Merging house batteries with the alternator

[Sebulba]

Check out this smart switch over through Battle Born. https://battlebornbatteries.com/product/lifepo4-battery-isolation-manager/

It looks to be only 12 volts though. 

Seb

[muldoonman]

A lot use the Big Boy Battery Isolator Relay to keep both house and chassis batteries happy. Wonder if those work. They say they are compatible with wet and agm batteries running together.

[luvrbus]

Not much difference in charging between the wet cell and AGM batteries, charging the Lithium from a chassis alternator is where you get into trouble. 

[David Anderson]

Got it installed. I had to move some wiring around.  I put a 300amp fuse under the home made PVC pipe cover in the picture next to the 350 amp Neihoff alternator.  The Blue Sea device is next to the house bank.  I hope this one will last. Thanks for your help.

David

[dtcerrato]

Got it installed. I had to move some wiring around.  I put a 300amp fuse under the home made PVC pipe cover in the picture next to the 350 amp Neihoff alternator.  The Blue Sea device is next to the house bank.  I hope this one will last. Thanks for your help.

David

You won't be sorry. Design for marine environments will stand the test of time. I've seen these RBSs on race boats running six 300HP outboards. There's one for every engine and hooked up so their switching is automatic. Those engines retail over 35 to 40 grand a pop so you can rest assure they'll last in your bus. Here's our set up. It enables us to connect the Magnum inverter to either or both the house &/or chassis battery banks.

[David Anderson]

First test run today. I used the device for 3 hours today to run my Coleman roof top ac.  It worked flawlessly. It maintained 14.0 volts dc to the trace SW2512 the whole time.  The alternator is set at 14.2volts so only .2 voltage drop in a 22' cable.
I've never been able to get those numbers before. The ac pulls 12 amps ac so that is 120 amps dc load.  The switch stays cool to  the touch, no heat. I'm real pleased.

[dtcerrato]

First test run today. I used the device for 3 hours today to run my Coleman roof top ac.  It worked flawlessly. It maintained 14.0 volts dc to the trace SW2512 the whole time.  The alternator is set at 14.2volts so only .2 voltage drop in a 22' cable.
I've never been able to get those numbers before. The ac pulls 12 amps ac so that is 120 amps dc load.  The switch stays cool to  the touch, no heat. I'm real pleased.

Glad it worked out for you!

[luvrbus]

Now if the 2500 watt Trace holds up may be his next hurdle. On a hot day in Texas in Aug the 2512 running the Coleman roof top is going to be about maxed out. With heat comes more amp and watts draw I see that on my 3 Colemans here in AZ according to my SilverLeaf

[dtcerrato]

Now if the 2500 watt Trace holds up may be his next hurdle. On a hot day in Texas in Aug the 2512 running the Coleman roof top is going to be about maxed out. With heat comes more amp and watts draw I see that on my 3 Colemans here in AZ according to my SilverLeaf

That's a for sure point. Our HE Dometic roof air maxes at 11 amps and the 2812 Magnum goes to overload on start for a couple seconds then runs it fine. The Blue Sea RBS has no problem handling the load. I'd be preferring the genny in sustained high heat high load conditions.

[David Anderson]

If I need more than 1 AC I use the genny and run all 3 units. I rarely run just one off the inverter

[windtrader]

There was mention of high current contact relays. Just got this and seems like they are a deal and might work.
https://batteryhookup.com/products/te-connectivity-ev200aaana-500a-0-900vdc