IBS or National Luna

[texascrane]

Hi,
I'm thinking about adding an aux battery to my 100-series. I've looked at both the National Luna and the IBS offerings. They both seem to do about the same thing as far as I can tell. Are there any reasons to choose one over the other? Thanks.

 

[fireball]

I've had really good luck with my T-Max controller which is a small fraction of the price of those two options you mention. You can also build your own system using Blue sea components that will work just as well and be less costly than the NL and IBS.

Also, make sure you really really need a DBS....I bought into the hype and thought I needed it but honestly it is a huge expense and takes a ton of time, adds another 100# to the front of the truck and for the style of camping we do it is really unnecessary. If you are doing lots of remote solo trips, or staying parked for days at a time it makes more sense.

 

[unseenone]

NL in my opinion does not hold up, plenty of issues people have had in this section of the forum. I use Traxide. There are plenty of alternatives out there.

 

[DiploStrat]

I have no experience with either National Luna (other than to read some reports) or IBS, but I would strongly recommend the Blue Sea ACR. They are available in several models up to 500A: https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/35/Automatic_Charging_Relays

I like the 500A model with remote switch/tell tale. I don't think that the manual override is worth the extra money.

 

[Yuman Desert Rat]

I like the the controller of the IBS system better. It's not as finicky as the NL controller and offers more mounting options. Both have done a great job for me over the years. Be sure that it is what YOU need,of course. There are a myriad of oprions out there.

 

[texascrane]

Thanks for the pointer to the Blue Sea product. That ML-ACR looks really slick. The fact that it's sealed is a big plus for me. I also like the fact that it's dual-sensing. I know the IBS can do that but from what I can tell, the NL can't. I think that's a useful feature if I ever decide to go solar.

If I was installing it myself, I might prefer a packaged "solution" like the IBS or National Luna. But realistically I'm probably going to pay somebody to do this in order to make sure it's done right. My install is going to require some fabrication that's beyond what I've go the tools to do and electrical stuff (beyond something like hooking up a winch or tapping a circuit) makes me really nervous.

 

[unseenone]

Where in TX are you texascrane?

 

[texascrane]

I live just outside of Dallas, but I'm also frequently down in the San Antonio area.

 

[KevinsMap]

It is really easy. Hook all the negatives to the chassis as a common ground.

This is a bit vague in a potentially problematic way. Not wrong - It is all properly clear in your links... but I'm just going to add this simple summary:

Yes, all negatives to earth common, which in a vehicle is the (properly earth connected) body/chassis. But only at a single point on that chassis, or if at distributed points, those points must be connected by sufficiently robust earth cables. Meaning such robust connection cables for all paths between any ground points used, anywhere on the body/chassis, and including body to frame to engine etc. Modern vehicles are intentionally not designed to use distributed earth ground paths relying solely on the metal structure.

In other words, never use the vehicle body/chassis as an electrical earth path. This has the potential to float earth potential at different levels in different locations, causing no end of headaches - especially for electronic systems.

Your links are very helpful, skygear Thanks!

 

[dstock]

+1 on the BlueSea ACR

I had the NL and had issues (and others have as well), switched to the BlueSea ACR (500amp) earlier this year and it has worked flawlessly ever since.

 

[1Louder]

I have had problems with my National Luna. I would give the Bluesea a try. If I decide to keep a dual battery setup I am eventually going to switch.