Emergency Start Button - Connects both Battery banks

We spend the winter in FL. in our mh. plugged into shore power. Out '03 Itasca had that spring loaded momentary switch. Because the chassis battery would go down just setting, so I used a pencil to hold the momentary switch on/closed, all winter. That never caused a problem.
We now have a 2015 Itasca, which does not have that switch, so I installed a Trik-L-Start.

Dusty

JaxDad wrote:

Flyfasteddie wrote:
At least on my '91 Ford chassis, the push button "emergency start" relay would engage anytime you turned the key - in the 'on' and 'start' position.

The main reason is I'm usually boondocking; so the last thing I want to do is leave early in the morning with a heavily drained house battery and as soon as I start to crank the engine I'm connecting the lower voltage house battery to the chassis battery which is now sending a bunch of amps to the house battery instead of going to the starter

I think you're mistaken, when the key hits the start position the only thing getting power is the starter and ignition circuit. Your headlights, wipers and everything else go dead until the key returns to the run position.

If your motorhome was not changed by a subsequent owner it should have a 100 amp alternator that is designed to take a big load like that.

Hope he responds. Fleetwood had a system 25 years ago that had an orange/green button on the dash. What this system did was, IF it saw the chassis batteries were slightly low, it would auto engage the emergency start solenoid to crank the engine. IF the chassis battery was NOT low, the solenoid would not engage automatically, but you could push that switch to engage the solenoid manually. Doug

http://www.allbatterysalesandservice.com/browse.cfm/4,5736.html




Plug and play. Bi-directional. A snap to install. Truly automatic NO SWITCHES operation.

BUT!

No way will I subject this solenoid to jump start service. Hello Ford solenoid.

The cheapest method is a short bit of wire with an alligator clip on each end, use it as a jumper between the two terminals of the emergency start solenoid while plugged into shore power.

As long as you don't forget it's there, or use it whiteout being plugged into shore power.

I feel stupid, but if someone wants a way to charge both batteries, isn't that what an Amp-L-Start or Trik-L-Start is for? Not as fast as a direct bridge, but the circuitry is smart enough to shut off before a bank is depleted.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
These critters can handle 400 amperes without a whimper but the mounting base must see a good chassis negative ground. From practical experience, I can state this solenoid will heat the copper studs to beyond 130F if energized longer than 30 seconds. A starting-only option.

I watched a guy in absolute panic trying to get his hood open because he'd folded up a bit of paper and wedged it into the 'momentary' switch to hold it open so his converter would charge his dead chassis battery.

The solenoid had gotten hot enough to start some insulation on the wiring smouldering.

Starter relays are not rated continuous duty.
The continuous duty relays look the same but have different coil windings.
Here is a good example of continuous duty relay.
Tekonsha Battery switch

The BEST emergency paralleling solenoid is the cheapest. A black phenolic body Ford fender mount starter solenoid. These critters can handle 400 amperes without a whimper but the mounting base must see a good chassis negative ground. From practical experience, I can state this solenoid will heat the copper studs to beyond 130F if energized longer than 30 seconds. A starting-only option.

The auxiliary start on many rigs is the same relay used as the charge relay.
It should be rated continuous duty which are designed to energized most or all of the time.

The Emergency Start Solonoid is not designed for long term operation, only for a short period, Hence the momentary button.