recharging while driving
I'm winding my way south and boondocking. Last power was in Regina, SK I used a heating pad and lots of computer time last night, powering them from a 400 watt MSW inverter. Batteries were at...
Forum Discussion
Here is what I have "in place"
1 field effect ammeter for the alternator circuit
1 field effect ammeter for the house loads (except the inverter)
1 volt meter on the dash (plug in type)
2 manually controlled solenoids (one for each battery bank)
2 switches for solar (ofebb)
2 Napa battery disconnect switches 1000 amps contacting 100 amps continuous (ofebb)
1 Trik-L-Start from OEM battery bank to starter battery.
Blue sky Solar 3024 MPPT controller temperature compensated harvesting from 256 watts of Unisolar panels (now 11 years old)
556 amp-hours of AGM Telecom batteries (nominally 13 volts)
125 amp-hour Marine starter battery from Walmart (7 years old)
1 ignition key that interrupts the solenoids
1 PD 40 amp with wizard (default is disconnect on 120 volt side)
1 Magnum 3012 Hybrid inverter charger (temperature compensation)
If the solar is producing and I start the engine the voltage measured by the Blue Sky drops, and the amps from the output of the Blue Sky also drop.
Once the house batteries exceed the voltage of the starter battery some but not all amps go from the house to the engine.
If I turn the alternator charging solenoids off the alternator ammeter shows 0.00. When I do this, in cold weather, the volts go up on the house side (as the bank charges). The volts on the engine side also appear to rise. If there is a differential of 0.7 volts then even though the solenoids have disconnected the ammeter starts showing a low number of amps going to the engine.
I am not sure where the trickle-l-start is wired to on the house--but it believe it to be on the house side of the after market add on solenoid. That would explain the small number of amps (it is limited to 5 by the TLS) and why it shows up one house voltage is 0.7 above the engine.
1 field effect ammeter for the alternator circuit
1 field effect ammeter for the house loads (except the inverter)
1 volt meter on the dash (plug in type)
2 manually controlled solenoids (one for each battery bank)
2 switches for solar (ofebb)
2 Napa battery disconnect switches 1000 amps contacting 100 amps continuous (ofebb)
1 Trik-L-Start from OEM battery bank to starter battery.
Blue sky Solar 3024 MPPT controller temperature compensated harvesting from 256 watts of Unisolar panels (now 11 years old)
556 amp-hours of AGM Telecom batteries (nominally 13 volts)
125 amp-hour Marine starter battery from Walmart (7 years old)
1 ignition key that interrupts the solenoids
1 PD 40 amp with wizard (default is disconnect on 120 volt side)
1 Magnum 3012 Hybrid inverter charger (temperature compensation)
If the solar is producing and I start the engine the voltage measured by the Blue Sky drops, and the amps from the output of the Blue Sky also drop.
Once the house batteries exceed the voltage of the starter battery some but not all amps go from the house to the engine.
If I turn the alternator charging solenoids off the alternator ammeter shows 0.00. When I do this, in cold weather, the volts go up on the house side (as the bank charges). The volts on the engine side also appear to rise. If there is a differential of 0.7 volts then even though the solenoids have disconnected the ammeter starts showing a low number of amps going to the engine.
I am not sure where the trickle-l-start is wired to on the house--but it believe it to be on the house side of the after market add on solenoid. That would explain the small number of amps (it is limited to 5 by the TLS) and why it shows up one house voltage is 0.7 above the engine.
