And still another starter issue.

[Fred Mc]

Thanks all.
When I get the bus home next week I will do the tests.

Regards

Fred

[ArtGill]

When I rewired my air start for electric start, I found that Eagle had used cable larger than 4 ought.  So they felt larger was better.  I feel that cable size is very important.  I also think you need to have some disconnect between the batteries and the starter.  How about the solenoid sticks??

Art

[Fred Mc]

I should have mentioned that I  do have a disconnect between the batteries and the starter.

[Fred Mc]

If I should decide to go the dual cable route I presume I would wire two batteries in parallel with a cable form each to the starter. Is it necessary to run dual positive cables AND negative or will a dual positive and a single negative do the trick? I would, of course, have dual disconnects as well.

Thanks

Fred

[Lin]

Why couldn't both cables just connect at the same points? 

[akroyaleagle]

I think I should state my experience with electrical things.

I believe every electrical item is manufactured with a certain amount of smoke in it. If it stops working you can troubleshoot.  If you let the smoke out, you need a new one.

After rereading my post, I may have misled some.

I have two sets of cables.

The positive from each battery connect to a lug on a master.

The lugs are connected by a bus bar between the two masters.

When the masters are opened, they transfer to the out put lugs which are again connected by a bus bar transferring power from the batteries to the bus systems.

All DC power demands are connected to the out side of the master switches. When the master switches are off there is no DC power to anything.

My house batteries have master switches on positive and negative cables. When I am not going to need the house batteries, I just shut both masters off and the batteries are isolated from the house and grounds.

I feel much better knowing that the batteries are just "sittting on the shelf" at that point.

Lin: See my qualifications above. I believe two masters may help with the huge amount of Amps. I've been wrong before!

Fred Mc: I think each battery should have its own ground and the positives should each have a cable to the masters.

[JohnEd]

Hold on partner.  Don't just start throwing money at the thing.  Those two wires sound good to me and I would probably do that.  BUT first diagnose your current problem and determine if additional wires are needed for this problem.  Put on lead on the cable connector that connects to the battery, plus or minus.  Connect the volt meter to the same polarity on the starter.  The voltage you read when you crank is the volts being dropped/used/wasted on the cable.  I would try for 1 volt.  Remember the task about finding out what the manufacturer says is the min voltage the starter will tolerate?  What was that number cause you bat voltage at crank minus all the little losses can't add up to make that number.  The proof is to measure at the starter to be sure that you have enuff.

I'll bet that disconnect switch is tired.  measure across it while cranking.  It should read zero volts or a tenth max.  If it is dropping clean the copper/brass contacts really good and make sure the tension is good and then smear the contacts with "silicone" grease.  Spark plug boot release is the same thing.

[Fred Mc]

I haven't decided to do anything yet as I just got the bus home tonight from an outing. Will do some voltage test this week and then make a decision based on the info I have. i.e. add another battery to make 4 or add an extra set of cables or go back to 8D's or just clean contacts etc.
I do appreciate the help thou especially the concern about cost. I'm keep you guys posted.

BTW, it appears as though akroyaleagle not only put on dual sets of cables but went BACK to 8D's as well.

Thanks

Fred

[artvonne]

  While extra wire is nice, it should be noted that that Bus ran for decades with a single wire and two batteries. If you shortened the wire by moving the batteries closer to the starter, you made the setup more powerful. If it wont start you have an electro mechanical problem between your connections or the starter itself. You either have a bad ground, a bad positive lead connection, a bad cutoff switch, a bad starter, or possibly a combination. A liitle here and a little there can lead up to enough to cause real mysteries.

  So start at the battery, just like every automotive book in the world for everything automotive tells us to do. And work your way forward.

[Fred Mc]

I agree 100%.
What was throwing me off was the fact that it seemed to start so well when cold(even in cold weather) so I automatically thought bad starter except that the starter was recently(at the time) rebuilt. But I should eliminate the "easy" stuff first because, after all, it is "easy".LOL

Regards

Fred