Lithium Batteries / voltstart.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

I assume that what you describe as a fools errand would be trying to maintain house batteries from one?

Yes. The power management systems in modern vehicles are getting more sophisticated all the time. Current generation systems modulate charging so that it only happens during deceleration. Some of them even intentionally reserve some battery charge "space" in order to capture energy during down-hill coasts, somewhat analogously to hybrid regenerative braking schemes. Connecting such systems to your coach batteries is increasingly problematic.

[BBQ]

.

When you are at a stop light, the alternator will come on.
As soon as you lift your foot off the brake,
the onboard computer will shut off the alternator so that you get more hp for your acceleration. The alternator will come back on when you reached cruising speed, or when you back off your gas pedal.

These are easy hp to rearrange when needed.
It helps the fuel economy too.

[Mfturner]

That's interesting, I wonder how my 2015 LTV Freespirit SS keeps up with recharging on long highway days? The anemic single solar panel is only good for maybe 10ah/day on a good day, the refrigerator alone is probably 100ah on a long days drive LOL. I'm pretty sure I don't have a second alternator, but maybe 2015 Sprinters didn't have this feature yet? Or maybe I'm not really keeping up? It seems to be though, I've been more concerned with overcharging and boiling the fla batteries dry.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Mfturner

I'm pretty sure I don't have a second alternator, but maybe 2015 Sprinters didn't have this feature yet? Or maybe I'm not really keeping up? It seems to be though, I've been more concerned with overcharging and boiling the flat batteries dry.

Last I heard, only the 4 cylinder Sprinter engine had the advanced energy management system. Although all Sprinters have had LIN-controlled alternators for some time now, they were not used very aggressively on the older powertrains. I'm sure the 2019 refresh will be a different matter.

[Mfturner]

Ok, thanks, very interesting info. Yep, mine has the six cylinder engine, so maybe that's why the system seems to work. I use the 12vdc mode on the refrigerator as a poor man's battery test load LOL, six hours after the sun sets and the house battery is down to 11.6v from fully charged.