installing stinger sgp32 200a battery isolator relay

[unicutie]

thought I would make this its own thread. This came today, yea that's the entire instructions! lol.

I'm still waiting on the breakers to get here. Let me show you these, they are pretty cool :
anjoshi inline circuit breaker

they look just like inline fuses, fit from 0awg and smaller. i got the 100amp breaker - the relay is rated up to 200 amps, but that's never ever gonna happen unless my van gets lightning struck or something! lol

i have also 25ft of 4awg battery wire and some copper terminals. I just need to grab some small gauge wire and terminals and i will have all the materials together. Hopefully the breakers arrive today and I will get started tonight making the wires.

my aux battery at the moment is a 45$ walmart fla battery of the same type that's under the hood. This is definitely not a permanent situation! ; I'm going with the strategy of minimal electricity use. I have a 6.5w light, a few flashlight batteries to charge, a cell phone and a little bluetooth speaker box, that's about it! I have a 100w little pwm inverter that it all plugs into. I can even plug the laptop in too and run it all at once and the inverter can take it. Not that I plan on running the laptop unless i'm on shore power somewhere! This is pretty much just to get started.

the battery box, well ... i'm keeping it in a plastic box in the driver area. Like i said, it's a temporary solution. as for venting of gases, i'm hoping that cracked windows and being separated from it by a blackout curtain will guide the most of it out of the van that way. The most gas will be produced while i'm driving anyway, and i always drive with windows cracked or rolled down.

i'll be back with more stuff ~~bren

 

[John61CT]

anjoshi inline circuit breaker

they look just like inline fuses, fit from 0awg and smaller. i got the 100amp breaker - the relay is rated up to 200 amps, but that's never ever gonna happen unless my van gets lightning struck or something!

What are you using these for? couldn't find credible references on their quality, have you got links?

Fact they're marketed to car audio market and the low price makes them suss IMO

 

[unicutie]

What are you using these for? couldn't find credible references on their quality, have you got links?

Fact they're marketed to car audio market and the low price makes them suss IMO

I went by reviews on amazon. they go in place of the fuses that you're supposed to put in the battery(+) cable. I was gonna use 80 amp fuses. I highly doubt that they will ever be seriously tested ; my alternator is only 105amps so divide that by 2

 

[unicutie]

actually the stinger is marketed for audio as well

 

[highdesertranger]

the problem I see with that type of circuit breaker is the wires are going to come loose just like they do on the fuses of that type. I would not use the screw pinch terminals on mobile applications. highdesertranger

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I have the impression that stuff designed for audio is deliberately picked to be as fast as possible for the installers to throw together.  They want to get the cars in and out as fast as possible.  Time is money to them.

Far better to buy stuff designed for use on boats, it's built way more rugged.

Anyway, that's my $0.02, not that you asked for it.

 

[unicutie]

too late! they're already here ; we'll see how it goes, i can always tighten them down occasionally.  they seem pretty sturdy otherwise.

 

[SternWake]

I have a similar circuit breaker, but a 30 amp one, inbetween my solar controller and battery.


I can measure voltage drop across it,  and it gets noticeably  warmer than surrounding area when solar is making 7+ amps.

I thouroughly despise it.

I have another cheapo circuit breaker, Absolut brand, rated at 140 amps on my alternator feed.

After a few minutes of 65 to 90 amps it tripped at ~110 amps and I was lucky to not blow the diodes in my alternator as I only have one battery.

Don't cheap out on fuses or circuit breakers. Go for Bussman brand

As far as offgassing when driving, well that is dependent on the voltage the vehicle allows and how much voltage drip is on your circuit.  That circuit breaker is resistance and will cause some voltage drop, perhaps much more than it really should, like my cheapo circuitbreaker does.

 Not much gassing will occur once the vehicles voltage regulator says 13.6v is all you need, also charging amps are about 1/3 at 13.6 compared to if the voltage regulator were seeking 14.7v.

Be aware that the alternator, when cold and spinning fast has the potential to make a LOT of amperage, but  if it is only allowed to make enough juice to seek and hold  13.6v by the voltage regulator,m which controls the output of the alternator, that potential is severly limited.

And 80% charged to 100% charged pretty much cannot be accomplished in under 3 hours, and those 3 hours are at ideal voltages, which your vehicle will not allow for those 3 hours.

So I would not get a pricey battery until you have a way of actually fully charging it regularly. Like by plugging in and using a battery charger, or using solar. 

A voltmeter on your dashboard whose voltage sense lines are on house battery terminals will go a long way at showing you how fast the battery is being charged, but an Ammeter and a voltmeter would be much much better.  How many amps flow into ad epleted battery at a certain voltage can reveal a lot.

If the battery accepts a lot of amps, it is not fully charged  When a flooded 100AH battery acepts only ~1 amp at 14.5v, it is very close to fully charged, but taking 10 amps at 14 volts, means that battery is somewhere around 85% charged and that last 15% isgoing to take about 3 hours at 14 volts, on a healthy battery, Unhealthy batteries take even longer to fully charge.

I have this Ammeter display on my dashboard showing amps into or out of my battery.

https://www.amazon.com/bayite-Digit...75&sr=1-9-spons&keywords=bayite+ammeter&psc=1

Just slide the  ring shaped hall effect sensor over a single fat wire.

