Battery Isolator
Need some edumacation and ideas on setting up my new truck and truck camper. On the old truck, I just tied the coach and truck battery together with a 30A resettable breaker and 2 gauge wire. Had a ...
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I installed a 100 amp maximum rated forklift solenoid, rated at 100,000 on-off cycles before failure. It has silver allow contacts too!
Grainger #6C017
I run it with the same power that turns on and off the radio, as it was handy to reach that wire under the dash of my motorhome, and use that to turn on the relay.
On my motorhome, I ran #4 wire (rated at max 100 amps or so) directly from the alternator (where you will have close to 14.8 volts when the truck first starts) to the relay, to the coach battery bank. IN my case I have 4 golf cart batteries, rated at 440 amp hours at 12 volts. I was able to move as much as 40 amps per hour, so I would suggest fusing it at 50 amps or 60, due to the #4 or #2 wire being rated at well over 100 amps.
You can use a pair of 30 amp automatic reset circuit breakers. Or find a 60 amp at a Napa dealership? In my RV, they use pairs of the 30 amp to get a 60 amp circuit. The 30 amp is much less expensive than a 60 amp.
You might want to use something like a 'anderson connection' or use a 3 phase twistlock 30 amp connector (they will have 4 poles including the ground and you can connect the negative lead to the ground and the wire opposent the ground, then use +12 on the other two leads, so you can get 60 amps through the 30 amp connector without overloading it)
Good luck,
Fred.
Grainger #6C017
I run it with the same power that turns on and off the radio, as it was handy to reach that wire under the dash of my motorhome, and use that to turn on the relay.
On my motorhome, I ran #4 wire (rated at max 100 amps or so) directly from the alternator (where you will have close to 14.8 volts when the truck first starts) to the relay, to the coach battery bank. IN my case I have 4 golf cart batteries, rated at 440 amp hours at 12 volts. I was able to move as much as 40 amps per hour, so I would suggest fusing it at 50 amps or 60, due to the #4 or #2 wire being rated at well over 100 amps.
You can use a pair of 30 amp automatic reset circuit breakers. Or find a 60 amp at a Napa dealership? In my RV, they use pairs of the 30 amp to get a 60 amp circuit. The 30 amp is much less expensive than a 60 amp.
You might want to use something like a 'anderson connection' or use a 3 phase twistlock 30 amp connector (they will have 4 poles including the ground and you can connect the negative lead to the ground and the wire opposent the ground, then use +12 on the other two leads, so you can get 60 amps through the 30 amp connector without overloading it)
Good luck,
Fred.
