Fondled your battery separator lately?

[rotti]

Well I have and it was hot, really hot.

The truck/camper had been parked for about two hours, all power off, when I decided to check the camper batteries. I could immediately feel the heat and, of course.....I touched the thing and let go rather quickly. No burns but it was cookin.

Now back in 2011, I believe, the previous model (Sure Power 1314) was recalled for overheating and fires. My 2012 Hawk has the newer model 1314A but I was concerned enough to get in touch with Sure Power/Eaton tech support.

Interesting response:

"They do tend to run hot on that is not rare (similar to a 15 to 20 watt
light bulb) , but check input and output voltages to make sure it is
operating as designed and cable correctly and fuse protection on the
ground terminal . Now I would be more concerned if you have the
proper size battery separator for that year truck for the recharge to
second battery side of things. What size in amps is the alternator? it
may be up to 145 amps and over. That smaller separator is designed to
handle only up to 100 amps only."

Well my 2012 Chevy has a 160 amp alternator and any newer truck is probably in the same range. So not sure what I will do.....just thought I would put out there and issue a heads up.

 

[kwong]

If your alternator is stock, then the truck was design with a 160 amp alternator due to the large amount of parasitic electrical draw (computers, lights, dashboard controls, etc.) from your systems. In addition to the parasitic draw, the amount of amperage left over from the alternator is then regulated before charging the truck battery. Even if your alternator is not stock, the electrical system in the camper has 30 Amp breakers between the truck battery and the battery separator, and the battery separator and the camper battery. If the amperage from the truck battery exceeded 30 amps, the breaker would pop and disconnect.

 

[mynxd]

I bought the 200A version of the 1314 separator in Sept 2011 and have had no issues with it. (The 100A version had been pulled off the market at the time I bought mine).