intellitec Isolator relay delay-removing it to install solar

DO NOT remove the intellitic relay
You will use it when driving, AND the solar doesn't shine all the time
You are not going to over charge the batteries
Most batteries died from being UNDER.CHARGED

Hi,

You are over thinking this.

The solar system should be wired directly to the "house" battery bank. It will have a charge controller on it. I would consider adding a trik-l-start or amp-l-start unit so the solar will maintain the "starter" batteries too.

Here is a simple flow chart.

Budget-->Energy Audit-->Battery bank size-->number of watts-->PWM or MPPT. What ever type of controller is chosen, make sure it has adjustable set points and a temperature probe that is on the battery.

One rule of thumb is between 60 and 150 watts of panels per 100 amp-hours of storage. The smaller the battery bank the higher the wattage needed (per 100 amp-hours). Here is a link to the rather special spreadsheet which includes an energy audit, that N8GS has created to help size solar battery charging systems!

Solar Spread Sheet N8GS

For a nice explanation of solar, try this link:

Golden rules of solar

If you plan on full time off the grid, then maximize the solar farm size and lean towards higher voltage panels with an MPPT controller.

journeythroughus wrote:
So could I in turn just remove the house batteries from it? I don't want to have the solar and alternator charging as it might over charge?

You are worrying about something that can't happen. Both the solar controller and your vehicle's alternator have regulators so overcharging isn't an issue. That is a good directional relay you have and disabling it will only limit the function of your 12v system.

So could I in turn just remove the house batteries from it? I don't want to have the solar and alternator charging as it might over charge?

The relay delay is for charging from the coach engine, if it is a bi-directional it will charge both starting and coach whenever either is being charged. I cannot see any advantage to disabling it.