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I have read elsewhere that car alternators and the regulators they contain are designed to get a starting battery to ~75% charge and then only very slowly charge a battery to 100%. This is to protect batteries from being overcharged on long distance driving (taxi's, etc)
(It occurs to me that this overcharging is piss poor design in modern vehicles )
Because of this the charging of house batteries can be very slow and may never happen in typical 4wd touring conditions, where a battery is drained overnight to run the fridge then driving to the next destination.
I have heard of smart regulators for marine use but do these replace the regulator in the alternator or are they just a smart charger? If they replace the regulator (which is internal to the alternator in most cases) then I guess the alternator is being used to its full potential. If they connect after the regulator then are they still able to charge a house battery faster?
Grazza,
I use a sterling power 4 stage 'smart regulator'. You need to bypass the internal regulator in an intrnally regulated alternator- not difficult to do.
The full charging capacity of the alternator is avail according to what the 'smart charger' determines the battery needs to bring it up to 100% charge.
The down side is increased water consumption/evaporation from the battery as the temp rise is greater during extended boost charge cycles. Boost cysle may run for 60-180 minutes as a guide to bring the float voltage up.
My system has served me very well over the last 10 years. Wiring is more fiddly tahn just hooking up a battery isolator to the charge circuit.
Its fair to say they are more aligned with marine applications, but do work very well in 4wd's.
PBBIZ2 wrote:Grazza,
I use a sterling power 4 stage 'smart regulator'. You need to bypass the internal regulator in an intrnally regulated alternator- not difficult to do.
The full charging capacity of the alternator is avail according to what the 'smart charger' determines the battery needs to bring it up to 100% charge.
The down side is increased water consumption/evaporation from the battery as the temp rise is greater during extended boost charge cycles. Boost cysle may run for 60-180 minutes as a guide to bring the float voltage up.
My system has served me very well over the last 10 years. Wiring is more fiddly tahn just hooking up a battery isolator to the charge circuit.
Its fair to say they are more aligned with marine applications, but do work very well in 4wd's.
Hope this helps
Phil
I like the idea - but when I checked on these type of things last I was horrified by the price.
What did you pay?
Does it meausure battery temp?
Can it deal with multiple batteries seperatly?
How does it go with ECU type cars?
replied to this, then website crashed, so here we go again!
The units were expensive, and I paid whatever the price ws at the time, but not much cheaper than what they are now.
The 12V only controller has a single temp sensor for either battery or alternator, and the 12/24V unit has 2 sensors. I found the 55 deg C threshold too low for practical use in Aust as under bonnet temps get much higher in summer. The sensors, if used will trip out and default the controller to a 25 deg C profile. I ran my controller on the 25 deg C profile to good effect.
I think the later release dual battery charger units offer a better solution than the unit I have. I looked at these newer units when I replaced my controlller - blew it up thru abuse I believe on my part - but the units were too big for the slot I had to fit it into. I understand the latest versions are now a lot smaller, but price is still circa $350 AUD from memory. These newer controllers monitor and adjust for multiple batteries I think, but the unit I have assumes you are not mixing battery types, and then charges according to the battery category you select. The newer units allow different battery types, ie wet cell for cranking and AGM or GEL or dry cell for house batteries - so a real step up in technology.
Not sure on ECU compatability. I doubt my unit would be since it interupts the internal volt control module as part of the alternator. Point in passing also, the alternator needs to be a style with a replacement reg like the bosch or lucas, not a solid state unit like on my '97 Nissan Patrol. I had to replace the alternator, then modify the replacement for my system, hence additional cost.
Ring the Aust Agent, Ian, on 0427 648 726. Ask about the AVR-12 unit and what it can do and what vehicles it is applicable for. This is a different unit to mine, and I think might be better suit to ECU vehicles, and also gives a more powerful solution to high performance battery management.
This gear suits my needs which are remote area camping for extended periods, so maintaining deep cycle batteries in optimal condition is my focus. I did run this system with a 200amp altenator when I had my electric winch, and it worked very well on occassion in keeping the juice up to the cranking battery/winch battery.
Hope this helps, drop me a PM if further info required.
)
