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| Re: [GMCnet] Battery Separator = Combiner [message #104822 is a reply to message #104818] |
Mon, 01 November 2010 22:59   |
Mr ERFisher
Messages: 7117
Registered: August 2005
Karma: 2
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Senior Member |
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there have always been other makers of "combiner" devices
http://gmcmotorhome.info/batt.htm#diode
look down the page for some of them.
I really liked the bluesea version because you could set the trigger
voltages and it had a lamp driver for the "combined" state, ( no longer
available)
but it is hard to beat the price and 100% warranity of the Yandina
gene
On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 8:28 PM, Ken Henderson <hend4800@bellsouth.net>wrote:
> Paul Bartz just called to my attention these new product announcements from
> Waytek Wire:
>
>
> http://order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/80002/SURE%20POWER%201315%20BATTERY/
>
> <
> http://order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/80002/SURE%20POWER%201315%20BATTERY/
> >
>
> http://order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/80003/SURE%20POWER%201315-200%20BATTERY/
>
> If you read the descriptions and data sheets you'll find that these
> "Separators" are what we've known for several years now as "Combiners". I
> don't know whether their change in nomenclature is to avoid patent
> conflicts
> with Andina Marie Foster of Yandina.com, or what, but the functions are the
> same. These devices do have one additional optional feature: They'll
> automatically execute a "boost" function if the auxiliary (house) batteries
> are charged within 0.85 VDC of the starting battery. Perhaps a useful
> feature.
>
> The prices are reasonable, but I have two concerns: (1) These are
> apparently new on the market. (2) I see no reference to the warranty. By
> comparison, (1) Andina Marie invented them several years ago. (2) She
> offers
> a lifetime warranty on her products.
>
> Ken H.
> _______________________________________________
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--
Gene Fisher -- 74-23,77PB/ore/ca
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today --- give him a URL and
-------
http://gmcmotorhome.info/
Alternator Protection Cable
http://gmcmotorhome.info/APC.html
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| Re: [GMCnet] Battery Separator = Combiner [message #104884 is a reply to message #104818] |
Tue, 02 November 2010 20:39 |
Erv Troyer
Messages: 125
Registered: February 2004
Location: Lagrange, IN
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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| Ken Henderson wrote on Mon, 01 November 2010 22:28 |
Paul Bartz just called to my attention these new product announcements from Waytek Wire:
<snip>
If you read the descriptions and data sheets you'll find that these "Separators" are what we've known for several years now as "Combiners". I don't know whether their change in nomenclature is to avoid patent conflicts with Andina Marie Foster of Yandina.com, or what, but the functions are the
same. These devices do have one additional optional feature: They'll automatically execute a "boost" function if the auxiliary (house) batteries are charged within 0.85 VDC of the starting battery. Perhaps a useful feature.
The prices are reasonable, but I have two concerns: (1) These are apparently new on the market. (2) I see no reference to the warranty. By comparison, (1) Andina Marie invented them several years ago. (2) She offers a lifetime warranty on her products.
|
Ken,
These are not "new on the market" as you mentioned. I have had one of these in my GMC for over ten years, and we were using them in our custom truck sleepers long before that. Their availability preceded any mention of the Yandina Combiner in the GMC Net, although I can't say how long they have been available.
If you look at the label you will see they are made by Sure Power Industries, which is the major supplier of battery isolators to the RV and Marine markets. If you look at their advertising for their isolators they try to convince us how the isolators are so much more dependable than using relays. They point out that relay contacts can corrode, causing a voltage drop, or they can stick closed, which allows both battery banks to remain connected. Now, we all know that isolators have a .60 volt drop from the day they are made, and they can, and do, fail in a shorted condition, so where is the advantage... That same company then provides this device - which has a relay, with contacts. For more information see:
http://www.surepower.com/separator.html
I have voiced my disaproval of isolators a number of times on this Net because of the voltage drop across them. When you install an isolator you have to do something to the charging devices to overcome this problem, or you never get the batteries fully charged. Even our GMCs had to make a change because of this - the alternator sense voltage is taken directly from the battery on a separate wire, rather than from the charge output going to the isolator.
When we were installing isolators for our truck sleepers we ALWAYS had to do something to the alternator to get past this voltage drop. If you visit the Sure Power web site you can find all kinds of instructions for various alternators describing what has to be done to make it work. I finally got tired of keeping up with all these "tweaks", so we changed to the battery separators you see here. They worked very well - I don't recall ever having any failure of these units, and the one in my GMC is working fine.
These separators have a circuit that can be connected to a switch to force the relay to close. I connected this to the switched terminal on the original "boost" relay, and when I hit the "boost" switch both relays close, creating a dual connection between the batteries. This could also be connected to the START position on the ignition switch to connect the batteries for starting. There is also a terminal to connect to an indicator light that shows when the batteries are connected. This would be most useful for those that have the "boost" switch that stays in the ON position, like mine.
I can't say that these are better or worse than the Yandina Combiner, and the testimonies on this Net says the Combiner users are very happy with them.
Erv Troyer Lagrange, IN
74 Sequoia
reo43@aol.com
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| Re: [GMCnet] Battery Separator = Combiner [message #104894 is a reply to message #104884] |
Tue, 02 November 2010 21:36 |
Ken Henderson
Messages: 8726
Registered: March 2004
Location: Americus, GA
Karma: 9
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Senior Member |
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Thanks for the update, Erv. Not being in that industry, I'd never heard of
Sure Power.
Ken H.
On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 9:39 PM, Erv Troyer <reo43@aol.com> wrote:
> Ken,
>
> These are not "new on the market" as you mentioned. I have had one of these
> in my GMC for over ten years, and we were using them in our custom truck
> sleepers long before that. Their availability preceded any mention of the
> Yandina Combiner in the GMC Net, although I can't say how long they have
> been available.
> ...
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Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
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