|
batteries
Looking for suggestions on isolating the motor cranking battery from the
house deep cycle batteries both being charged by one alternator & wind generator. Gabriel |
batteries
I use the Eliminator from Ample Power. There is a similar product
from Balmar as well but the name escapes me. Doug s/v Callista "Gabriel Latrémouille" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Looking for suggestions on isolating the motor cranking battery from the house deep cycle batteries both being charged by one alternator & wind generator. Gabriel |
batteries
I use a combiner - a relay triggered by connect and disconnect voltages. It
works, though I'm not ecstatic about it. If I were doing it again I might consider the Xantrex Echocharge, which will pass a small amount of current to the starting battery. "Gabriel Latrémouille" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Looking for suggestions on isolating the motor cranking battery from the house deep cycle batteries both being charged by one alternator & wind generator. Gabriel |
batteries
On Tue, 25 May 2004 11:53:26 -0400, "Doug Dotson"
wrote: I use the Eliminator from Ample Power. There is a similar product from Balmar as well but the name escapes me. Doug s/v Callista It's called the Duo Charge. I have one and it works great. __________________________________________________ __________ Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious. Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/ |
batteries
Actually, what I was thinking of was the Echo Charge from Xantrex.
But I got the company wrong :) The DuoCharge seems to be a similar device as well. Both copies of the Eliminator which has been around for years before both of the others. Doug s/v Callista "Glen "Wiley" Wilson" wrote in message ... On Tue, 25 May 2004 11:53:26 -0400, "Doug Dotson" wrote: I use the Eliminator from Ample Power. There is a similar product from Balmar as well but the name escapes me. Doug s/v Callista It's called the Duo Charge. I have one and it works great. __________________________________________________ __________ Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious. Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/ |
batteries
Gabriel:
I have used both West Marine's battery combiner and Xantrex's Echo Charger to link a starting battery and a house bank of batteries. Both serve the same function, but with slightly different concepts, and both work well. If you need an inverter, then get the Xantrex inverter with the built in Echo Charge circuit. Otherwise either will do the job. David |
batteries
On Tue, 25 May 2004 23:05:30 -0400, "Doug Dotson"
wrote: Actually, what I was thinking of was the Echo Charge from Xantrex. But I got the company wrong :) The DuoCharge seems to be a similar device as well. Both copies of the Eliminator which has been around for years before both of the others. Doug s/v Callista I believe the DuoCharge is pretty much a knockoff of Eliminator, functionally. I wanted an Eliminator for a long time, but choked at the cost. The DuoCharge came along at a better price point, so I jumped at it. The Xantrex is really a different beast, though the difference is subtle. It follows the input voltage profile, whereas the DuoCharge is effectively a single stage charger powered off the house bank instead of 110v. If your starter and house banks are the same type, the Xantrex will likely do a better job of keeping the starter bank charged if it gets discharged more than starter banks normally do. It does not work as well if batteries with significantly charging voltage requirements are used. The DuoCharge allows for batteries of different types, but the output curve is basically similar to an automotive regulator. __________________________________________________ __________ Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious. Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/ |
batteries
For higher reliablity, use a diode isolator. Please see Section 7.1.9
in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batterfaq.org for more information and other alternatives. Kindest regards, BiLL..... "Jeff Morris" wrote in message ... I use a combiner - a relay triggered by connect and disconnect voltages. It works, though I'm not ecstatic about it. If I were doing it again I might consider the Xantrex Echocharge, which will pass a small amount of current to the starting battery. "Gabriel Latrémouille" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Looking for suggestions on isolating the motor cranking battery from the house deep cycle batteries both being charged by one alternator & wind generator. Gabriel |
batteries
A diode isolator is probably the last choice for a number of
