Will battery separator replace voltage regulator?

[lostagain]

I just bought a Sure Power Industries battery separator model 1319-200. This is to replace the manual switch and solenoid that joins the start and house banks for charging. It is a fancy little solid state control board that will engage to join the two banks together when it senses 26.8V, and disconnect them at 25.7V or less thus protecting the respecting battery banks from excessive drain. I understand that part, and I think many conversions are equipped with such a device.

What has me scratching my head is that the salesman told me I could remove the voltage regulator because this new dodad will turn the alternator on and off as required. I can't see how this would work, as this separator only joins or separates  two battery banks. Not being very good at anything electric, maybe I am missing something?


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[bevans6]

That device is just a fancy solenoid, it has nothing to do with the operation of the alternator or the voltage regulator.  Salesman was over his head.  The voltage regulator turns the alternator on and off via the field coil at quite a high frequency, around 20Khz.

Brian

[lostagain]

Thanks Brian. That's what I thought. I won't remove my regulator then.

JC


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[gus]

Thanks Brian. That's what I thought. I won't remove my regulator then.

JC


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Are your house batts 24v?

[pvcces]

JC, we use a Pathmaker. I believe that it is somewhat different from the one you mentioned. There are some important limitations in combiner relays.

One is that battery performance depends on temperature. If the temperature of the batteries is considerably warmer or colder than 77F, the voltage needs to be adjusted. The only way to do a good job is to use an automatic adjustment.

The other thing that is needed is sensing of the battery voltage from both directions. Then, you can use multiple kinds of charging equipment. Each charging source will still need a regulator.

The Pathmaker can do that. It also contains a timer function that will interconnect the batteries for just five minutes, long enough to get your engine started.

We tried the version that Xantrex has sold, but burned up a couple of the relays. It turned out that they were offered as 100 amps per relay, but they were White-Rogers 70 amp units. We bought a high powered audio relay off of eBay that was rated for 800 amps inrush for around $60. It works very well, and we don't have to worry about starting or charging currents damaging our driveliine.

If your new unit is designed to deal with these things, you have half the battle won. I only went into all the detail so that you could see what you needed to do.

Good luck.

Tom Caffrey

[lostagain]

Gus my house bank is 4 6 volt golf cart batteries wired to make 24 volts. Start bank is 2 G31s in series for 24 volts. Each bank has a Vanner equalizer. Both 24 and 12 volts are taken from each bank.

Tom,  this Sure Power separator is rated at 200 amps. What do you mean by currents damaging the driveline?

JC


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[pvcces]

Hi, JC.

Most people worry about heavy enough cables when figuring their needs, but many don't realize that a poor ground setup forces current to run though the driveline. If the ground cable fails from a bad connection, those currents can reach levels high enough damage bearings and gears. Our combiner setup takes care of the positive end of things, so that we only have to worry about the negative side of things. We use cable all the way from the batteries to the starter.

That's all that I meant.

Tom

[TedCalvert]

Good thinking, Tom.  I think the idea of using frame & body for a common return path is one of the worst things vehicle manufacturers ever did. I had to clean & rebuild the taillights on my parents '60 Corvair many times when a teenager.

What's an audio relay, referred to in your earlier post?

Ted.

[lvmci]

Hi Ted, if you were to observe, at a concert or showroom, or arena, the speaker system hanging from the rafters or on the floor in front of the stage, the power needed to push those speakers is hard to imagine, some day I'll  post a concert setup process. Tom I dont mean to answer for you, Sean may be able to quote the power requirements for a convention, lvmci....

[pvcces]

Hi, lvmci,

You have answered Ted's question exactly. To choose one, study the specs.

The 800 amp inrush rating was perfect for our use.

Take care.

Tom Caffrey