Charge Line
A recent message said that while I am on the road my truck is actually not doing very much charging of the batteries in my 5'er. The trailer carries two group 27 deep cycle batteries. The poster sai...
Forum Discussion
Here is the way I am planning on attacking this problem... This is using a SMART RELAY made by a couple of companies in particular by BLUE SEA. The one I am interested in is the Blue Sea model SI-Series PN 7610/7650
Here is my planned diagram for using this ACR relay with my 2010 F150 Truck Alternator system
please read up on the ACR relay operation from the BLUE SEA site...
BLUE SEA ACR RELAY 7610
The only downside I see may be whether or not the 2010 F150 Alternator charging system is rated enough to handle the additional batteries in the system. It may go up in blue smoke for all I know... This is something you will need to think about before adding additional batteries to any alternator charging system.
My system is required to provide me with a separate battery bank located in the back of my truck bed that will support my heavy use of two way radio equipment when in my truck only on COMM ALERTS as well as providing extra batteries for use with my OFF-ROAD POPUP camper when in camping mode. I will have Trojan T1275P 300AH Capacity batteries in both locations that can be paralleled when in camping mode to give me 600AH total capacity.
Using the BLUE ACR relay will not ever let my truck start battery to get discharged which is rule number one to don't mess with your truck otherwise you won't have a horse to get back home on. The BLUE SEA ACR smart relay concept is it parallels (combines) batteries during charging, and isolates them when charging has stopped and after battery voltage has fallen. An ACR is intended to keep a load from discharging both of the batteries. The ACR senses when the voltage of either of the batteries rises to a level indicating that a charge source is active (13.0V for 2 minutes). The ACR's contacts then connect and the ACR applies the charge to both batteries. If the voltage on both of the batteries subsequently drops to 12.75V for 30 seconds, the ACR will disconnect, isolating the batteries.
In my case I will be using both battery banks connected together for the most part which will be isolated from the truck electronics completely using BLUE SEA four position battery switches and both banks will be normally re-charged from the RV Trailer side using a 2KW Honda generator and the trailer on-board PD9260C converter/charger unit.
The time I will be using the 300AH batteries for operating just my two way radios from the truck alone I hopefully can have them re-charged from the truck charging system. I will have my 2KW Honda Generator which is always securely mounted in the bed of my truck which could operate a 120VAc B&D VEC1093DBD 40 AMP smart mode battery charger to re-charge my 300AH battery setup when needed and not depend on the truck alternator at all.
This is my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer layout showing where all of battery systems components are located.
Just passing all of this along as it could fit your requirement somewhat if and I emphasize "IF" the truck alternator charging system is rated high enough to charge a bank of 300AH batteries without burning out the truck alternator system...
Food for thought
Roy Ken
Here is my planned diagram for using this ACR relay with my 2010 F150 Truck Alternator system
please read up on the ACR relay operation from the BLUE SEA site...
BLUE SEA ACR RELAY 7610
The only downside I see may be whether or not the 2010 F150 Alternator charging system is rated enough to handle the additional batteries in the system. It may go up in blue smoke for all I know... This is something you will need to think about before adding additional batteries to any alternator charging system.
My system is required to provide me with a separate battery bank located in the back of my truck bed that will support my heavy use of two way radio equipment when in my truck only on COMM ALERTS as well as providing extra batteries for use with my OFF-ROAD POPUP camper when in camping mode. I will have Trojan T1275P 300AH Capacity batteries in both locations that can be paralleled when in camping mode to give me 600AH total capacity.
Using the BLUE ACR relay will not ever let my truck start battery to get discharged which is rule number one to don't mess with your truck otherwise you won't have a horse to get back home on. The BLUE SEA ACR smart relay concept is it parallels (combines) batteries during charging, and isolates them when charging has stopped and after battery voltage has fallen. An ACR is intended to keep a load from discharging both of the batteries. The ACR senses when the voltage of either of the batteries rises to a level indicating that a charge source is active (13.0V for 2 minutes). The ACR's contacts then connect and the ACR applies the charge to both batteries. If the voltage on both of the batteries subsequently drops to 12.75V for 30 seconds, the ACR will disconnect, isolating the batteries.
In my case I will be using both battery banks connected together for the most part which will be isolated from the truck electronics completely using BLUE SEA four position battery switches and both banks will be normally re-charged from the RV Trailer side using a 2KW Honda generator and the trailer on-board PD9260C converter/charger unit.
The time I will be using the 300AH batteries for operating just my two way radios from the truck alone I hopefully can have them re-charged from the truck charging system. I will have my 2KW Honda Generator which is always securely mounted in the bed of my truck which could operate a 120VAc B&D VEC1093DBD 40 AMP smart mode battery charger to re-charge my 300AH battery setup when needed and not depend on the truck alternator at all.
This is my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer layout showing where all of battery systems components are located.
Just passing all of this along as it could fit your requirement somewhat if and I emphasize "IF" the truck alternator charging system is rated high enough to charge a bank of 300AH batteries without burning out the truck alternator system...
Food for thought
Roy Ken
