rottidawg wrote:
I know that when using the Battery Tender Plus on the truck battery that it also sends a charge to the camper batteries, although not very effectively. Because of the battery separator, the Iota can not charge the truck battery, correct?
Personally, I don't know if this IS correct. I am pretty, old-rig centric and not up on your fancy-pantsed, new-fangled stuff. What your describing would basically require some kind of diode(s) to allow energy to pass only one way.
On my rig, the 2 banks are either tied together or they're not. It's a pretty good system. When the rig is running a switch can tie them in order to charge the house bank with the alternator. With the chassis engine off, the power to the solenoid is cut and the two are no longer tied, so you can't run down the chassis battery with house usage. However, you can override this with a spring-loaded switch in the cockpit. The idea here is to put the two banks together in order to start either the chassis engine or the generator if one bank or the other is weak.
But I digress...
Regardless... it doesn't matter. If your tender can send power from the chassis battery to the house bank, it can work in conjunction with the IOTA. The IOTA will virtually always be doing all the work, though.
I run a positive jumper between my two banks so the converter can keep the chassis battery floated. Works very well.
BFL sometimes runs like 17 or 18 (I think it is) chargers on one bank at a time, so we know it can be done. :)
Bottom line?
You're on the right track. Your batteries are happiest when they're fully charged and with a float charger on them. A destratification stir now and then is a bonus.
