Shore power

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by booster

When charging sources are in bulk, they are basically constant current devices running flat out, so they both/all should be putting out as much as they can as they are below voltage setpoint. Once you get to absorption, then minor differences in setting or control of voltage would make a major mismatch in which source does the most work, but it shouldn't slow down the charging as the batteries are to the point of accepting less than the sources can supply.


It would be very interesting to see how the Galleria setup works, as they two regulators are certainly not going to match. In bulk, they would probably work as stated above, so they may just shut the Nations back off as soon as the system gets to absorption. That would likely be the easiest to implement and the safest for all the part, but that is also unknown. The Balmar will also run two alternators, so they may have the factory unit off the Canbus and on the Balmar.

Yeah, a lotta questions. Your observation about dual charging warrants learning more about this, although the details may be proprietary. Also the Galleria has been the subject of rolling changes and it could be that this feature isn't included in current production. It's not mentioned in any of the brochures. I wonder if this is an add on feature provided by Coachmen or a standard part of the Xantrex package. In either event, considering how lightly loaded the Sprinter alternator generally is, it's certainly an innovative idea, and with the advent of 600 - 800ah battery systems, there certainly must be charging periods where the Nations alternator can use all the help it can get.


Without different regulation than the stock Canbus protocol, I don't see how you can ever convince the OEM alternator to deliver bulk charging. There are apparently periods where a Canbus network tells the alternator to quit charging entirely. And since a major part of Canbus is in the computer module itself, I don't see how you can separate it from the alternator without a computer complaint and throwing a check engine light. Perhaps the computer can be re-flashed to accommodate this? Also, Balmar provides a smooth ramp up of Nations alternator load. But when the alternators are paralleled I don't see how you can prevent an instantaneous shock load on the OEM alternator with just a simple combining solenoid.

I'm not familiar with the Sprinter setup but with Canbus are there even accessible pick off points for the alternator field winding? And doesn't MB have a limitation on the OEM alternator load that can be tapped beyond the normal platform requirements? And is that just a policy directed toward upfitters or is that limitation set in firmware?