Battery Isolator Question

[avanti]

Originally Posted by markopolo

Top photo appears to be a vacuum pump.

I'm not sure what it is, but it is clearly OEM and not aftermarket, so it can't be the isolator.

Here is what our's looks like (in a Sprinter):

IMG_3214.jpg

I strongly suspect they used the same one everywhere.

[ChicagoTom]

Avanti, sorry, side ? Is that trickle charge solar? Nice neat setup BTW

[avanti]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTom

Avanti, sorry, side ? Is that trickle charge solar? Nice neat setup BTW

US driver's side.

The Trik-L-Start will tend the chassis battery whenever the coach has a charge source, including solar. In my case, its main purpose is to keep the chassis battery topped off when the rig is parked outdoors. It works perfectly--I can park indefinitely without disconnecting anything and everything is always at 100% upon next use.

The coach is wired so that I can completely shut down the coach with a single button-press using a Blue-sea remote latching relay (the red button right in the middle):

IMG_7268.jpg

The solar controller, the Trimetric monitor and the Trik-L-Start are all wired upstream of the disconnect, so everything continues to charge during a shutdown.

[archeogal2]

Originally Posted by avanti

I'm not sure what it is, but it is clearly OEM and not aftermarket, so it can't be the isolator.

Here is what our's looks like (in a Sprinter):

Attachment 9284

I strongly suspect they used the same one everywhere.

Thanks to all who are trying to help us, especially for avanti's photo of an isolator installed by Great West Vans. We will explore tomorrow;booked up today. Once we find it, I will send a photo with the info of where it is installed, though since GWV is out of business, I guess few people will need it. We think our GWV on a Promaster may be one of only 2 they built.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by archeogal2

We think our GWV on a Promaster may be one of only 2 they built.

Is this your van?

IMG_5610.jpg

Taken Apr 30, 2015 at the GWV factory, when we visited to have our tri-fold bed tweaked.

[archeogal2]

No, not the red one. Ours is silver; might be the one behind the red one in this photo. But it looks as if there may be 3 Promasters here, so we could be wrong that there were only 2 made. Or the third one could have still been in the factory when the doors were chained shut. Our silver one (which we custom ordered) and a white one, maybe the one in the front right of this photo, were both on the lot at Lake Region RV, Ramsey MN in May 2015.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTom

LOL, well that answers that...back to the model RV he has. Promaster may be set up on different make RVs. His may even be inside the RV. Maybe check a FaceBook group for that model/make RV

Maybe you just had too much of that very cold beer in 100 degree temperatures. That can have you saying most anything. How do I know?......

Bud

[archeogal2]

OK, following Avanti's suggestion, I tried following a wire from the chassis battery. Impossible for me to do. But, here is a photo of the battery, with some wires coming out of the driver's door side of the battery compartment. Then a couple of photos from the engine compartment, driver's side, showing a couple of things that could be non-OEM. Anything here a possibility for the isolator?


IMG_0986.jpg

IMG_0988.jpg

IMG_0989.jpg

[markopolo]

I don't see anything that looks like an isolator, solenoid or separator in those photos.



Looks like an aftermarket circuit breaker in this photo:


IMG_0988.jpg


Maybe trace those wires to see if the isolator is nearby.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by markopolo

I don't see anything that looks like an isolator, solenoid or separator in those photos.

Looks like an aftermarket circuit breaker in this photo:

Ah, I missed that. Yes, that is the self-resetting breaker that GWV used in the isolator circuit. Follow those wires!

[archeogal2]

Thanks very much to the comments above from avanti and markopolo, we finally found the battery isolator in our GWV on a Promaster. It was tucked way down at the bottom of the engine compartment, very hard to see from above, but once we crawled under the van, it was obvious from the photo avanti posted. So yesterday our local RV guy installed the Trik-L-Start, and it says it is working. Photos of the isolator and the install are below, in case they might help someone else.



A final (maybe!) question about the Trik-L-Start. When the van will be sitting for a time, we regularly shut off all power to the coach using the red knob by the sliding door (no clue what it is called), as a caution against a possible drain from something there impacting the coach batteries. Now with the Trik-L-Start using the coach batteries, charged from 3 solar panels, to maintain the chassis battery, I assume that we should not shut off the red knob? Or does it matter? I know that this question demonstrates that I don't completely understand how the Trik-L-Start works. But I am content just for it to work--let it be magic.


Battery isolator installed by Great West Vans near the bottom of the engine compartment, with connection to the Trik-L-Start:IMG_0993a.jpg


Trik-L-Start installed near the top of the engine compartment, in order to be monitored more easily:
IMG_0994a.jpg

[avanti]

Originally Posted by archeogal2

A final (maybe!) question about the Trik-L-Start. When the van will be sitting for a time, we regularly shut off all power to the coach using the red knob by the sliding door (no clue what it is called), as a caution against a possible drain from something there impacting the coach batteries. Now with the Trik-L-Start using the coach batteries, charged from 3 solar panels, to maintain the chassis battery, I assume that we should not shut off the red knob? Or does it matter? I know that this question demonstrates that I don't completely understand how the Trik-L-Start works. But I am content just for it to work--let it be magic.

It all depends on how the van is wired. If the wire to the isolation relay is downstream of the master shutoff, then, yes, it would disable the Trik-L-Start. Should be obvious when you turn off the switch. There is also the issue of whether your solar controller is upstream or downstream of the switch. If it is downstream, not only won't it work when the switch is off, but it could actually be damaged due to losing the battery reference.

In our van, I wired both the Trik-L-Start and the solar directly to the battery. Everything else is downstream. That way, I can shut down the whole van and still have all batteries being tended by the solar. Works great.

[avanti]

Moderators' note:
I have deleted the last 10 messages as (a) off-topic, and (b) trending toward nastiness.