Smith Auto Electric is proud to be a warehouse distributor of Sure Power Industries. Sure Power products can take care of virtually all of your multi-battery needs. I have included some information below that may help you to have a better understanding of multi-battery problems.
The Battery Isolator
Why You Need To Isolate Your Batteries:
Many vehicles and other types of equipment have multiple batteries ... one to start the engine, and others to power accessories. To understand the problem of multi-battery drain , andhow a Sure Power Battery Isolator prevents it, think of electricity as water. Electrical current is equal to the flow of water and voltage is equal to the pressure. The alternator pumps current (water) into the batteries (storage tanks). The current then flows through the wires (pipes) to the accessories. It's important to think of batteries as storage tanks. If a fully charged battery is connected directly parallel with a discharged or empty battery, the voltage pressure in the full battery will force its current into the empty battery until the current stored in both batteries reaches a common level. The discharged battery will always rob power from a charged battery. So no matter how many batteries you have on your vehicle, the accessories connected to one will draw power from the other batteries in the circuit. This is the problem of multi-battery drain. If it's allowed to continue unchecked, it can leave you stuck with dead batteries and an engine that won't start ... all when you least expect it.
Solenoids:
One of the "so-called" solutions for multi-battery drain is nothing more than an automotive type solenoid, a switch that disconnects batteries one from another. With a solenoid, there's no multi-battery drain while the batteries are disconnected. But the second the solenoid reconnects the batteries, the drained battery robs power from the starting battery. That isn't all that happens. This sudden, violent transfer of energy from one battery to another has been known to damage batteries or shorten their life and overheat wires and connections. And worst of all, cause fires. AN AUTOMOTIVE TYPE SOLENOID IS NO SOLUTION FOR MULTI-BATTERY DRAIN.The Solution:
To eliminate the multi-battery drain problem, a Sure Power BATTERY ISOLATOR or BATTERY SEPARATOR (smart solenoid) can be installed.The BATTERY ISOLATOR acts as a check valve between the batteries, preventing current from flowing from one battery to another. Each battery is isolated and acts as an independent power source.
So no matter how drained your accessory batteries become, they will never drain power from the battery you're depending on to start your engine. When the current is used from battery #2, the check valve (diodes) stops current flow from battery #1. When the alternator is charging, current can only flow in one direction, from the alternator to the batteries. Each battery then determines the amount of current which flows into it by its own state of charge, based on the voltage regulator setting. With this system, the alternator is protected, the batteries are protected and your family or passengers are protected. The balanced circuit electronic isolator is one of the best ways to maintain proper isolation and control. Thus multi-battery problems are solved.
A BATTERY SEPARATOR can also be used, instead of an Isolator and includes these features:
- Simple Installation - connects to primary battery, auxiliary battery and ground
- Multiple Battery Charging - allows multiple batteries to be charged from one charging source
- Prioritized Charging - waits until the battery connected to the activated charging source reaches 13.2 volts before paralleling and charging the remaining batteries
- Prevents Charging System Overload
- Start Assist Feature - an optional input from the key or manual switch will program the Battery Separator to parallel the batteries during starting
- Universally Suited - for mounting on two vehicle or towable
- Voltage Spikes - generated by the coil of the solenoid are absorbed by protective circuitry built into the Battery Separator
The difference in whether to use a battery isolator or battery separator will depend on whether your alternator has internal or external voltage sensing. Many of the newer alternators are internal sensing and so cannot be used with an isolator, because of the loss of approximately 1 volt across the diodes, In these cases you would use a battery separator. The experts at Smith Auto Electric can determine which unit you will need.
The Battery Equalizer... Duvac II
At Smith Auto Electric we carry the Duvac II battery equalizer by Sure Power. It is an excellent product and can solve a multitude of problems when dealing with different DC voltages. A battery equalizer is used when different DC voltages are used within a system. Some examples of this are listed below:
- Operating 12 volt communication gear or accessories on 24 volt equipment.
- Operating 12 volt Detroit Diesel DDEC's on 24 volt equipment.
- Operating 12 volt transmission controls and engine controls on 24 volt equipment.
- 12 volt vehicles with 24 volt start without series parallel switches.
- Jump starting 24 volt buses and equipment from 12 volt vehicles.
- Operating 24 volt accessories on 12 volt equipment.
You can find out more information about the many quality products available from Sure Power Industries by visiting their website. If we can be of help giving you more information or if you want to purchase a Sure Power product from us, please use the contact information below to reach us.
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Smith Auto Electric
12 South 3rd Avenue
Yakima, Washington 98902
USA
Telephone (509) 453-8275
Toll Free (800) 822-0819
Fax (509) 453-8294
[email protected]
