Alternators

[Tress]

It does better as the standard regulator from about 80 % state-of-charge to 100 %. The reason for this is that the voltage rises above 14.0 V through multi-stage-charging and when the voltage sensor is installed it compensates for the voltage drop in the wiring.. It also keeps the voltage right according to the battery temperature. This not only prevents overcharging when it is really hot, it also raises the volatage when it is cold and ensures that the battery is getting full.

It will only increase charge time between 80% and 100%? That seems like an expensive device just for a quicker final 20% charge...

I would recommend to go with the A2B if you need every power of the alternator because you don't drive many hours between deep discharges of the battery and you have a lot of spare power from the alternator.

Hmmm, jeez i just don't know, i guess it boils down to how much faster do i want to be able to charge up right? I really don't plan on ever just firing up the engine so we can charge the batts and the journey we are prepping for will be mostly 2-7 day visits and most of that time we will be using the vehicle for at least a few hours ever few days. So unless the smaller one is going to dramatically increase my charge time im not sure its worth the extra dough!

But, you should remember that of the 100 amps of your alternator depending on all the devices you are using during driving (lights, radio, A/C, fans, ...) already 50 amps may be already used up. So the B2B may be ok.

We dont really plan to use that much power while we drive, the biggest draws will go to the computer/small inverter;for navigation, the fridge and the stereo; i tend to listem to music loud!, after that im really not sure what the vehicle uses for its lights, guages ect but i dont see us requiring more than 30amps while driving, so if we can get away with using the B2B than that would be ideal, but only if the benefits truly constitute the investment ya know.



Please look at the instruction manual of the B2B:
http://www.sterling-power.com/images/downloads/B2B_instructions_2007.pdf

Normally you won't need a selenoid anymore because both battery banks are separated by the B2B. The only reason to put an selenoid in would be to prevent discharge of the car battery by the B2B in standby mode. Here you put the selenoid between car battery and B2B.

And this kinda scers me, agin being not very experienced with my van or vehicle electronics in general im worried if we circumvent the selenoid ill be done for when it comes to figuring out what to do with everything else that runs to the selenoid cus im sure the charger doesnt have specific places for those wires. I looked at the install diagram (briefly) and it does not appear to say specifically what to do. Either way thanks agin for helping me through this decision, its a toughy. Brutal the one that i can possibly afford might not do that much, and the one that i relaly want is just a little beyond what we are pepared to spend. After all between the nice batts and wiring and everything else the electrical expense is getting a little hi. And beyond anything this technology will only charge me up faster not keep me going for longer, although it will top me off faster which will result in longer stays, brutal decision, either way your the man for helping me stumble through this, cheerios:victory:

 

[Tress]

Ok so im definitely going to go with some type of multistage charger, my fear of overcharging my nice new 6Volts combined with the extra charging abilities pushed me over the edge! Still not entirely sure about all of the technical aspects but as long as it isolates and does multistage charging im happy! But it is time to make a decision and run with it. So here is what i have come up with, I know some of you use the Xantrex 20 amp model so hopefully you have some input here but as for the digital charger im not sure there are many so take a look at each and tell me which one you would go with. I will also be getting a monitor so the im assuming the Xantrex would work well with its own monitor.

Option 1=

Option 2


Either way thanks again everyone for the help and info, this post is part of my daily reference And while i have done a good deal of searching on my own this has helped so much, so thanks aone, and enjoy the ride

:camping:

 

[Pokey]

I think the Xantrax truecharges are all 110v models. I dont think they offer a 12v model that would run directly off your alt. or batt like the dig.mob.charge.

That means you would need an inverter the size of texas to run it. Well maybe not texas---but you would easily spend a good $1000plus for an inverter that can pump out 40amps.

As i saw it when researching this--- the only option is to charge your batteries directly off the vehicles alternator.......or go with a stepped charger like the Dig.mob.charge40 or 130 that runs off the alt. or batt. direct.

The cheapest option is simply to run a battery isolator--and a manual switch(perko style). This would require some type of battery status monitor---and YOU doing the switching on and off so as not to overcharge your batts. (and kill them). Nice isolators are about 120 bucks or so---and then you need a switch to handle the amps. 20more. And then some type of battery monitor-dc voltage meter....maybe 40 more. SO----$200 into it roughly--and its fully driver error prone.

Id say throw down the extra dough and spring for the fully automotated-braindead driver proof model.

When i spoke with the local Marine Lifeline battery supplier in my area about this---he claimed to have very few problems going the simple isolator/switch route-and letting the alternator do the bulk charging. He said depending on how much charging is done---you may want to desulphate the plates with a cheapo home walwart stepped charger once in a while. According to him tho---the quality of the alternator made the most difference. He said Toyota alts were no problem......but he wouldnt recommend going this route with FORD GM JEEP alternators due to the poor quality of them compared to the Toyota stuff.

