question for mojoman or wincrasher

[gerrym51]

Hey guys,

the promaster has 2 battery jump starting points in the engine compartment. could one of you tell me the distance between them?

before you ask- i want to get a lithium jump starter however the longest difference between positive and negative so far i can find is 20 inches.

thanks

[wincrasher]

Sorry, I'm out of town all week. I can measure it for you then unless mojo or someone can do it before.

Those pocket chargers are cool, but I've never had one. Do they really work well?

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Sorry, I'm out of town all week. I can measure it for you then unless mojo or someone can do it before.

Those pocket chargers are cool, but I've never had one. Do they really work well?

i've researched this one and think it will do well. it has 20 inches-that's why i'm asking



http://www.amazon.com/Bolt-Portable-Bat ... B00MH4663C

[skodr]

A little under 12 "

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by skodr

A little under 12 "

thanks skodr-i forgot you had a promaster based b. Do you carry a jump starter?

[skodr]

No but really did not think about one until you brought up. On my past f 150 I just disconnected the ground when here in fla. So far the Pro master does not drop voltage like the ford did.

[mojoman]

I have a jump start battery I made from a bad Dewalt lithium battery pack, about the size of a baseball. Usually only one cell goes bad in the pack and the rest are good. I use it to start cars and test 12v stuff. Made quite a few motorcycle batteries from these packs too. You could buy the individual cells and make your own more powerful one for less cost.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by mojoman

I have a jump start battery I made from a bad Dewalt lithium battery pack, about the size of a baseball. Usually only one cell goes bad in the pack and the rest are good. I use it to start cars and test 12v stuff. Made quite a few motorcycle batteries from these packs too. You could buy the individual cells and make your own more powerful one for less cost.

mojoman-i've looked at all the pictures of your stuff-wow- but no i will buy one-


also i'm not thinking about when i'm parked-as long as no snow on them the 2 solar panels will also keep the chassis battery charged- at least according to roadtrek

[wincrasher]

Another option is to install a pigtail directly (permanently) to the battery and have the end come up thru the floor panel.

I did that for the lead for my battery tender. Actually, I put in two - one I use for a voltage meter or the pocket inverter, the other for the battery tender jr.

I imagine the same could be done for a jump start device.

[mojoman]

You can also buy a battery saver, connects to the battery post and disconnects the power before it goes dead. I'm using this for my second battery I'm installing:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058S ... UTF8&psc=1
This one will be connected to the lithium battery pack :
http://www.sterling-power-usa.com/BBW12 ... to12v.aspx
I'm trying to avoid any direct connection to the van's electrical system except to the positive post of the starting battery. These two devices only draw power after the engine is started and starting battery is at full charge.

[gerrym51]

roadtrek uses surepower 1315-200. it is omni directional and will charge the chassis battery and house battery if it senses another power source besides alternator-the solar panels are considered anothe power source. since i have 200 watts on the roof i do not need a special chassis solar panel.

snow however could be an issue-but it would also be an issue with snow covering the windshield.

[booster]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

roadtrek uses surepower 1315-200. it is omni directional and will charge the chassis battery and house battery if it senses another power source besides alternator-the solar panels are considered anothe power source. since i have 200 watts on the roof i do not need a special chassis solar panel.

snow however could be an issue-but it would also be an issue with snow covering the windshield.

One thing you need to be aware of, and maybe do something about, is that the separator can eat up about 20 watts of your solar output when it is connected, and it all goes to heat. None to the starting battery, none to the van parasitic loads, none to the coach batteries, just 20 watts lost. Having the solar charge the starting battery is one of those things that is both good and bad. When you are camping and driving every few days, there is no need to charge the van battery, so you are robbing AH from the coach batteries for no reason, and the coach batteries are the ones that will need the charge. When you are in storage mode, without shore power, and in the sun all day, it can be a very good thing to be charging everything.

All of the above is why we built a manual on/off switch into ours for the separator.

[avanti]

For the reasons Booster mentions, I went with a dumb separator relay that only closes with the engine running, plus a Trik-L-Start:
http://www.lslproducts.net/TLSPage.html.
Seems like the best of all worlds.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by booster

One thing you need to be aware of, and maybe do something about, is that the separator can eat up about 20 watts of your solar output when it is connected, and it all goes to heat. None to the starting battery, none to the van parasitic loads, none to the coach batteries, just 20 watts lost. Having the solar charge the starting battery is one of those things that is both good and bad. When you are camping and driving every few days, there is no need to charge the van battery, so you are robbing AH from the coach batteries for no reason, and the coach batteries are the ones that will need the charge. When you are in storage mode, without shore power, and in the sun all day, it can be a very good thing to be charging everything.

All of the above is why we built a manual on/off switch into ours for the separator.

booster- don't forget i have the engine generator charging a tppl battery of only 186 amps--i'll do the best i can- i will only attempt to do something about it if it becomes an issue.

i have a question though-does this seperator issue actually remove amps from my starting battery or just give it less from th solar panel-also does it just give less to the house battery or does it actually remove amps from my house battery. i really don't understand

[booster]

I understand that you will be able to recover the coach batteries quickly when you drive. The whole idea of the solar is to give you a bit of extended stay time without moving, and the smaller the battery bank the more help the solar is to extend your time. When you are looking at extending time from 3 to 4 days for instance, there is no reason that I can think of, that any of the power you can generate needs to go to run the separator, or charge the starting battery. During the time the separator is being operated by the solar, it will be using about the same hourly average AH as a compressor frig.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by booster

I understand that you will be able to recover the coach batteries quickly when you drive. The whole idea of the solar is to give you a bit of extended stay time without moving, and the smaller the battery bank the more help the solar is to extend your time. When you are looking at extending time from 3 to 4 days for instance, there is no reason that I can think of, that any of the power you can generate needs to go to run the separator, or charge the starting battery. During the time the separator is being operated by the solar, it will be using about the same hourly average AH as a compressor frig.

I thought the compressor fridge was 4 amps per hour and the separator was 1 and 1/2. also am i losing amps out of my batteries when the solar is not giving watts-such as at night? is the surepower just using watts when it's active or at all times

based on what i have learned about tppl batteries- and the fact that this enegine generator system is overkill for this size battery i don't think charging with engine will take long. even at idle 1/2 power for the whole system is still 250 amps in a 186 amp battery that will have an amazing CAR

[booster]

The power use I figured was that the separator used 1.5 amps all the time, when running, and the frig about 4.5 amps but it only runs about 1/3 the time. That would put them about equal when the solar is running.