Charge Wizard and Trik l Start

[eric1514]

Hi all,

I have a PD converter with a charge wizard that does an excellent job of keeping my coach batteries charged. I leave the RV plugged into shore power 24/7 when I'm home. Of course this does nothing for my starting battery.

I want to install a Trik l Start, but I'm wondering, since the Charge Wizard drops to "Float" when the coach batteries are full, will the chassis battery see any juice at all?

TIA,
Eric

[HiTech]

Ah very good point. The non relay based stuff all pays the voltage drop at the junction. The relay stuff pays the price of the current required to hold it in the active state.

Jim

[pianotuna]

Hi Jim,

I have to disagree. When on solar I've seen 14.7 at the Blue Sky, 14.7 on the "house", and 14.4 at the chassis battery. The 0.3 difference is the diode dropping the voltage a bit.

[HiTech]

Fleet Man wrote:
On shore power, fully charged with PD9260, Charge Wizard and Trik- l-Start, my chassis batteries are consistently .3 volts below the coach or house batteries no matter what charge mode the system is in.

In theory that says the chassis battery is not actually fully charged, has a large self discharge rate, or there is some decent sized parasitic draw being powered on the chassis side. As the amps flowing approach 0, the voltage on the chassis battery should approach the voltage on the house bank.

Jim

[jferre9570]

You can use the B.I.R.D with the existing emergency start relay, as long as either the relay is rated for continuous duty or you purchase the B.I.R.D that reduces coil voltage after pull-in.

[pianotuna]

Hi Kevin,

Follow the link--the sure power relay includes auxiliary start capabilities. "Sure Power: 12V 100A Battery Separator - Bi-Directional w/ Aux Start"

[ksg5000]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
A BI-DIRECTIONAL charge automatically (this means hands off and eyes closed) connects batteries when ANY charging source ANYWHERE comes on line. Alternator, generator, converter, separate battery charger. It doesn't matter. It connects and separates battery banks automatically and does it correctly. WAY simpler to install than an isolator, NO WIRES OR SWITCHES TO INSTALL.

http://www.allbatterysalesandservice.com/browse.cfm/4,2706.html

If this replaces the current solenoid then how does it impact the emergency start feature? I suspect OP's current setup uses a std solenoid for battery isolation (energized by 12 volt chassis battery) and emergency start feature(energized by 12 volt coach battery).

[RJsfishin]

A single pole single thro toggle switch in the dash, w/ the positives of both banks connected to the switch sure works great. Sure, you could accidently forget to turn it off whan parked for dry camping, but it hasn't happened yet. And if setting in one place for a month or 2, I just turn the switch on when I'm charging the house batteries,.....when I happen to think about it.

Automatic is nice, but its sure not fool proof. I'm sick of failing solenoids and electronics !

[Fleet_Man]

On shore power, fully charged with PD9260, Charge Wizard and Trik- l-Start, my chassis batteries are consistently .3 volts below the coach or house batteries no matter what charge mode the system is in.

[HiTech]

Not perfect but pretty effective for the money I think?

Jim

[pianotuna]

Hi eric1514,

Here are real life numbers.

PD at 13.2 volts
trik-l-start at 12.9 volts.

That suggests to me that the trik-l-start is diode based and will always do 0.3 a volt lower on output side than what the PD or other charging source is at.

[accsys]

The Trik-L-Start will do what you want. Anytime the chassis battery has a lower voltage than the voltage on the house batteries, it will connect the two systems until they are equal again.

[Pauljdav]

Since the charge wizard does not affect the starting battery a trickle charger on the starting battery will not affect the charge wizard. Just hook it up and plug it in.

Paul

[MEXICOWANDERER]

A BI-DIRECTIONAL charge automatically (this means hands off and eyes closed) connects batteries when ANY charging source ANYWHERE comes on line. Alternator, generator, converter, separate battery charger. It doesn't matter. It connects and separates battery banks automatically and does it correctly. WAY simpler to install than an isolator, NO WIRES OR SWITCHES TO INSTALL.

http://www.allbatterysalesandservice.com/browse.cfm/4,2706.html

[OnaQuest]

The 1999 Jamboree may very well have a diode based battery isolator. If it does, then maybe the trik-L-charge is the way to go. If the Jamboree has a BCC, like the Fleetwood Class As do, then you have a malfunction to contend with, and not a design deficiency. If your rig has a simple solenoid isolator that closes on ignition signal, then MEX's suggestion of a BIRD relay is a very good approach.