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Thread: DB-140 Battery Isolator by Sidewinder - what's peoples Thoughts?

  1. #21
    DiscoMick Guest
    I've often gone well below that without any issue.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by DiscoMick View Post
    I've often gone well below that without any issue.
    Goodo.....and it suits you

    Keep in mind I used to have a traxide isolator in my old wagon, decided not to remove it and went a different way. In 60 nights of camping in my Poptop I haven’t once needed the capacity from from starter.

    there has been plenty of posts in this thread advocating something the OP doesn’t want i.e. go lower

    It does seem when isolators are mentioned for land rovers traxide is the only solution.

    I will be purchasing a traxide headlight/driving light relay as that solution suits my requirements.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by weeds View Post
    Goodo.....and it suits you

    Keep in mind I used to have a traxide isolator in my old wagon, decided not to remove it and went a different way. In 60 nights of camping in my Poptop I haven’t once needed the capacity from from starter.

    there has been plenty of posts in this thread advocating something the OP doesn’t want i.e. go lower

    It does seem when isolators are mentioned for land rovers traxide is the only solution.

    I will be purchasing a traxide headlight/driving light relay as that solution suits my requirements.

    Agreed.... My Puma will be sitting for long periods between Drives and I'd prefer a system that doesn't drain the main battery due to the fact that most modern cars always have a small amount of current bleed off and I would prefer a fully charged AUX battery available to me to start the car should the need arise.

  4. #24
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    This is where my DT90, USI-160 and the special SC80, used in the D3 and D4 kits, would be perfect.

    The operate at 12.0v cut-out during normal use and then by setting the switch in the In-Cab module, you can simply change the cut-out setting to 12.7v, leaving both batteries at their fully charged state when you are not going to be using your vehicle for long periods.

    In other words, you have the best of both types of isolator operation, at the flick of a switch.

    Can’t get easier than that.

    BTW, my isolators draw 1/3 of the power of your isolator when they are off. This means that if you had one of my isolators, over a 2 week period, my isolator would draw a total of 3.3 amps.

    Yours will draw 10 amps over the same period, and that is as long as you do not have the seperate LED display, which will then mean you use 20 amps.

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by weeds View Post
    Probably nothing......it’s just that some of us want the main left as it is when we pull up which seems to get by in from those happy to use their starter capacity.
    Just curious as to what voltage does your battery finally rest at after a few hours?
    say 6 hours, or overnight or something .. not just a couple of hours.

    I currently have an Century starter and some cheapo(Repco) Aux in my D1.
    The Century is a supposed 720CCA 85Ah 4WD targeted ultra high performance type.
    Not real sure of all their claims, but my first one didn't last 11 months. got that replaced, with same, and is now coming up to 12months old too.

    When newer, my volt meter measured it's resting voltage at 12.5 - 12.6 more often than not over night.
    Many times tho, having a Redarc VSR, I'd even see 12.7 over night(it depended on ambient), and as soon as I opened the door(ie. interior light come on), the Redarc would clunk, and the battery would drop to 12.6v

    Now tho, it's normal resting voltage is usually 12.4v, sometimes 12.5v and on colder nights 12.3-12.2v. So obviously it's starting to fade away.

    The Repco Aux battery tho, almost without fail will stay fairly steady between 12.5 and sometimes maintain 12.6v .. this is while the starter can be anywhere between 12.2 and 12.5 (now).

    What I'm thinking happens is that one or the other battery tends to hold the other, less endowed battery up for longer when they're connected.
    Mindful that they disconnect at 12.7v.

    My plan one day will be to get an adjustable VSR, so I can set the cut out volatage myself to say 12.4, maybe even less.
    As Tim says, sometimes to use the additional capacity of the starter if wanted, but mainly to maintain the connection for longer to keep both batteries 'balanced'.

    On a side note(last time I checked it) we installed a Redarc in brothers D2, with twin Optimas(1 yellow, 1 red).
    a few weeks ago when I last saw them, overnight, they still stay connected at 12.7v a piece .. but it was a warm night too that weekend.

    the point being .. it's all well and good to want(or seem to want) to keep the starter battery isolated at a higher voltage, but if it self discharges to a lower voltage, then in reality you've just lost that charge, that otherwise may have been put to good use!
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  6. #26
    DiscoMick Guest
    I think the failing battery would drain from the good battery.
    My second battery usually sits on 12.6-12-7 overnight.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by AK83 View Post
    Just curious as to what voltage does your battery finally rest at after a few hours?
    say 6 hours, or overnight or something .. not just a couple of hours.

    I currently have an Century starter and some cheapo(Repco) Aux in my D1.
    The Century is a supposed 720CCA 85Ah 4WD targeted ultra high performance type.
    Not real sure of all their claims, but my first one didn't last 11 months. got that replaced, with same, and is now coming up to 12months old too.

    When newer, my volt meter measured it's resting voltage at 12.5 - 12.6 more often than not over night.
    Many times tho, having a Redarc VSR, I'd even see 12.7 over night(it depended on ambient), and as soon as I opened the door(ie. interior light come on), the Redarc would clunk, and the battery would drop to 12.6v

    Now tho, it's normal resting voltage is usually 12.4v, sometimes 12.5v and on colder nights 12.3-12.2v. So obviously it's starting to fade away.