 

[John61CT]

Yes for the main battery don't skimp.

Amazon reviews are not reliable, nor is gear marketed for audio use.

Don't bother with circuit breakers, put in a proper switch and a respected marine rated fuse, ​Class T, ANL or MRBF type.

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/battery_fusing

 

[unicutie]

Thanks for the info yall very helpful. I'm gonna wire it up with what i have now.. Like i said, temporary all its really gotta do is keep my phone charged without killing my starter bat. 

The next iteration of my electrical system will be coming in three to six months. Decent batteries, better wiring, solar. I definitely like the idea of using boat stuff. Right now I'm trying to get otr in a bit of a hurry ;p they're after me!! Haha. 

I have a volt meter so i can at least test for voltage drops and such things.

 

[Almost There]

If you can't sent that fuse holder back then go ahead and use it but IIWM I'd be buying a better one ASAP to have on hand.

I had one like that. It was the only thing I could get in a hurry in Cottonwood and it came from an audio shop.

I had electrical problems. When John (Got Smart) removed it we found that the plastic had fried without blowing the fuse.

I now have proper fuse blocks throughout my entire system!!!

 

[John61CT]

Yes, remember the whole purpose is preventing fires

 

[unicutie]

I need to wire the isolator relay to a 12v power wire, meaning i need to splice into something. Not sure what to splice into. I'm still looking around online but any suggestions? I've got solder and electoral tape

 

[MikeRuth]

I too concur that fuses would be better but here may be cases like mine that lend themselves to a breaker. My battery is tucked up between the body and the frame rails so accessing a fuse there is a REAL PITA, I elected for a breaker there. One benefit and I know there not to be used as switches but if need be I can reach under and pop it disconnecting the batteries.
so far with my uses this has been a good setup.

As for that inline, make sure you get a good fit of the wire into the pocket. I'd personally use blue loc-tite on the tightening screw and of course after a month or so of running around recheck it. See if the wire is still secure.

I brought a small gauge wire up to a panel switch in the cab from the house battery and then out to the solenoid. Not sure about yours, but mine pulls about 1 amp.

Mike R

P.S. I have to say that after I installed my batteries, solenoid etc, I was a tad paranoid and literally examined everything after every drive. that was two years ago, after a month or so I was completely comfortable I had a solid setup.

 

[unicutie]

well one thing i thought of is, what if i'm in the middle of the desert and i blow my last fuse somehow? that makes a breaker seem like a good idea ... i don't think they'll even trip much less blow, but we will see.

loctite, that's a good idea, but i dunno. i tightened those things wayyyy down. they don't seem like they're going anywhere!! here's the cable for the house batt to the relay : 

a

Now, I'm confused about the power wire to the relay. I would think it should only be engaged at run, not while the engine is cranking. But a lot of what i'm reading says to wire it to an ignition wire. But that would mean juice would be running from both batteries to the starter when the engine is starting up. which seems like a bad idea with only 100 amp fuses! So i'm thinking it would be better to wire it to one that is "acc & run" rather than "run & start" ??? and then just never set the key to acc (which is turning it all the way back) .... hm hm.

 

[unicutie]

 

[John61CT]

Do not use solder!

Get proper connectors and the corresponding crimpers and learn how to use them.

Whatever the maximum amps draw is between your alt and starter, buy proper wiring at the right gauge

https://www.bluesea.com/resources/1437

and make fresh connections, the old stock wiring in your vehicle may not be sufficient.

 

[unicutie]

Do not use solder!

Get proper connectors and the corresponding crimpers and learn how to use them.

Whatever the maximum amps draw is between your alt and starter, buy proper wiring at the right gauge

https://www.bluesea.com/resources/1437

and make fresh connections, the old stock wiring in your vehicle may not be sufficient.

sorry but you lost me. i think we're talking about two separate things. unless you are talking about those crimp style splicers.

I am needing to tap into an existing wire. I'm not gonna completely rewire anything.

basically what this person is talking about doing. https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-in...erly-splice-into-wire-without-cutting-228546/ that's the only thing that I am not sure how i will accomplish. everything else is wired up or i know how i am going to wire it. I have the right gauge wire and i have terminals for it. it's only on a 20 to 30 amp fused circuit. I understand that the existing wire may be decomposed/decomposing but from the look of the wiring in my particular van that's probably not gonna be an issue for me for a while. I'm not gonna take apart the damn dashboard for this right now.

my frustration level is rising

 

[John61CT]

What is the purpose of your new solenoid?

 

[unicutie]

it's a battery isolator. it's the exact same thing as wiring up two batteries in a parallel bank, the difference being that there is a relay in between the main one and the aux one that breaks the connection whenever the engine is shut off. The relay has to be actuated by its own power source and that's what i'm trying to find now. I have the battery cables set up already.

the power wire for the relay is small because the relay is only like 1 amp @ 12v. 

there's a grounding bar on the firewall for it, and I did find a power wire for the relay. although you guys are going to hate it a lot! X) 

I found this wire already spliced in a really janky way. It's a purple wire that was extended on one end with one of those twist connectors and on the other end with electrical tape :O Anyway I plugged into it and found it to be the type of wire I need. I have no idea what it is attached to however. It's still gonna be janky but i'm gonna do it at least a little classier. I do want to solder this joint but I won't, because you said not to, lol. Why did you say don't solder exactly?