Class C charging
Just need to understand this a little more. 1) Plugged in to shore power, coach and house battery charging? 2) Engine running, coach and house battery charging? If this is the case, what is thi...
Forum Discussion
cgmartine wrote:
Can someone enlighten me? Does the BIRD do the same job as the Trik-L Start?
Effectively, yes, though they are quite different gizmos. The BIRD is basically a fancy battery isolator/combiner based around a relay (or solenoid, if you prefer that term) with control electronics that will engage it whenever either side is at a charging voltage or when the emergency start switch is pressed. This means that it lets the alternator charge the house battery, and it lets the converter charge the engine battery.
The Trik-L-Start is more a DC powered low-amperage battery charger. When the house battery side is at a charge voltage, it lets up to five or so amps flow to the chassis battery side. Unlike a BIRD, it's current limited, but it only works in one direction on its own. Generally it's installed when there's some rather less fancy form of battery isolator in the RV (one that only serves to charge the house battery from the alternator).
With either case, the system will quite effectively keep the chassis battery charged when plugged into shore power.
