Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2017 17:45:55 -0400
Reply-To: Karl Mullendore <tdiguru@WESTYVENTURES.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Karl Mullendore <tdiguru@WESTYVENTURES.COM>
Subject: Re: What's wrong with GoWesty's auxiliary battery kit?
On Wed, 5 Jul 2017 16:22:34 +0000, Stephen Engel <sengel543@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>In the recent auxiliary battery thread, the GoWesty auxiliary battery kit
received some criticism - again. So, what's so bad about it? Because its
designed for the Interstate SLA1161 battery with only 44Ah of capacity?
>I purchased the kit for my 87 tintop a couple of years ago, but never
installed it. The few camping trips I took were for weekends at well
appointed commercial campgrounds and I found I didn't really need the
electrons. That's all part of getting away for me.
>Someday, I reckon I'll venture out into the "wilds", but still I can't see
myself using a lot of amps, just cell-phone charger, lights, radio. I doubt
I'll be investing in an ARB, a Truckfridge, or even an Engel. They cost more
than my home fridge. Yeti has really started marketing heavily, they're sold
almost everywhere, and have been on sale a couple of times this year already.
>Thank you all for your shared wisdom.
>Steve Engel87 Syncro tintop
Several problems: A cheap solenoid with high failure rate. 'Old' technology
that needs an alternator signal to combine, whereas every other modern
combiner senses voltage to combine. Noisy. The 'kit' itself as designed uses
charge current that arrives to the solenoid through a circuitous path from
starter battery through harness and fuse/relay panel then under the carpet
to the area behind the driver's seat. Through this path resistance claims .7
to 1.0 volts. The alternator in stock form will provide around 13.5-13.9 V
at the main battery, so by the time charge arrives to the aux battery, you
can see the AGM battery (requiring 14.2-14.4 V) will never become 100%
charged, leading to reduced capacity and early failure (there are tons of
threads supporting this on Samba). It is possible to run a 6-ga cable (with
appropriate fuse!) from the main battery, under the floor and into the aux
battery box to remedy the power loss, but the antiquated solenoid is still
there. An adjustable regulator can be installed in the original alternator
to help somewhat but even then...
A Blue Seas or Victron or Surepower and a couple cables and a fuse, FAR
better and not much more $. The adjustable regulator still a given if you
want the aux battery to receive enough charge voltage.
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