
>>
>> 3) According to where I end up putting the fuse block, the length of DC
>> wires that come with the Vitrifrigo may not be long enough to reach the
>> fuse
>> block. Can I just tie in enough of the same size wire to reach the fuse
>> block?
>
>
> Yes, no problem. Or as someone else suggested you can tie into the 12v
> wiring that fed the Dometic 'fridge.
>
>>
>>
>> 4) The Progressive Dynamics PD9130 converter/charger (
>>
>>
http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9130_2.htm
l
>> )
>> is highly recommended by several people on the list. Only because the
>> height
>> dimenstion is 1" less, I have looked at the Iota DLS-30 (
>> http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls30.htm) as a substitute. I do not
>> understand all of the specifications and need advice as to whether the
>> Iota
>> is a decent substitute.
>
>
> I don't know about the Iota but just had a good/bad experience with my PD
> 9130. The bad: I fried it at a campground that had a wiring problem.
The
> good: Progressive Dynamics had a replacement to me in about four days,
$100
> exchange plus shipping. And since they didn't have a 9130 on the shelf at
> the time they sent a 9140 at the same price. And for the two years I've
had
> this setup I've loved the way it works for me. The charger is hardwired
to
> the aux battery and left plugged into the 110v outlet in the van. If I
have
> shore power I just plug in and both batteries are kept topped off.
> BTW, I also have my solar charge controller hardwired to the aux battery
> and I just deploy and plug in the solar panels when appropriate. Ao yeah,
I
> have the PD Charge Wizard for the 9130 (now 9140)
>
>>
>>
>> 5) I have found a good buy on the Progressive Dynamics PD9245C
>> converter/charger (
>>
>>
http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9245c_2.ht
ml
>> )
>> which would make it cheaper than the PD9130 unit. Would there be a
>> problem
>> with using this unit?
>
>
> I don't know why not and the 9200 series has the 'smart charge' circuitry
> built in, you don't need the external Charger Wizard.
>
>>
>>
>> 6) What size wire would you run from the converter/charger to the
>> auxillary
>> battery?
>
>
> I'm running #10
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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