ArdWrknTrk Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I think you meant "close" only while the alternator is charging. But yes, the isolator does a good job of keeping both batteries fully charged. You're absolutely right. In my autistic mind, it is 'open' to electron flow.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 I hate to admit it, but I am now having second thoughts on the manual valve set up for the heater core. I guess I am just not in love with the overall size of the plumbing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 You're absolutely right. In my autistic mind, it is 'open' to electron flow.... I knew what you were thinking, but it might be confusing to others. Jamie - There are at least two styles of battery isolators: relay & diode. All diodes have a voltage drop across them, and some of them have up to a .7v drop. And what that means is that your battery never gets to the full voltage of the regulator. Given that I much prefer the relay style as there is essentially no voltage drop across them. But some of the relay-style isolators come in when the key is turned to On. The original ones used on the Bullnose trucks with auxiliary batteries do that. If your aux battery is dead it gets paralleled with the main battery as soon as you start the engine, causing a big drain on the main battery, which may have itself been discharged quite a bit while starting. But the CH smart isolator waits until the battery is up to at least 13.7 volts for two minutes before connecting them, so you know your main battery has gotten some charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 Ok! Well I am going to run down Big Blue's set up and see what I can duplicate. I am very much in favor of the setups that have the ability to "protect" the primary battery when charging and using. That all is a little above my pay grade but I will study closely. I did grab an inline fuse block set up with a 100a & 150a fuses, but it sounds like I may need more... Jim, thanks for the info donor tips! I hate that I don't really have any good options around here for boneyards. The one I got the blue donor Bronco from closed down. I will set out on the hunt again and that will make a good field trip with one of the kids. 👍🏻 Gary, I will load Chrome maybe tonight and check out that table. Thanks for the feedback there. I figured it was something on my end. These new heater cores leave a lot to be desired... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I hate to admit it, but I am now having second thoughts on the manual valve set up for the heater core. I guess I am just not in love with the overall size of the plumbing... One benefit I guess with all this is with T-port 3 way valves, it makes it a bit easier to swap the next heater core. (I don't have much faith in this new replacement) Yikes! That thing is big! My recent experience with shutoff valves on the heater hose is you need heat in the morning but not in the afternoon. So we stopped two weeks ago today and I popped the hood to close the valve, and some nice guys stopped to see if we needed help. I'd prefer a valve that I can control from inside the cab. But I've not decided how I want to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 I knew what you were thinking, but it might be confusing to others. Jamie - There are at least two styles of battery isolators: relay & diode. All diodes have a voltage drop across them, and some of them have up to a .7v drop. And what that means is that your battery never gets to the full voltage of the regulator. Given that I much prefer the relay style as there is essentially no voltage drop across them. But some of the relay-style isolators come in when the key is turned to On. The original ones used on the Bullnose trucks with auxiliary batteries do that. If your aux battery is dead it gets paralleled with the main battery as soon as you start the engine, causing a big drain on the main battery, which may have itself been discharged quite a bit while starting. But the CH smart isolator waits until the battery is up to at least 13.7 volts for two minutes before connecting them, so you know your main battery has gotten some charge. Thanks Gary. I know there are a lot of details to a solid set up and I have fought battery drain on this Bronco ever since I bought it. (The PO had it on a smart tender 100% of the time). I am hoping that I don't need to grab a painless kit and redo the whole thing, but that parasitic draw will have to be chased down eventually. Hence the Battery switch in my list. I am anxious to see and read about your set up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 Yeah, the size of that was much smaller in my mind 🙃 I went 3/4" to keep volume, but man, I am paying for it in girth! I'll likely still plumb it in for now. Maybe use a close nipple instead of a 2" and just figure out a different option for the mount. I have to modify the valve handles either way to fully circulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 I've been quite happy with the 130A LRC alternator I purchased from DB Electrical. It's really hard to go wrong at that price, and has a one year no Ferdinand poop warranty. You only need to run a 3/8-16 tap through the adjuster ear. If you go hunting in the junkyard for a ~'92 Taurus with the 3.8l V-6 you're probably going to want to buy a load response control regulator. One I know works is F5RU-10316-BA I don't have dual batteries, but have recently had some discussion about wiring a manual override to the Cole-Hersee automatic isolators. Gary's got a LOT of amp hours under the hood of Big Blue. Jim, "and has a one year no Ferdinand poop warranty" Priceless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Thanks Gary. I know there are a lot of details to a solid set up and I have fought battery drain on this Bronco ever since I bought it. (The PO had it on a smart tender 100% of the time). I am hoping that I don't need to grab a painless kit and redo the whole thing, but that parasitic draw will have to be chased down eventually. Hence the Battery switch in my list. I am anxious to see and read about your set up! Get a BIG cup of coffee and set aside hours before you start reading BB's transformation thread. We wander badly and I'm verbose. But, the mention of a battery tender reminded me of a quirk of the CH smart isolator. When the battery tender has gotten the voltage of one of the batteries to 13.2 volts for two minutes the isolator will close. So now you are charging both batteries, which slows the charging down. But, the coil of the isolator has a significant current draw, and it may overpower a small tender. So now the voltage on the batteries goes down to 12.7v and the whole process starts all over. On our boat, which I keep on battery tenders, plural, I only ground the black wire of the isolator when the key is on. So during the winter the isolator doesn't come in. But on Big Blue I haven't bothered as I don't anticipate keeping him on a battery tender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 Get a BIG cup of coffee and set aside hours before you start reading BB's transformation thread. We wander badly and I'm verbose. But, the mention of a battery tender reminded me of a quirk of the CH smart isolator. When the battery tender has gotten the voltage of one of the batteries to 13.2 volts for two minutes the isolator will close. So now you are charging both batteries, which slows the charging down. But, the coil of the isolator has a significant current draw, and it may overpower a small tender. So now the voltage on the batteries goes down to 12.7v and the whole process starts all over. On our boat, which I keep on battery tenders, plural, I only ground the black wire of the isolator when the key is on. So during the winter the isolator doesn't come in. But on Big Blue I haven't bothered as I don't anticipate keeping him on a battery tender. HOLEEEEE MOLY! 188 Pages Gary! I am going to need some serious late night devotion to get through all of this! (But I am really looking forward to it!) And, man! I love Big Blue all the way around. You and I have very similar interests. (I just threw a rope winch in my wishlist on AMZ 3 days ago 😉) I just lack the know-how on a lot of it. But hey, that's what this site is all about! Time to go get some work done. Have a great day gentlemen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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