I was thinking of installing a second battery in my truck and i was looking at battery isolators...has anyone had any experiance with them........the way they work is when the ignition is on, the batteries are tied together and when the ignition is off they seperate the batteries (hence, battery ISOLATER) so when you shut the truck down and turn on the accesories you are only draining from one battery and still have another fully charged battery to start your truck..........has anybody had any luck with these.....opinions welcomed
-gbm-


gingerbreadmaniac

85 ford f150 300 six 4 speed 4x4 short box
70 mustang coupe horny 351w c6
9 inch

 

I don't believe this was posted.
I had a dream last night that someone wanted to know how Battery isolators worked & how they hook up.


Basically you have the wire coming from the alternator and going to the Center post on the isolator.
The main battery attaches to One of the end terminals and the aux battery attaches to the other end terminal.
With A Terminal being the center
With B being one end terminal
With C being the other end terminal
&
When you have the engine running:
Power goes to A and comes out B & C

When the engine is shut off:
You have continuity between A & B , A & C
But No continuity between B & C because they are isolated from each other.
One important thing about Isolators ,you need to have a drain on both batteries to make sure they last. Otherwise with continual charging and NO Discharging ,the battery will go bad sooner.

Hope this helps.
[font color=red]Dennis

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so ill explain to you the way I understand it to operate.....
when the motor is running the power coming from the alternature trigers the isolater to join the two batterys together charging them both.....now when the motor is not turning the isolater is closed only leaving power coming from one battery, so you can drain that battery dead and once you engage the isolator it opens the second battery to the circuit to start the vehicle......

you also mentioned that you need to have constant draw and charging for both batteries....wouldnt the way you explained to hook it up have constant draw and charging as the vehicle is running????

Is there anything stoping me from running a second switch to activate the isolater......i want to do this because if you drain the one battery stone dead it wont have enough juice to turn the motor over and spin the alternatur hence it wont engage the isolater.......


am i making sense????????
-gbm-




gingerbreadmaniac

85 ford f150 300 six 4 speed 4x4 short box
70 mustang coupe horny 351w c6
9 inch

 

Okay, I'll try it again.

The Battery isolator has three terminals.

1)The center one has a wire attached coming from the alternator.

2)With the engine running :
a)One of the END terminals feeds power via the connection on the starter solenoid to the *Main* battery storing power for the normal operation of the trucke: Starting system,ignition system,lighting system,etc.

b)The OTHER ONE (end terminal) of the isolator's terminal's feeds power to the AUX battery whch needs to be discharged like the other one.
This battery can be used for a Camper,Trailer,Winch,Stereo system

With the engine running or NOT running.

The Two END terminals are Isolated from EACH OTHER but share a common attachment to the CENTER TERMINAL.
Thus allowing the batteries to drain at their OWN rate and No interfere which Each Other.

ie: The camper drains the power to light the interior Lights but doesn't takew any power out of the Main battery that would start the truck.

Hope this in more understandable


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Oh ok i understand it now, i believe there are different types of aftermarket isolaters out there....

the one you are talking about has no switch in it at all....basicly its simple it provides charging power to both batteries but lets them run on there own circuit and drain at seperate rates.......makes perfect sense now, i understand why you said you need to have a drain on both batterys because there not tied together......

I was under the impression there was a isolater out there that kept the batterys seperate when the engine was off and once it started to run it tied them in parrallel (i think parellel makes 12v) and charged and drained them as the truck is running,,,,,

Here is what i want out of my duel battery system,,,, i want to be able to control my batterys with the flick of a switch...if i want to park and play my stereo at a beach party i want to be able to illimate the one battery from the circuit and if i kill the one battery i want to flick the togle inside the cab and have the other battery tied into the circuit to start the truck, i also want to be able to tie both batterys together if i am using a winch so i have full power to the winch i also want to be able to charge both batterys as the truck is running.......so basicly i want it to chrage full time and i want to be able to run on 1 or 2 batteries as i flick my switch

i thought about simply using a solinoid but i am thinking they are probly only designed for short bursts of energy like starting a vehicle and will more than likely burn out.....and i dont know how to get it to charge both batteries and only have one battery in the circuit......

-gbm-


gingerbreadmaniac

85 ford f150 300 six 4 speed 4x4 short box
70 mustang coupe horny 351w c6
9 inch

 

Well, when My battery dies ,I simply use a pair of Booster Cables from my AUX battery ,to start the vehicle.

I'll find an article about what you want to do.

You're right about the solenoid system.
Unfortunately using a solenoid will burn it out because of the constant power to it.

I'll be back with a link to what you want to do.

[link:www.hellroaring.com/rv.htm#Basic%20Auxiliary|Battery Isolation Systems]


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The system is very common in tow-trucks and limousines, if you happen to have any friends in those businesses. Chances are you can pick up a used one or get a look at how they hook up.