Advanced Alternator regulators

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Originally Posted by Nathan

So what's the considered opinion on these, Sterling Power Regulator worth the money or not?

I'm about to install an Optima start battery in my TDI Defender (with disco alternator) and will have a Redarc BCDC to look after my Gel Auxilliary batteries.

Nathan

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Hi Nathan and why are you fitting a DC/DC device in the first place?

Why do you think you need one?

Hi Discomark and first off, I also have the Sterling products available but not at the USA prices.

Note, you can not get warranty service here in Aust if you source Sterling products offshore.

And no matter where you get the gear from, make sure your alternator is not capable of supplying more current that the unit is capable of handling. They do not have input current limiting and you will damage them if you exceed their maximum.

Other than that they are a great unit if you use lots of reserve battery capacity.

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi Nathan and why are you fitting a DC/DC device in the first place?

Why do you think you need one?

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Hi Drivesafe, it just seems like my Gel Deep Cycle batteries never get fully charged off the alternator - they're fine when I put the CTek on them at home but out on the go they only ever seem to reach ~80%.

Hi Nathan and when you use your batteries, how low do you discharge them and then how long do you drive for when recharging them?

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi Nathan and when you use your batteries, how low do you discharge them and then how long do you drive for when recharging them?

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I've got two 100A/h deep cycle gell batteries. I often camp for 3 or 4 days at a time, i will have driven maybe 6 hours to get there. I might not start the car for the whole time or I might run it for 2 or 3 hours on one of the days.

I'm also considering maybe adding a solar panel so I thought the redarc bcdc would handle that as well...

Oh, BTW, I run one, sometimes two fridges and just general camp lights, maybe the stereo for a bit.

Hi again Nathan and first off, just idling your motor will not put much back into the batteries and if you add a DC/DC device, then while idling, you will put even less back into the batteries.

When you idle a motor you rarely produce much more alternator output than what the vehicle itself needs, and the newer the vehicle, even though they are putting bigger alternators in most vehicle, the newer the vehicle, the less energy that will be available.

Most alternators are sized to a vehicle so that they provide enough power to the vehicle, to maintain the vehicle’s own electrical needs, while the vehicle is idling, like in bumper to bumper traffic.

Now if you add a DC/DC device to the system, because they waste a lot of energy trying to step up the voltage to the batteries being charged, the actual amount of limited energy available from an idling motor means you loose energy powering the DC/DC device and it then gets to a situation where you will be lucky to put anything back into your auxiliary batteries.

You will easily replace 10x more used battery capacity by going for a 1 hour drive than what you would replace with a 1 hours idling session, and thats without a DC/DC device.

Also by using just your alternator, the low the batteries are, the more power the alternator will provide to recharge your batteries, whereas a DC/DC device will simply put out the same limited current, no matter how low your batteries are.

Next, a battery charger will always do a better job of charging automotive batteries than your alternator or any type of DC/DC device can do.

This is because your battery charger usually has the time to fully charge your batteries, whereas because you do not drive long enough to allow either your alternator or a DC/DC device time to fully charge batteries.

If you discharge your batteries down to 50% or lower, you need at least 10 hours of constant charging to bring them back to a fully charged state and up to a fully conditioned state.

With your type of usage, save your money on the DC/DC device and spend it on a solar set up. In your case you will get far more advantage from solar than anything else.