The only Ford with the relay on the starter is the new modular engine's, the older ones have it up high, away from the starter. The battery cable goes to one side of the relay, the other side to the starter, the small post has a small ignition wire, that's a starter relay.

 

Looking twice ur right. I thought it looked like a starter relay, but not knowing what the aux batt relay looked like I guessed wrong.

So do think it's possible to hook up a aux batt the way I asked. One start only the other aux only with key off.

Also do you have a part number for the LED bulbs.

What would happen if I wired into the starter relay directly? Would it blow the relay? Would the aux battery get a charge from the alternator? Pos to Pos should work but does it allow the aux batt to recharge.

 

You need a duty relay to hook the auxiliary battery through, a starter relay is for intermittent use only and would burn up. I don't know what interior bulbs you have, mine were the glass tube ones, I scrolled through E-bay till I found what I wanted, think they're 44mm and have 9 small LEDs in them, very bright. I went with blue as not to mess with my night vision, of coarse over the years I've added more to my interior really lighting it up, they truly use little current, there are over 80 in it now and they have been left on 12 hours before.

 

perhaps one thing to remember as well is that Ford charging systems run at the high end of the scale - 14.7 > 14.8v. as someone who spent many hours in high end car audio as the shop charging system guy, i can't tell you how many fords i have seen basically boiling their batteries from the high charge voltage. in contrast, look at benz and most european cars, they live around 13.8v and generally had much longer lived batteries. also, on a single alternator system, you shouldn't mix battery types. in fact, there are valid arguements to the theory that the batteries should be from the same vendor and the same model and the same batch/date of manufacture. AND be the same distance, cable lengthwise, from the alternator. i know people say that by using a battery isolator that you overcome the difference between different types of batteries, but i am not so sure it is true.

not looking to start an arguement - i left the install world in the mid 90's and went into car audio design/development - things may have changed... i know my 95 van when stock pushed towards the high end of 14v. that is why i went with a two alternator solution and adjustable regulators set @ 14v when i installed two 6v deep cycle batts to complement the single 12v starting batt. i have close to 5 years on the three current batteries and have had not one issue so far and rarely have to top off the 2 6v battery's water. i am also pretty picky about whose batteries i will run as well. i have seen some really great batteries initially that ended up being a pos cause the plates were too close together and and they would starve themselves for electrolyte and die prematurely or quit because the vendor used poor quality recycled lead. so just your choice of batteries can have a tremendous impact on the performance of your charging system. and then there is the choice of protection - fuse or circuit breaker? the best american made circuit breakers i ever tested (which actually would trip consistantly @ their rated amperage) had a resistance of 10 to 20 ohms. that will affect your charging system. and then there is your battery cable choice. and and and

so i am just saying there is a lot to consider in exploring this thread.

btw most constant duty solenoids look just like a standard starting solenoid. however they draw much less current so that is one way to sort them out.

as always, just my 2 cents

 

Yeah, mine is 14.3 volts, I have capasitors in the rear under the seat, yet have a rear mounted battery, just call it over kill for the stereo system. When I had my 130 amp alt rebuilt, they guy said he peaked it out, you need a larger case to get any more power than mine outputs, it charges 2 12 volt conventional batteries. Now the handicap shop put in a deep cycle battery, yet run an 8 gauge charging wire, too long to allow many amps, yet I was still burning them up. I now have a monster wire 4 gauge running back there from the solenoid on a conventional, and no problems so far. I always advise against deep cycle batteries, as they are designed to be slow charged, yet they don't listen, many insist on the yellow top optima, even the battery shops tell you they only last 2 years. Many optima buyers need them because they are mounting them in a way that you can't other types, so they have no choice, they just accept the high cost and replace them every few years, others believe they have to use it.

 

I have a 2005 E350 with a two battery system. I think I need to replace the battery because the van is barely starting now. I threw the charger on it and the battery was really low. If I replace the main battery should I replace the 2nd battery on the rear frame rail? Optima battaries the best?

 

This thread caught my eye as I've been planning on a system for my van but now I'm confused! I bought the biggest marine battery they had at Advanced Auto. Here's what I was planning to do with it (option #3):
How to Have Electricity

Is this a good set-up?

 

It's late and I'm confused so please tell me if I got this right:
I want to go camping with my 2000 E250 single battery conventional van.

Option 1: Crank and turn on van at idle and use the 12 volts with an invertor to power my TV and DVD player. Cost $40 for the invertor plus gas at idle.

Option 2: Buy a deep-cycle battery and use its 12 volts while the van is shut off. Cost is $200 for extra battery plus invertor $40

Option 3: Buy Harbor Freight generator and use it's 110 volts and power everything while van is turned off. Cost is $100 for generator and no invertor needed.

All I wanna do is watch TV, listen to music and recharge my laptop/phone while camping. If I buy the generator, I have a mini microwave and mini fridge to use.

****Bottom-line, use a deep-cycle battery when the van is off and only use a trickle-charger to charge it up. Use a standard battery when the van is on.........IS THIS CORRECT???

 

This is indeed an older thread but kudos to you for at least searching the forums for answers---a rare but very welcome thing!

Given your rather sparse needs I'd opt for the generator since it could be useful around the house too, essentially doubling its utility, maybe making it an easy sell to the lady of your castle? (If one of those isn't in your world then do as you want---similar to me! )

You don't want to idle your van while camping since there's a HUGE risk of carbon monoxide death!

To my way of thinking all this deep cycle battery stuff turns into a lot of money and operational issues sooner rather than later. On a forum dedicated mostly to van camper conversions numerous threads about this very topic show battery storage systems require a lot of up front cost, that maintenance costs and work along the way make them ideal candidates for being replaced with a stand alone generator whenever possible.

On that note I'd suggest throwing down for one of the better Honda gensets---a lot of money but insanely reliable and long lived----my perfect combo!

 

Still a good thread, I'm thinking about separating the conversion van part (fuse block) and running a separate battery with a 12/110 inverter/charger from a small Motorhome with a 110 plugin for Campground stuff....I just can't stay out of trouble!

 

Do a big 3 upgrade before adding a second battery and see how that helps. I went from 13.5 to 14.8-15.2 on my stock 120 amp. I also run 3 battery's. wired straight in to the front battery. Never had a problem

 

I had a shop who had been in business 30 years rebuild my stock 130 amp alt, he said it puts out the maximum amps the case will allow, you can't get anymore from it, which I have no idea what that number is, as it's not been tested, but you know it's a lot by the sound my wheelchair lift makes when the van is running. I have a 2 gauge wire running to the rear of my van, to the battery and wheelchair lift, but know this, deep cycle batteries have more plates, and when charging from an alternator, they require a device to monitor them that cuts the charge, to allow cooling time, I believe it only gets full power for 15 minutes before interruption for cool down. My rear battery is separated from the front by a heavy duty relay, only linking it when the key is on.

 

the thing about a genny is then you have to listen to it while you are camping. uck... and also bother anyone in the area.
especially those ****ty 2 stroke chineese ****piles- not worth the $$ you spend on them.
Honda Whisper is a nice unit for$ 800 ish. but you still may not be able to use it in some spots.

for less money than a honda one can get a deep cycle batt, battery isolator for onboard charging via alternator and a small solar panel, my .02

 

I can tell you right now, a guy brought one of those 2 strokes on a job site back before China started mass producing them, it struggled to run a circular saw, and in doing so, the RPM reminded me of a chainsaw at full throttle cutting down a tree, yep, really annoying.

 

The big 3 increases voltage not amperage. It's used it car audio to reduce drain.