If your alternator puts out more than 100 amps....you should really consider the 130amp DIG>MOB>CHG. In my setup==dual 6volt Lifeline 220 ah deep cycle batts... the dig mob.charge 130 will charge 4x as fast...........which on a 50% discharged bank--amounts to about an hour of running the engine to top them off. The 40amp version will take 3 hours to top off. Big difference if you dont have alot of spare gas for hours of idling. Not a problem if you plan to drive to your next campsite and kill off a few hours of that run time wheeling to your next camp spot.

i hope that helps.

 

[Tress]

Ahh man that helps soo much, while all the rest of the info has been critical to understanding the issue, your input and reasoning are just what i needed to make the final call. We are going to go with the 40amp dig charger, i dint realize the Xantrex was for 110, i have been very tempted to go with the isolator but i couldn't agree with you more about the user error factor, while ya i could say ill just keep track.... we spent a good deal of money on batts; got two Lifeline 300AH 6Volts and it would be painful to kill them. We do have a 100amp alternator but dont have too much that will draw while driving so i think this will be a good fit. And on the other hand the dig 130 is a lil expensive and prolly a lil difficult to connect (for me), so i think the 40 amp, while maybe a bit slower fits our budget and will be very simple to connect! In any event thank you so much for the input man and ill post some pics of the install once its done. Take it easy brother!
:bowdown:

 

[Tress]

Hello Everyone,
How goes it? Just about done with the van conversion here, got around 2 weeks before we hit the road and things are looking pretty good, certainly not as i had hoped but things never go exactly as planned LOL!

Anyways without getting into all the details of my electrical system; lets just say my Link 10 batt monitor is getting some pretty strange readings. Everything seems fine accept the amp reading, or in other words what im using for power. When everything is off, or even when anything is on the amps on the batt monitor are jumping up and down by .5 amps all the time. Basically the reading whatever it is constantly jumps back and fourth a half amp. My first reaction was that there was a bad connection somewhere so i pulled every fuse on the circuit individually to see if something was drawing, but nothing changed. I unplugged the solar charge controller to see if maybe it was causing it, nothing. I turned off the fridge and still nothing. My last resort is to disconnect everything from the batts; including the batts and then re-connect only the batts and batt monitor to see if it stays steady, and then re-connect everything one by one to see what is causing the fluctuating, just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions before i go down that road. Sorry bout the novel, hope all is well otherwise....

:REOutShootinghunter

 

[BigJim]

Your a funny guy there AJP

You of all people telling someone to leave stuff home!
----My only comment to what has already been written is if the PC is so important get a DC-DC power supply for it. There is no need to make AC to make DC to charge a DC battery.
---- Ebay has these available as does Frys.
BigJim

I think you are making this much harder than you need to. Included in your calculations is a lot of power consumption you simply do not need. For instance, fans, vent, computer lots of lights etc. If you boil it down to the fridge and some lights, a standard two battery set up will likely cover it.

Trying to have enough battery power on board for every possible contingency will leave you with a truck full of batteries and not much else. If you consider that a 100amphour battery weighs roughly 75 pounds, you can see that carrying a lot of power gets heavy fast. Plus, you will want to keep some power in reserve to restart your truck.

Some random thoughts...

Your fridge does not run continuously. Keep it inthe shade and closed and it won't run much at all.

Charge your laptop while driving. Use it as you want, but when the battery gets low, put it away until you're driving again and have plenty of power available.

Use a propane or white gas lantern needed, or have a fire, or when it gets real dark, go to bed. I find that on long trips I tend to get up at first light and rarely stay up late. Dinner prep usually can be done in the light, with the cooking and eating as it gets dark.

Fancy battery monitoring is just one more gadget you don't need. An interesting toy for sure, but you don't need it. A toy that is useful and cheap is a DVM which should be part of your tool kit. You can tell the state of charge fairly accurately by the voltage reading, not by the gauge on the dash.

The microwave is a really bad idea, plus you need a really big inverter to run it. A camp stove works great and is part of the charm of camping out. Coffee maker--same thoughts. Get a kettle to heat water and a Mileta cone and you have low tech excellent coffee.


Your stock alternater will almost certainly supply enough current. If it isn't, you should stay home where you have wall power and your microwave.

I just got back from a week in Death Valley running 2 ARB fridges, Ham radio, stereo plus all the usual stuff like computer and camera charging, dome lights etc.. Only one morning did I get a no start condition. I self jumped with the dual battery system--no big deal.

If you want to sit for a week without running the motor, you are going to need one heck of a battery bank. It basically will not work in any practical sense, unless you don't run any electrical drains ata all.

AGM type patteries can accept charge at a pretty high rate. You'll be surprised at how fast your alternater will top your batteries up to snuf.

So, in my opinion, I would test your set up before you spend any extra money. Get a good dual battery system and try it. If you are constantly out of power, either get more capacity, or leave home some more stuff.