Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Isolater vs Alternator (My experience)
| Re: [GMCnet] Isolater vs Alternator [message #326700 is a reply to message #326699] |
Sun, 03 December 2017 16:53   |
k2gkk
Messages: 4452
Registered: November 2009
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Addition of a combiner enables independent charging of both chassis (engine) AND house batteries from the AC power supply (so-called converter). Unlike the isolator, which uses diodes to prevent back charging and has an approximately .7 Volt drop, the combiner uses circuitry to sense which battery is being charged and will direct charging current from either vehicle alternator or shore powered "converter" to the battery with the lowest charge.
At least that is MY understanding of it!
D C "Mac" Macdonald
Amateur Radio K2GKK
Since 30 November '53
USAF and FAA, Retired
Member GMCMI & Classics
Oklahoma City, OK
"The Money Pit"
TZE166V101966
'76 ex-Palm Beach
k2gkk + hotmail dot com
________________________________
From: Gmclist on behalf of John Phillips
Sent: Sunday, December 3, 2017 16:39
To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Isolater vs Alternator
Does a combiner tie both battery sets together when it starts to charge? If
so how do you avoid using the charged battery to charge the discharged
battery?
I would think the isolator even if you went to 400 amps would be a better
deal as long as you use a remote sense alternator. There is a 400 amp full
wave bride on eBay for less than $30 and the $150 amp is less than $10.
What am I missing about a combiner?
On Sat, Dec 2, 2017 at 7:28 PM, Ken Burton wrote:
> Wow. Doom and gloom on isolators.
>
> My OEM isolator and my 100 amp dual pulley alternator have co-existed for
> 13 years. I put a lot of load on them as I seldom plug in anywhere when I
> travel. So during the day my alternator and isolator have to recover the
> discharged golf cart batteries.
>
> I have been involved with the replacement of 3 combiners and 1 isolator on
> GMCs. None of which were on my coach. The isolator that broke was rusted
> so badly that I twisted off a stud trying to loosen the rusted nut. Had I
> left it alone and not tried to clean the connections it probably would
> still be running today. I have the bad isolator and someday I'll open it
> up to see if the stud can be replaced. It was and is still good
> electrically. That is more than I can say about the three bad combiners I
> worked on. Two of the bad combiners were on Dan's coach. He ended up
> carrying a spare in case it failed again.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
>
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--
*John Phillips*
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