reasons. A combiner is next best, something like the Eliminator or EchoCharge is the best choice IMHO. Doug s/v Callista "Bill Darden" wrote in message om... For higher reliablity, use a diode isolator. Please see Section 7.1.9 in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batterfaq.org for more information and other alternatives. Kindest regards, BiLL..... "Jeff Morris" wrote in message ... I use a combiner - a relay triggered by connect and disconnect voltages. It works, though I'm not ecstatic about it. If I were doing it again I might consider the Xantrex Echocharge, which will pass a small amount of current to the starting battery. "Gabriel Latrémouille" wrote in message ble.rogers.com... Looking for suggestions on isolating the motor cranking battery from the house deep cycle batteries both being charged by one alternator & wind generator. Gabriel |
batteries
"Gabriel Latrémouille" wrote in
ble.rogers.com: Looking for suggestions on isolating the motor cranking battery from the house deep cycle batteries both being charged by one alternator & wind generator. Gabriel Before we go off to amazingly complex, amazingly expensive charging system Lalaland, I'd like to show you how I automated the process of flipping the ON-OFF switch located between starting battery + and house battery + on my battery system. (Pardon me for being so simple...(c;) http://commerce1.cera.net/tacbuspart...g.asp?cat_id=7 0 Sorry if the 0 wrapped. It belongs after the 7 at the end of the URL. At the top of this page is a 200A, CONTINUOUS DUTY (this is the important part) solenoid relay similar to the one I'm using. Your auto parts places will have similar parts from 50A to 200A or more you can get CHEAP!! I see this 200A beast you can leave on 24/7/365 is only $42. You can crank your diesel through it from the house batteries! Very handy. The simplest connection is to simply hook the coil of the solenoid to the engine's power switch so it closes every time you turn on the key. This will parallel every battery in the place to crank the engine, even the dead ones. Some won't like that, but it really works just fine this way. The hot battery (starting) cranks the engine just fine with dead house batteries at 50% charge, really! The contact terminals, the monster terminals at 200A, are simply connected to each battery's positive terminals so they'll be in parallel when the engine is on and, when you shut off the engine key, separate them when the engine is off so you don't discharge the starting battery through the house. The negative side of both batteries is, probably, already connected. IF YOU DON'T SEE A REAL HEAVY CABLE BETWEEN NEGATIVE BATTERY TERMINALS, ADD ONE OF YOUR OWN! I know someone who "thought" they were connected, but, in reality, it was some of the equipment grounds connecting them that caught fire when heavy current (starting?) happened. Make them a nice #2 jumper with the appropriate battery connectors (Autozone?). Now, every time you crank the stinker, all the batteries get charged off the one alternator. The batteries with the lowest voltage gets the most current whichever way it needs to go through the solenoid we added. For the windcharger, I'd simply parallel this 200A monster with a much smaller solenoid (look down the webpage at the bottom), perhaps the 85A one which will use about 1/2A of coil current while it's "on". This smaller solenoid would operate from a manual switch to the starting battery so I can turn it "on" with totally dead house batteries. Put a red light indicator somewhere everyone can see it, but not at the helm where it will blind you at night, so you don't forget to turn it off. I'm a kinda smartass, so I like to use a tiny miniature switch to control all this power (just the relay's coil current, 1/2A?) next to the indicator wherever you like. Over the DC power panel is a great place. Sorry it doesn't have a 32-bit microprocessor, gigabytes of ROM and RAM running some amazing microcode written by a genius that radiates half a kilowatt of RF noise to trash EVERY radio/stereo/TV like these damned fancy charger/inverters while you're charging. Listen close when it "clicks" on or off and you'll hear the only little pop in the radios it makes....Otherwise it is dead quiet while the engine or windcharger does their things. PS - I have this system also in my mobile electronics shop in an old Air Force stepvan. The starting batteries are the red AGMs the Air Force installed a couple of years ago before selling the truck. My house batteries are 330AH golf cart batteries from batteriesplus.com. Paralleling them with the engine running has no ill effects on either. They both charge just fine. The 80A alternator on the truck charges both through a 100A CONTINUOUS DUTY 12V solenoid I described. Look at ES-18-3 for $27 on this webpage I quoted. That's the relay. The same one also is a master primary power switch that switches the entire electronics suite on Lionheart on and off with a simple push-pull switch, except for the emergency VHF radio on another circuit. The big red light next to that switch keeps my captain from leaving all our electronics (including the autopilot by the way) on for weeks when he's off his boat....(c; I don't like dead batteries, either... Larry |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:30 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 BoatBanter.com