Thread: USI-160 160/240 AMP ULTRA SMART DUAL BATTERY ISOLATOR.

Hi Toppa and nice potential set up and yes 70mm2 is over the top but that is your prerogative.

I have found 2B&S is more than adequate for winch set ups and while 8B&S ( 7.9mm2 ) is more than thick enough for running power to the rear cargo area, there is no harm running 6B&S and future proofing your set up in case you decide to start towing a CT or caravan.

Cheers, Tim.

Thanks Tim, appreciate your time and expertise.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

Just ordered my full D3 kit with the USI-160 from Tim. Look forward to getting it next week, but can I say what a great guy, can't say enough about how helpful he is and how generous with his time and information.

I've had a USI-160 in the Defender for just over 14 months now and I'm pleased I went with this set up.
The various switching options and reputed positive comments of Drivesafe/Tim's knowledge and customer service where key purchasing factors.

My set up has the USI-160 mounted in my Mulgo Ex-Box with all my electrics.
I use a winch switch(Mulgo's factory look) and a LED in the central dash panel instead of Tim's switch.
I had a few conversations about my plans with Tim over the phone and he confirmed what I had planed was going to work.

While changing the fuel filter recently I had a helper start the beast while I checked for leaks.
Our Defender sits midweek and often goes 2 weeks between starts, can you see where this is going?
Yep, SHE left the key in accessories position for a week and niether of us noticed.
When we went to start it while we had ignition lights, there was no grunt to turn the motor.
One simple press of the above mentioned switch and it kicked into life
I leave the USI-160 in "ignition mode" as I prefer the higher voltage cut out for these sort of occasions, remeber it's not a daily driver.
I've used the switch while winching also and assume it all worked as I had the no issues.

I have the 2nd battery(TD5 starting) wired to a Anderson plug on the rear, also one of Tim's kits.
We tow a van running it's own battery and a 50w solar panel that conects via the Anderson plug.
Both the Defender and van have backlite USB outlets with lights glowing full time off the aux batteries.
When the van is connected via the Anderson plugs mid week all the batteries remain connected and charged, the dash LED happily keeps glowing on it's lower brightness so it's all above cut out voltage.

The set up I have and discussed with Tim(who was always happy do discus concerns and make suggestions) is as follows...
I've recently purchased a 6 panel fold out 120w solar panel that has 2 regulators.
It can be run as 2 X 60w or 1 X 120w and can be connected to either the Defender, van or both subject to needs.
The fridge lives in the Defender so I have it on day trips.
The van runs a 300w invertor overnight for a C-pap machine and has a hard wired 50w solar panel.
On weekends away the van covers itself and the Defender is usually on a day trip somewhere.
The extra solar panels are to supplement this when parked up for a few days or if it's overcast reducing solar efficiency.
The test will be the 3 days at the Big Red Bash in July with no driving.

Thanks to Tim for his input to my set up and supplying a well thought through kit that works as it should when needed

Hi Drivesafe

Did you manage to help Tailslide (one page back, but 2012 post) with his request as I think I need the same fix.
I sent a email yesterday, but even confused myself when I re-read it.

Basically I will not be running a second battery, but have run a cable to an Anderson plug to charge our new camper via it's DC-DC charger. The trick is I also ran a lead off this cable to occasionally run a Waeco fridge for drinks in the back of the car.

So I need a device to monitor the starter battery when the car is not running and I have the fridge running.
Lastly, as the camper has 300W of solar panels and 2 x 120Ah batteries,I'd like to be able to charge the car's starter battery occasionally via the Anderson plug.

I have a 2014 Discovery 4.

Interested in your thoughts.
Cheers Neil

Hi Neil，I don't think anything came of this. I have been running without a battery monitor and now don't feel like I will ever install one. For overnight camping trips the starter battery is sufficent and I have the option of adding the 100AH second battery down the back if I am planning on stopping at a site for a longer period. Even then it is rare for the car to not be driven during the day.

Cheers Ron

Hi Neil and yes I did get your E-mail but I am flat out filling orders.

I will give you a call in the next day or two, as soon as I have a break, as there is a fair bit to discuss.

Regards, Tim.

Hi,

Just a quick question on the USI-160 that I have. I have 2 x 100amp hour marine batteries (supercharge brand I think, so probably not very good, but not the worst).

They seem to be working just fine when I have my fridge running, but when I leave the car with nothing (that I know off) running for about a week when I come back to it the batteries are disconnected from each other (which I think is a normal timeout feature) and the second battery shows only 12v or just below, but the primary battery shows 12.7 and once I start the car it reconnects the batteries and charges the second battery back up (at about 65 amps initially but drops off pretty quickly within about 10 minutes it will be down to 2-5 amps).

Is this a sign that my second battery is not very healty? or just something I am not understanding about how the system works. The batteries are both only about 1 year old and the second battery has only been below 12v with my fridge running twice (not low enough to cut off with the auto low voltage cutout though). So I know that marine batteries are not really deep cycle, but I didn't think cycles down to 12v was too bad for them.