    The Repco Aux battery tho, almost without fail will stay fairly steady between 12.5 and sometimes maintain 12.6v .. this is while the starter can be anywhere between 12.2 and 12.5 (now).

    What I'm thinking happens is that one or the other battery tends to hold the other, less endowed battery up for longer when they're connected.
    Mindful that they disconnect at 12.7v.

    My plan one day will be to get an adjustable VSR, so I can set the cut out volatage myself to say 12.4, maybe even less.
    As Tim says, sometimes to use the additional capacity of the starter if wanted, but mainly to maintain the connection for longer to keep both batteries 'balanced'.

    On a side note(last time I checked it) we installed a Redarc in brothers D2, with twin Optimas(1 yellow, 1 red).
    a few weeks ago when I last saw them, overnight, they still stay connected at 12.7v a piece .. but it was a warm night too that weekend.

    the point being .. it's all well and good to want(or seem to want) to keep the starter battery isolated at a higher voltage, but if it self discharges to a lower voltage, then in reality you've just lost that charge, that otherwise may have been put to good use!
    Not wanting to get off topic too much, but I've been running 2 Yellow Top Optimas in the missus 4wd. These are not a cheap battery and I've recently had one fail (DC27) after about a period of 4yrs. This battery was used for starting purposes only with no hard winching, etc. I noticed one day that it wasn't starting the car as crisp as it used to and got it tested and found that its lost 50% of its cranking capacity + I also had acid seeping from around the "-" terminal after I tried charging it..... Very disappointed in the Optima and will not be buying another one as I can get the same sort of life out of a battery that is half the value of the optima.

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robmacca View Post
    Not wanting to get off topic too much, but I've been running 2 Yellow Top Optimas ......
    I don't think it's OT, as I noted earlier .. people are weary of having a lower voltage value for the cutout point, yet fail to state what their batteries finally rest at over a period of time.

    I've been reading of failed Yellow tops recently .. damned got brother's setup all going just before I read all those complaints!
    Hopefully it was just a single bad batch and they've sorted themselves out now.
    Brothers was done some time back early in the year about 10 months or so now.
    He's used the Aux(yellow top) a few times in those 10 months(ie. on trips) running fridge and stuff.
    But I think about Easter he got himself a solar panel and gear, and then transferred fridge running duty to a third battery in a portable case connected to solar .. so the yellow top doesn't get drained so much .. etc, etc.

    @ DiscoMick: I don't think my Century is 'failing' .. yet! .. dunno, it starts fine most times, sometimes a wee bit slower than normal .. again maybe temp related(??)

    I'm going muck about with some testing one day when time is available .. main thing I want to see is if it's kept in a better SOC will it crank any better.
    ATM when it's at 12.7v, it's usually because the Tdi is still warm itself too, so starting is always going to be 'better' .. faster etc.

    I did put a load on it some months back whilst still warm, and turned on every accessory, and connected external lights and battery chargers, and all manner of stuff to get the resting voltage down from 12.7 to 12.4v while motor was still warm.
    Started as good as it usually does with 12.7v.
    That much I do know, having tested it out in the D1.

    I watch the volts drop during first start, with glow plugs .. glowing! .. and volts drop from their usual 12.5-12.4 down to about 11.9(give or take 0.1v) .. and it still turns over fast enough to not worry about a lower state of charge on the start battery.

    This is why I tend to agree with Tim's point of view that a lower voltage should be fine for first start.
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  9. #29
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    Just on a side note about Century Battery's:
    This pertains to wet cell types only as far as I have been able to find out. They are all now a days made from RECYCLED lead, that is for some wired reason, not that great. Failure rates on these type of Century Battery's is now rather high (dying well before 4 years use). I've had a few over the last 4 years myself, give up the ghost, and 1 battery was just sitting on the shelf and died in 14 months (for my KLX250), I had removed it to try to keep it charged while the bike was stored. The CCA Battery in my 130 (3 years so far rebuilding it) which was a brand new battery 3 years ago, died around 18 months in, where as on the other hand my Aux battery type is Amaron that's been sitting in my 130 for the same 3 years and still holds a charge at 12.25V. I also had a Ctek 8 stage charger hooked up and use to turn it on every month for about 1-2 days to recharge both battery's ( I have a simple dual battery manual switch, I did have it set on both, its now on OFF), yet the century still died at around 18 months like I mention. But that damn Amaron from India (must be a TATA company) is till going strong and the last time I charged it was 1 year ago roughly as my Ctek charger died and I've not replaced it yet, no bloody need!

    My PERSONAL conclusion, steer clear of Century Battery's and always use DUAL purpose battery types. - ie: CCA/Deep Cycle AGM or Glass Matt battery's as a minimum.

    For those that are interested the Amaron I have is a 125D31R

  10. #30
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    Sorry folks, just realised this part of the reply was posted in the wrong thread.
    Quote Originally Posted by drivesafe View Post
    BTW, my isolators draw 1/3 of the power of your isolator when they are off. This means that if you had one of my isolators, over a 2 week period, my isolator would draw a total of 3.3 amps.

    Yours will draw 10 amps over the same period, and that is as long as you do not have the seperate LED display, which will then mean you use 20 amps.

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