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I need electronic guidance... - Hammerhead - 03-27-2018
I need to ask the guys who understand electronic crap for help...
Here's the situation.
My trailer has a Honda pony motor that runs the hydraulic system on the trailer.
The Honda is electric start.
I've just recently replaced the motor box and have had my lifetime fill of garden tractor horseshit batteries that don't even last six months! So I extended the motor box dimensions by a couple of inches, shifted the motor ahead a couple of inches, and had room (barely!) to mount an automotive sized AGM battery (I forget the actual group size) in the motor box! I am VERY happy that I accomplished this, and this battery rips my new Honda starter over like it's on NOS, life is good...I've been pull starting for several years.
So now that I've actually got a decent battery system in my trailer, here's what I want to accomplish;
The Honda doesn't run everyday. In fact, it sometimes doesn't need starting for a week or so at a time...
I want to protect and extend the life of my AGM as much as possible, so...
When my truck is running down the road, the blue No. 7 wire is always Hot. It powers my strobes as well as my Air Weigh scale system.
I have wired a junction box into the new motor box, that the Hot line & ground runs into. I currently have a switch, that connects the Hot line to the positive battery post and the ground is direct/constant. I turn the switch On to "trickle charge" the AGM.
My questions are;
When I turn the switch ON, am I actually trickle charging the AGM?
Can I install a diode or something that will trickle charge the AGM instead of the ON/OFF switch? I ask this because I have found because the switch is wired to the AGM and reverse powers the ABS system of my truck, if I forget to turn this switch off at night, it throws an ABS code on the tractor at morning startup.
Also, I don't want to slowly draw from the AGM overnight when I'm a dumbass and forget to turn the switch OFF at night.
So please help me...what am I looking for?
And how do I do it correctly?
RE: I need electronic guidance... - Rawze - 03-27-2018
a couple 50-amp power diodes in parrellel mounted to a small aluminum plate for heat dissipation (isolated from ground). The output of that into an old-school style car brake-light bulb (single element, not dual) mounted on a socket (also isolated from ground). the output of the car bulb into the hot sid of the battery. No component(s) should be grounded, only tied to the hot side. When the battery wants to draw a ton of current because it is low or dead, the tail light bulb will light and limit the current nicely to about 8 amps or so. The doide(s) will only allow the power to flow towards the battery, the light bulb will prevent shorts and limit current. When the bulb is lit bright, the battery is very low and when the light is out completely, the battery is at full charge. You also need a fuse for fire prevention.
--> Power source lead --> 15-amp fuse --> couple over-sized diode(s) in parallel --> lt.bulb in series --> hot side of battery.
=======
Just some thoughts that come to mind. Maybe there are better things but I have made a few isolated trickle charge battery boxes like that over the years.
RE: I need electronic guidance... - Hammerhead - 03-27-2018
(03-27-2018 )Rawze Wrote: a couple 50-amp power diodes in parrellel mounted to a small aluminum plate for heat dissipation (isolated from ground). The output of that into an old-school style car brake-light bulb (single element, not dual) mounted on a socket (also isolated from ground). the output of the car bulb into the hot sid of the battery. No component(s) should be grounded, only tied to the hot side. When the battery wants to draw a ton of current because it is low or dead, the tail light bulb will light and limit the current nicely to about 8 amps or so. The doide(s) will only allow the power to flow towards the battery, the light bulb will prevent shorts and limit current. When the bulb is lit bright, the battery is very low and when the light is out completely, the battery is at full charge. You also need a fuse for fire prevention.
--> Power source lead --> 15-amp fuse --> couple over-sized diode(s) in parallel --> lt.bulb in series --> hot side of battery.
=======
Just some thoughts that come to mind. Maybe there are better things but I have made a few isolated trickle charge battery boxes like that over the years.
...and here I was thinking a simple diode of some sort would do the trick...
So am I correct in understanding that the incandescent bulb provides a "load" so that the alternator "supplies/pushes" the amperage to then charge the AGM?
And without the bulb, there is no "draw" thus "no charge"?
RE: I need electronic guidance... - Rawze - 03-27-2018
(03-27-2018 )Hammerhead Wrote:(03-27-2018 )Rawze Wrote: a couple 50-amp power diodes in parrellel mounted to a small aluminum plate for heat dissipation (isolated from ground). The output of that into an old-school style car brake-light bulb (single element, not dual) mounted on a socket (also isolated from ground). the output of the car bulb into the hot sid of the battery. No component(s) should be grounded, only tied to the hot side. When the battery wants to draw a ton of current because it is low or dead, the tail light bulb will light and limit the current nicely to about 8 amps or so. The doide(s) will only allow the power to flow towards the battery, the light bulb will prevent shorts and limit current. When the bulb is lit bright, the battery is very low and when the light is out completely, the battery is at full charge. You also need a fuse for fire prevention.
--> Power source lead --> 15-amp fuse --> couple over-sized diode(s) in parallel --> lt.bulb in series --> hot side of battery.
=======
Just some thoughts that come to mind. Maybe there are better things but I have made a few isolated trickle charge battery boxes like that over the years.
...and here I was thinking a simple diode of some sort would do the trick...
So am I correct in understanding that the incandescent bulb provides a "load" so that the alternator "supplies/pushes" the amperage to then charge the AGM?
And without the bulb, there is no "draw" thus "no charge"?
naah. the battery will pull a charge if its voltage is lower then alternator. the bulb is only for limiting current. A dead/low battery can draw hundreds of amps.
RE: I need electronic guidance... - snailexpress - 03-27-2018
Google battery isolator if you don't want to reinvent wheel.
RE: I need electronic guidance... - redbeard - 03-27-2018
Battery isolater like an rv or how about just a simple solar charger?
RE: I need electronic guidance... - Hammerhead - 03-27-2018
(03-27-2018 )snailexpress Wrote: Google battery isolator if you don't want to reinvent wheel.
I thought about an isolator, but I'm just scavenging power from the seventh wire of the trailer cord.
My understanding of an isolator is requires a larger gauge feed wire from the alternator?
RE: I need electronic guidance... - Hammerhead - 03-27-2018
(03-27-2018 )redbeard Wrote: Battery isolater like an rv or how about just a simple solar charger?
No place to mount a solar charger, and when stacked up it would be covered by the jeep.
And even if I could, I don't think a solar panel would be robust enough to last very long in my working conditions.
I play with sledge hammers, crowbars, 1-3/4" wrenched, 1-1/8" bolts nuts and washers on regular basis'...so fragile doesn't mix with that stuff very well. It to mention routine off road and ravel road me work.
RE: I need electronic guidance... - Waterloo - 03-27-2018
I think an isolator would work, they make different sizes. I run one to my stereo in the truck.