Battery Seperator
Does anyone use a battery separator? To keep the camper batteries from draining the truck batteries? I was thinking of installing one this time and am looking at recommendations. They seem a little s...
Forum Discussion
All good answers.
As you are installing a separate charging lead, the order in simplicity and roughly in cost is:
Battery cutoff switch
12V solenoid
ACR battery combiner.
I chose the latter in my boat to separate the house battery from the start battery. Cost more than a simple solenoid, but it allowed me to use a single bank smart charger for both batteries and in my case made the wiring much less cluttered which was a concern given that it all is basically exposed in a storage hatch along with the stereo amps and associated distribution and fuse blocks.
One small functional advantage....maybe...for an acr is that it will "share" your truck batteries for a little while when they are topped off after a long drive rather than cutting them out of the system as soon as the key is off if using a std solenoid. The other advantage as mentioned above is the reverse is true. When plugged into shore power it will share charging with the truck batteries, keeping them topped off although there should be no reason for this unless you're parked for a while AND running accessories off the truck's electrical system.
Quick, cheap foolproof and easy way though is still a solenoid triggered by a hot ignition wire.
As you are installing a separate charging lead, the order in simplicity and roughly in cost is:
Battery cutoff switch
12V solenoid
ACR battery combiner.
I chose the latter in my boat to separate the house battery from the start battery. Cost more than a simple solenoid, but it allowed me to use a single bank smart charger for both batteries and in my case made the wiring much less cluttered which was a concern given that it all is basically exposed in a storage hatch along with the stereo amps and associated distribution and fuse blocks.
One small functional advantage....maybe...for an acr is that it will "share" your truck batteries for a little while when they are topped off after a long drive rather than cutting them out of the system as soon as the key is off if using a std solenoid. The other advantage as mentioned above is the reverse is true. When plugged into shore power it will share charging with the truck batteries, keeping them topped off although there should be no reason for this unless you're parked for a while AND running accessories off the truck's electrical system.
Quick, cheap foolproof and easy way though is still a solenoid triggered by a hot ignition wire.
