Looking for suggestions on isolating the motor cranking battery from the
house deep cycle batteries both being charged by one alternator & wind
generator.


Gabriel

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

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

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/

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/

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

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/

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

On 31 May 2004 04:11:06 -0700, (Bill Darden)
wrote:
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.

=========================================

I would not recommend a diode isolator to anyone unless they have the
expertise and ability to connect an external sense wire to the
alternator. Without external sensing your batteries will never come
close to being fully charged because of the voltage drop (~0.6 volts)
in the diodes. Lack of voltage drop is the big advantage of
combiners.

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