Once you add or use the battery switches it is no longer automatic. I also
see no problem letting the charger also top off the starting battery. If the
charger is really large, having another battery connect during the bulk
charge may actually give you better results. What size is your charger and
house battery? My present and past RV used the bi-directional combiner
concept and it has worked very well for nine years.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Ovregaard [mailto:kovregaard@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 12:04 PM
To: Dennis Haynes
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Surepower 1315 test report

Certainly a relay would have worked for my setup, but since I already
have the separator installed, I might as well add the battery switches
to isolate the batteries while hooked up to the high-amp charger.
Otherwise, this system works very well and I don't have to do a thing.
It's totally automatic.

Keith O.
90 Westy Syncro "VikingWagen"

On May 9, 2009, at 7:26 PM, Dennis Haynes wrote:

> At that point what you really want is an ignition switch or alternator
> controlled relay. A lot cheaper than the combiner.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of
> Keith Ovregaard
> Sent: Saturday, May 09, 2009 6:05 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Surepower 1315 test report
>
> To answer the question of whether disconnecting the ground from the
> 1315 battery separator would force the battery banks to separate, the
> answer is no. The 1315 must be able to sense voltage between the
> batteries without being grounded. FYI, my 1315 is wired with a manual
> boost switch and LED indicator, for what that's worth. That shouldn't
> have anything to do with normal operation. I also isolated the 1315
> from the frame ground to see if that had any effect and it didn't. So,
> it looks like the installation of a main switch on each battery will
> do the trick to guarantee isolation of the batteries.
>
> Keith O.
> 90 Westy Syncro "VikingWagen"
>