Adding a new Charger & have a few questions

[Klaybus]

What is a blocking diode? Why is it installed between the Positive Battery & the charger? What is a shunt? Why is it installed between the Negative of the battery & the charger?
I'm adding a "Ample Power" 45 watt charger with the "Smart Charge Manager" & just trying to understand everything the best I can? Thanks for entertaining my ignorance....

Clay

[Klaybus]

What is a blocking diode? Why is it installed between the Positive Battery & the charger? What is a shunt? Why is it installed between the Negative of the battery & the charger?
I'm adding a "Ample Power" 45 watt charger with the "Smart Charge Manager" & just trying to understand everything the best I can? Thanks for entertaining my ignorance....

Clay

[nps]

A diode allows current flow in one direction only. A blocking diode allows the battery to maintain a full charge (about 14V) while the trailer is running at 12V off shore power, thus 'blocks' the higher voltage from discharging when not needed.

A shunt is a bypass circuit, usually to take noise to ground (hence installation on the negative ground leg). I would speculate that it is intended to filter out any alterations from the AC shore power that may have slipped through the rectifier and be present on the battery charging circuit.

[Ken Lenger]

Correction: The shunt in this case is a very low impedence resistor used to measure current flor in and out of the battery. Current thru the shunt developes a small amount of voltage proportional to the current flow. The battery monitor measures the voltage and displays it as current. By monitoring current flow over time, the battery monitor can calculate amp-hours used and % of battery capacity remaining. See http://www.klenger.net/arctic-fox/so...attery-monitor for more details on my installation and pics.

[Klaybus]

Ken,
I have my new "Ample Power" charger installed in my coach accompanied with the "Ample Power" Smart Charger Manager. I installed this in the basement of my coach & am running a 120 VAC line to feed this new equipment. I should note that I have also installed a Xantrex Link 10 guage.
The charger seems to work GREAT, bringing the voltage up tp 14.85 volts to bring the batteries up to a 100% charged state, but my question is on the Magnetek converter\charger. The equipment I installed is a charger only, no converter. Will I hurt my batteries or electrical system by leaving the Magnetek gear powered up or is there a way to disable the charger in the Magnetek charger\converter? When plugged into shore power I would love not to be draining my batteries & when I throw the breaker I lose the converter as well as shutting off the charger. The voltage rate doesn't seem to be greater when I have the charger\converter running in conjuction with the "Ample Power" equipment... Here's a link to the equipment I have installed if this help any...

Thanks in advance,
Clay

Power Supply/Charger, 45 Amps, 12-Volts #PSC45-12 http://www.amplepower.com/products/chrg/index.html

Xantrex Link 10 Battery System Monitor
http://store.solar-electric.com/e-meter.html