installing stinger sgp32 200a battery isolator relay

[John61CT]

Maybe not so critical for such a small wire, but crimping is much more reliable for mobile vibrating connections.

I thought you were hooking up the main power output/throughput wires, which go direct from batt to batt.

In any case carry on, I'll bow out here.

 

[unicutie]

it works : i just finished plugging it all in and started the truck. i tested each wire connection first with an ohm meter. then i tested the relay only. then i plugged in the aux batt. -then- i turned the breakers on! and boom, 13.8 volts in the house ;) i dunno if i should show pictures. it's jury rigged. it's a fairly safe jury rigging, but it's still not ideal. I'm gonna have to rewire the whole thing for about 12 reasons. for one i put the fuse on the wrong end of one of the battery cables. oops! it's more convenient having both breakers right next to each other though, wish i could leave it that way.

 

[unicutie]

Poooooop! I messed up. I wired the relay to the turn signal relay ... so when i left to go on a drive and hit the turn signal i heard my battery relay going clack clack !! >.< 

so i still need to find that correct ignition lead to plug into. but the hard part is done, the battery wire through the firewall and all that. I guess I may be tearing the dashboard apart tomorrow after all! >.<

 

[unicutie]

okay what i'm probably gonna do tomorrow is get a fuse tap. the wire is hooked up already right next to the fuse panel. so i wouldn't have to move anything. I have a few empty sockets on my fuse panel so i may not even have to piggy back anything, which would be good since i heard these things have fatter legs and mess up the socket on the fuse box. Anyway this just seems less ... messy. than splicing a wire. And I reeeeally don't want to open up the dashboard. So many screws and stuff ... bleh!

Maybe it's just me and my messy ways. But with cars and computers, I always end up with an extra screw or 2 once I stitch everything back together ..... hehehh

fuse tap:

 

[Gary68]

there are extra ignition slots in your fuse box you can run a wire to

 

[unicutie]

there are extra ignition slots in your fuse box you can run a wire to

hm are they labeled usually? how do you wire into them? I just checked it out some more, the empty fuse slots are for devices my van didn't come with, and they don't even have terminals wired into them. I'm really trying to avoid taking the fuse panel off. I"m gonna go look around down there some more.

edit - just googled some more and found this "... Often there are blank single terminals provided for the things you're doing. GM used to label them "Ign" for those that were live in the "run" position, "Acc" for those that were live in "run" and "accessory", and "Bat" for those that were tied right to the battery and were live all the time ..." lemme grab that flash light! X)

edit2 - yes! I found it on there. It takes one of those little one post molex plugs. i gotta figure out what those plugs are called.

 

[SternWake]

Under my dash, there was this very oxidized connector, hooked to nothing.  I tested it and found 12 volts, only after engine started which is perfect for use as a solenoid trigger.

Many circuits will be live with key to ON or ACC, dead during actual engine cranking and On again after releasing key from start.

I feel it best to not have solenoid cycling on and off more than required, and I would not want house battery assisting the engine battery cranking the starter motor.

An illuminated manual switch on the solenoid trigger circuit is a wise addition. Sometimes with wet belts and a very depleted battery, the alternator's belt might squeal in protest until it dries out.  Turning the switch to OFF until the belts have dried out  and things warm up, will stop the squealing and the damage to belt from slipping.  The switch can also stop unnecessary solenoid cycling if the trigger circuit does the On off mambo with the key position.

 

[highdesertranger]

for a GM I would go to a junk yard and look at all the vehicles that have that type of fuse box it will be any GM of that era cars, trucks, and vans. look at the factory pig tails that come off the fuse panel they lock in place you squeeze the tab to release them. pull a likely looking one cut the wire leaving you plenty to use. highdesertranger

 

[unicutie]

Under my dash, there was this very oxidized connector, hooked to nothing.  I tested it and found 12 volts, only after engine started which is perfect for use as a solenoid trigger.

Many circuits will be live with key to ON or ACC, dead during actual engine cranking and On again after releasing key from start.

I feel it best to not have solenoid cycling on and off more than required, and I would not want house battery assisting the engine battery cranking the starter motor.

An illuminated manual switch on the solenoid trigger circuit is a wise addition. Sometimes with wet belts and a very depleted battery, the alternator's belt might squeal in protest until it dries out.  Turning the switch to OFF until the belts have dried out  and things warm up, will stop the squealing and the damage to belt from slipping.  The switch can also stop unnecessary solenoid cycling if the trigger circuit does the On off mambo with the key position.

yea i don't really like the idea of the relay being engaged when the engine is cranking either. That's how I wired it because that's how everyone on the internet said to do it that way (lol) but I can change it easily. What I ended up doing for a connection was to get a fuse tap connector, so I can just plug it into whatever circuit I prefer. I went ahead and used the 20a-fused blinker circuit again which is hot at acc, ign, and start. If i ever trip a breaker when i'm starting the van though, I'll probably change it. It seems that the breakers I got are good for the current spike, I 've started the truck a few times now and it hasn't tripped. It seems okay set up this way, it actually seems to start a little more easily with both batteries, but more testing will be needed. I haven't tried cranking it yet with a full starter and a drained house battery

highdesertstranger I still want some of those little pig tail ends ; I chose to use the fuse tap so I wouldn't have to buy an inline fuse and butt splicers and all that. Since the solenoid is like, an amp, the fuse tap is sufficient (10 amps max for the secondary circuit).

oh and The reason I got those breakers in the first place was that I couldn't find the inline fuse holders and high amp fuses in an auto part store. Well, I looked a little harder in there today and sure enough they actually did have them. oops ; I figured, well, if i'm ordering stuff online anyway i'm gonna try these since they're about the same price and i can get them here by tomorrow and they just seem cool : so, good to know they will be easy to get if i come to hate the breakers. ;

now i want some instrumentation! maybe once I get solar.