B.I.R.D. or ?

Freebird23 · 12-20-2010, 09:10 AM

Hi all.We have a problem with batterys after setting 3 or 4 wks with shore power.The house batterys are good ,but the chasiss batterys drop down to around 12.2.I have a small load on them if I do not disconect the chasis battery.There looks to be 2 good answers to this.#1 Trik-l-start # 2 The B.R.I.D.. I was just wondering what others had used and if you had good result. Opps forgot all bat are only one year old .and all cables are cleaned lubed and reset.Unit is 2002 Neptune.

Thanks Bill

MLMath · 12-20-2010, 05:57 PM

Bill, I put in a Xantrex Digital Echo charger.. I know they're more money, but I wanted something that was made by the same people that made our inverter.. It also will go up to 15 amp charge if needed.. This keeps the battery banks within 1/2 a volt of each other when we're plugged into shore power.. No 120 volt needed, just hook up one wire to one bank(positve)and another wire to the other bank(positve) and a ground wire.. Took me longer to get the tools rounded up than it did to hook it up.. I mounted it above the chassis batteries in the battery compartment so all the leads would reach without splicing.. Just have to remember to be real careful if and when I wash the battery compartment down not to get water on it..
Mike M..

zmotorsports · 12-21-2010, 06:56 AM

I have used both the Trick-L-Start and the Xantrex Echo Charger and have been satisfied with both. I currently have the Echo Charger on my Dynasty. I have installed the Trick-L-Start on a couple of friends and my brother-in-law's motorhomes and they have been very satisfied. Mike.

Freebird23 · 12-22-2010, 08:24 AM

Thanks Guys,good feedback .Something to all to my winter list.
Have a Merry Christmas
Bill

Diplomat Don · 02-08-2011, 03:02 AM

Bill....Just for info.....I added the Trik-L-Start to mine originally and it worked well for about 4.5 years when the case started to bulge and the light never indicated that it was charging. It was working though. I decided to add the B.I.R.D. and then discovered that the B.I.R.D. was hard on the large solenoid in the battery bay and some were having failures shortly after adding the B.I.R.D. After more research, I also found some issues with how the B.I.R.D. was charging. They may work fine when originally installed, but I decided to go back to the add on unit. I bought the Echo Charger and have been very happy with it's quality and performance.

There is a third product that just came on the market about a year ago. Magnum, the same company that makes the Inverter used in Monaco products, now makes a charger.