Dennis,

Thanks for the explanation.  Yes, I did order a charger with the built in
"smart charge wizard".

Harold
___
Harold Teer
1991 Westy (Vangaux)
Harrisonburg, VA

On Wed, May 6, 2009 at 10:36 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:

> I have used these devices. The 1315 is a bi directional charge control
> relay. If either battery bank goes to 13.2 volt it will engage connecting
> the two banks together. This does allow a charger connected to the house
> battery to also charge the chassis battery.
>
> The Progressive Dynamics de-sulphation or equalize charge will not cause
> harm and in fact is also helpful for the starting battery. Do you also have
> the "Charge control wizard" This is a really helpful add on for these
> chargers. I had the 80 amp charger in my last motor home. From experience,
> the equalize charge would peak at 14.5 volts. This was charging two golf
> cart batteries and a group 27 starting battery. National RV had their own
> design combiner that worked similar to the 1315 except the drop out voltage
> all the way down at 11.5 volts.
>
> The 1315 does cut in at 13.2 and seems to drop out at 12.8 volts. During
> periods of high demand and low alternator output such as idling with the AC
> on or the radiator fan on high speed will cause the 1315 to drop out. This
> is lousy as during these times it would be helpful to have the house
> battery
> carry some of this load.
>
> To get the best results the alternator wiring should also be upgraded. I
> like to run a separate #8 line from the alternator to whatever relay used
> for charging the house battery. Of course this can't be used for starting
> assist.
>
> GM batteries have unique charging requirements. While they do need a shot
> to
> 14.6 volts for a full charge, this peak has to be for a controlled time
> period. AGM do not like frequent de-sulphation or equalizing charges.
>
> I hope this helps,
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Harold Teer
> Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 8:31 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Surepower 1315, auxiliary fuse block, Progressive Dynamics
> charger, and Vitrifrigo installation questions
>
> Loren,
>
> Thanks for the response to my message about the surepower, fridge, charger,
> etc.  Your thoughts are helpful and I am learning more by the day.
>
> After reading a recent post about the 1314 I was worried I may have the
> wrong separator so today I spoke to someone at Smith Auto Electric (bought
> the 1315 from them at www.smithae.com ) about the 1314 and 1315 and
> explained my situation.  He said the 1315 was the correct separator for the
> van and our application.  Said the 1315 will not allow the starter battery
> to be charged from the auxiliary battery unless the starter battery is low.
> Thus, the Iota or PD with the smart charger will work its magic on the
> auxiliary battery.
>
> Before receiving your response, I called Iota and asked a tech person what
> size wire to use between the 30amp charger and the auxiliary battery.  He
> might have been being cautious, but he recommended #8 unless I had a long
> run, which I will not have.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Harold
> ___
> Harold Teer
> 1991 Westy (Vangaux)
> Harrisonburg, VA
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 8:36 PM, Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Sorry for the slow response on this, I was out camping over the weekend.
> > I have a setup nearly identical to what you describe.  Difference:
> Norcold
> > vs. Vitrofrigio and larger aux battery under the rear seat.
> >
> > On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 9:12 AM, Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@gmail.com
> >wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> At present, I plan to use the regular group 41 battery under the
> passenger
> >> and driver seats since both batteries are relatively new.
> >
> >
> > You may find the  Group 41 a little smaller than you want then you start
> > using the setup, I went to a 110 AH Group 31 AGM under the rear seat and
> > wired with #2 up to the old aux battery compartment to make connections
> easy
> > to the existing wiring.
> >
> >  While I think I have a pretty good understanding of the equipment, I am
> >> uncertain as to the
> >> correct wire size and some of the connections and want to do this
> >> correctly.
> >>
> >> 1) I have the Surepower 1315 and plan to use it to replace the silver
> >> fridge
> >> relay and do not plan to use the "starter assist mode" built into the
> >> Surepower 1315.  In that case, it appears that there is no advantage to
> >> replacing the existing wire from the starting battery with a larger
> wire.
> >> Is that correct?
> >
> >
> > That's exactly what I did, used the existing wire coming from the
> starting
> > battery connected directly to the 1315 and the 1315 NOT set up for
> starting
> > (though I've had one occasion since that I wish I had).
> >
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >> Am I also correct that I should just "tape up" the westy
> >> blue wire from the alternator and the ignition switched on wire?
> >
> >
> > I can't remember what I did with the infamous 'blue wire', I assume I did
> > just that, taped it up and stuffed it into a corner.
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> 2) I plan to run wires from the auxiliary battery to a Blue Sea ST blade
> >> fuse block (http://bluesea.com/productspecs/5025) to do away with the
> >> current jumble of wires and inline fuses running from the positive
> >> terminal
> >> of the auxiliary battery.  This fuse block will be mounted either on the
> >> wall behind the drivers seat or in the cabinet by the new fridge.  My
> >> intention is to run wires from the fuse block to the existing Propex
> >> heater,
> >> to fuse position #3, the new Vitrifrigo fridge, etc..  What size wire
> >> should
> >> I use from the battery to the positive and negative terminals of the
> fuse
> >> block?
> >
> >
> > I have that exact setup on the cabinet wall behind the drivers seat
> > (actually will be replacing another type fuse block with the Blue Sea).
>  I
> > have about a #4 feeding it through a 40 amp breaker.
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> 3)  According to where I end up putting the fuse block, the length of DC
> >> wires that come with the Vitrifrigo may not be long enough to reach the
> >> fuse
> >> block.  Can I just tie in enough of the same size wire to reach the fuse
> >> block?
> >
> >
> > Yes, no problem.  Or as someone else suggested you can tie into the 12v
> > wiring that fed the Dometic 'fridge.
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> 4) The Progressive Dynamics PD9130 converter/charger (
> >>
> >>
>
> http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9130_2.htm
> l
> >> )
> >> is highly recommended by several people on the list. Only because the
> >> height
> >> dimenstion is 1" less, I have looked at the Iota DLS-30 (
> >> http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls30.htm) as a substitute.  I do not
> >> understand all of the specifications and need advice as to whether the
> >> Iota
> >> is a decent substitute.
> >
> >
> > I don't know about the Iota but just had a good/bad experience with my PD
> > 9130.  The bad:  I fried it at a campground that had a wiring problem.
> The
> > good: Progressive Dynamics had a replacement to me in about four days,
> $100
> > exchange plus shipping.  And since they didn't have a 9130 on the shelf
> at
> > the time they sent a 9140 at the same price.  And for the two years I've
> had
> > this setup I've loved the way it works for me.  The charger is hardwired
> to
> > the aux battery and left plugged into the 110v outlet in the van.  If I
> have
> > shore power I just plug in and both batteries are kept topped off.
> > BTW, I also have my solar charge controller hardwired to the aux battery
> > and I just deploy and plug in the solar panels when appropriate. Ao yeah,
> I
> > have the PD Charge Wizard for the 9130 (now 9140)
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> 5) I have found a good buy on the Progressive Dynamics PD9245C
> >> converter/charger (
> >>
> >>
>
> http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9245c_2.ht
> ml<http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9245c_2.ht%0Aml>
> >> )
> >> which would make it cheaper than the PD9130 unit.  Would there be a
> >> problem
> >> with using this unit?
> >
> >
> > I don't know why not and the 9200 series has the 'smart charge' circuitry
> > built in, you don't need the external Charger Wizard.
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> 6)  What size wire would you run from the converter/charger to the
> >> auxillary
> >> battery?
> >
> >
> > I'm running #10
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>