5 replies to this topic

[bajaphile]

**UPDATE 11/14/2021**

Found issue to be wiring from truck battery back to camper. The wire gage (10) was not sufficient for the length of run. In my case the wire length is 20 feet. I have upgraded to 4 gage (bought 20ft jumper cables and cut off the alligator clips). 

I had started another thread when I replaced the BlueSeas ACR with a Victron DC-DC Orion charger:

https://www.wanderth...arger-question/

 

 

 

Hi guys,
I'm having an issue with my Blue Seas ACR (Smart charging isolator). Simple wiring, I've installed these in several trucks with dual battery systems.
My setup is a 2001 F350 V10 with 2001 FWC Hawk. Isolator is mounted in the camper. Positive cable from truck battery on one post, positive cable for camper on the other post. Grounded small wire to camper grounds which go to camper battery.

Camper battery (batteries) are two 6 month old Trojan T-105s in series.

Issue: when truck running (or with 200w solar) I can see the isolator not combining, even though both batteries are reading over 12.5V. I'd imagine if one battery was low (under 12V)it wouldn't combine. Right now I'm reading 12.4V on camper and 13.7V on truck and it's not combining. Anything I should look for?

About to throw it in the trash...

Edited by bajaphile, 14 November 2021 - 02:11 PM.

[Vic Harder]

which model is this?  Can you manually combine them?

[Jon R]

What gage are the wires between the truck battery and the ACR? Sounds like excessive voltage drop when charging current flows drops the voltage at the ACR below the level required to keep the relay closed. This causes it to cycle.

[bajaphile]

Sorry for the delay in response. The model is Blue Seas ACR 7610. Reading the manual, (who would have thought to do that? ), it clearly states that once a load is detected, it will isolate the batteries. Problem is, in hot weather, my 12V fridge (Edgestar) or my 12v mini fridge in the cab will be running fairly often. The camper batteries end up not getting charged maybe 50% of the time.

The main issue came up as well being camped out on a beach for a few days, my solar panels connected to the starter battery for ease of use with Alligator clips (200W renogy with a 30amp PWM controller) were also NOT charging the camper batteries due to the loads. I just ended up connecting the panels to my camper batteries and solved the issue.

That being said I need a product (DC to DC Controller?) that will charge my camper batteries even when there is a load and a charge source. I liked the RedArc BCDC 1225 as an option since it also works as a MPPT solar controller. Any other options to look into? I know a lot of you guys like the Victron stuff.

Edited by bajaphile, 01 November 2021 - 08:09 PM.

[Vic Harder]

Sorry for the delay in response. The model is Blue Seas ACR 7610. Reading the manual, (who would have thought to do that? ), it clearly states that once a load is detected, it will isolate the batteries. Problem is, in hot weather, my 12V fridge (Edgestar) or my 12v mini fridge in the cab will be running fairly often. The camper batteries end up not getting charged maybe 50% of the time.
 

Where do you see that in the manual?  I looked and didn't find it in either of these:

990170140.pdf (d2pyqm2yd3fw2i.cloudfront.net)

 

Technical_Brief_7610_FAQ_Matrix (d2pyqm2yd3fw2i.cloudfront.net)

 

In any case, the isolator should be working better for you than it is.  Is the camper battery voltage dropping below the disconnect threshold when the fridge(s) is/are running?  If so, then yes, the isolator is doing its job, and there would appear to be a problem with your camper battery, since the voltage should not drop that low (fridge shutoff should kick in too?).

 

IF you got a DCDC charger, then yes,  your truck battery connected portable panels will also charge the camper batteries.  RedArc makes good stuff.  I prefer separate boxes for each function, but that's me.  

[bajaphile]

When both fridges are running, the camper batteries are showing about 12.2-12.5V depending. That is what is making me so confused, it seems like the Blue Seas ACR is isolating when one or both fridges start running.

 

Another observation I had, which I sort of touched on already... Driving for 3 days straight, my camper batteries never really charged beyond 12.6-12.7V. Same with when I had my solar attached to the starter battery. Once I connected the solar charge controller directly to the camper batteries, I was getting a nice 13.8V when it was charging. Once the sun set, the camper batteries hovered around 12.8 to 13.0V for a few hours. And, for some reason, the starter battery ALSO was seeing these nice voltage readings.  For whatever reason, the system is not liking being charged from the starter battery end. 

 

Either way, I did some reading and I think I am going to do the Victron 12/12 30A DC-DC charger, non-isolated. I like my current solar charge controller that has a nice readout of voltage, amps and amp-hours. I went with Victron in the end for the bluetooth connectivity as well. 

Edited by bajaphile, 06 November 2021 - 11:16 PM.