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gsgriffin · 09-23-2017, 05:01 PM

Had a good morning. 1 trip to the auto parts store to get two longer cables. Started this morning with 4 house batteries. Ended the day with virtual 8 batteries. Just wanted to share for other Diplomat owners that there is an option to greatly increase battery capacity.

4 of Trojan Battery L16H-AC with Single Point watering system. Bring distilled water jug and place end of tube into jug. Pump through to the batteries to automatically fill to the right level. No need anymore to stick my head in and try to look inside the batteries. Trik-L-Start both ways. Low amp model for keeping the chassis batteries charged while sitting and plugged in. When driving down the road, plug in the 15amp to charge from the chassis back to house....that way after a long day of driving, house batteries are charged.

9am this morning: Wrote out wiring diagram to map where was going to what. Removed batteries and cleaned all terminals and cables. Noticed that the back edge behind the batteries was exposed and allowing acid to go to metal....this is not good. Sprayed multiple layers of spray rubber to seal. Installed batteries and connected all cables. Only needed two new, longer cables to connect all batteries. Moved everything on the walls up or over. Installed Single Point watering system. Mounted brackets on the floor to hold batteries from sliding. Mounted Trik-L-Start both directions with disconnects. 1 pm. Turned on. All good. No sparks.

Just want to make sure others out there know that there is an option for greatly increasing batteries capacity without taking up more space.

diesel odor · 09-23-2017, 05:47 PM

I have the same year and model. Very nice battery setup. Total costs including shipping please? Why double up on batteries? Are you off the grid that you need those super duty batteries.

twinboat · 09-23-2017, 06:41 PM

Looks good.

Wondering why you don't use the isolation system that came with the MH to charge your house batteries from the chassis batteries ?

The solenoid, that you hooked up the trik-l-starts to, is there to handle that. It will pass more then 15 amps, giving your house batteries a better charge.

The controller is in the panel with the lights.

Not sure if yours is, but many of them are bi-directional, meaning they will handle what both of your trik-l-starts are doing.

The large solenoid occasionally fails, making the system inoperative. It's easy to test.

Push the boost switch and listen for it clunking. If it clunks, hold your boost switch and check for equal voltage on both large terminals. If it's not equal, the solenoid may be bad.

gsgriffin · 09-23-2017, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diesel odor

I have the same year and model. Very nice battery setup. Total costs including shipping please? Why double up on batteries? Are you off the grid that you need those super duty batteries.

Batteries were a local buy at a battery supplier.... About $1400. Single point watering was around $125 from Solar Biz. Trik-l-start- $80 from them. Extra cables and connectors-$40 at Napa, but they were double the price per foot of other places, but the only one open here on Saturday. Reused everything else from the box.

gsgriffin · 09-23-2017, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

Looks good.

Wondering why you don't use the isolation system that came with the MH to charge your house batteries from the chassis batteries ?

The solenoid, that you hooked up the trik-l-starts to, is there to handle that. It will pass more then 15 amps, giving your house batteries a better charge.

The controller is in the panel with the lights.

Not sure if yours is, but many of them are bi-directional, meaning they will handle what both of your trik-l-starts are doing.

The large solenoid occasionally fails, making the system inoperative. It's easy to test.

Push the boost switch and listen for it clunking. If it clunks, hold your boost switch and check for equal voltage on both large terminals. If it's not equal, the solenoid may be bad.

Yes, you can do that, but there is a limit to the constant load on the generator that I am willing to make and that solenoid is by design normal open. You apply power to close the connection and wear on that solenoid by having it on for 8 hours.... Bet it would get quite toasty if the batteries were really low and a lot of amps for a long time are going through it. Solenoid is not designed for that like the Trik is.

I'm short I'm not trying to put the full load of charging all of these batteries from dead all upon the engine. I have a generator for that. Just getting a little extra.

gsgriffin · 09-23-2017, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsgriffin

Batteries were a local buy at a battery supplier.... About $1400. Single point watering was around $125 from Solar Biz. Trik-l-start- $80 from them. Extra cables and connectors-$40 at Napa, but they were double the price per foot of other places, but the only one open here on Saturday. Reused everything else from the box.

Oh yes, I did this because I boondock a lot. Last two months was at a park for only 3 nights. Sick and tired of getting to a destination running the generator for a bit, then running things in the RV until bedtime but needing to charge again before sleep.... Then wake up in the morning, and if I ran a fan to keep me cool, could have dead batteries in the morning. I think this will get me past that.

twinboat · 09-23-2017, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsgriffin

Yes, you can do that, but there is a limit to the constant load on the generator that I am willing to make and that solenoid is by design normal open. You apply power to close the connection and wear on that solenoid by having it on for 8 hours.... Bet it would get quite toasty if the batteries were really low and a lot of amps for a long time are going through it. Solenoid is not designed for that like the Trik is.

I'm short I'm not trying to put the full load of charging all of these batteries from dead all upon the engine. I have a generator for that. Just getting a little extra.

Ok, your way will work.

Just so others are aware, many of the solenoids are closed with 12 volts and then held closed with 4 volts. If not held with 4 volts, they are designed to be held closed continuously with 12 volts.

The solenoid is designed to carry 200 amps, so it's up to the challenge.

The control for the solenoid is a voltage sensing device, that will not close, until the chassis batteries are at 13.4 volts or 80% charged, so as not to overwork your alternator.
It will also open the solenoid, if your house bank is so low that it starts dragging down your chassis battery voltage, saving your high output alternator from overworking. It will cycle a number of time until the house battery volts come up and not overwork it.

If your bank is discharged to 50%, you need to replace about 400 AH. At 15 amp per hour ( your way ) it will take 30 hours of driving.

I'm just pointing out, to other readers of this post, how the manufactures designed the isolation system to operate. It is a miss-understood device.

Enjoy your new capacity.

gsgriffin · 09-23-2017, 08:07 PM

True on all accounts. If I really needed to charge them, I can run the Onan generator while driving as well. Definitely not planning on fully charging dead batteries at 15 amps, but there is also no limiting on the amp draw from the alternator back to the house. If house batteries are really dead, it will bring the whole system down quick because of the capacity of these new batteries in comparison to the chassis, I believe. It would be this kind of draw and amperage for extended times that I would be a little concerned about the solenoid. It is able to handle large amperage, but I don't believe that rating is constant for hours. I thought it was constant for minutes. Could be wrong, but I've seen solenoids burn up.

vsheetz · 09-23-2017, 08:26 PM

Great modification.

Arch Hoagland · 09-23-2017, 08:54 PM

That Single Point watering system will pay for itself in a heartbeat!

foretexas · 09-25-2017, 01:21 PM

That is awesome! So envious of your battery compartment, mine would make you claustrophobic in comparison. I have been working for a while trying to come up with a solution to my limited 4D setup.

diesel odor · 09-26-2017, 09:48 AM

Do you have solar assist from the factory? You described the dry camping scenario perfectly with the generator. We have a percolator now so coffee can be made during quiet hours.

This is an improvement that MotorHome magazine should use. Since this improvement can apply to the majority of Class A rigs that have enough height in the battery compartment. They can do their informercial article along with a discounted ad by the battery manufacturer.

Question. Since I am thinking of eventually switching the Norcold for a Samsung, would this setup alleviate any fears of running out of battery capacity or should I replace the original convertor/inverter from 2003/04 in addition?

Captjake1 · 09-26-2017, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diesel odor

Question. Since I am thinking of eventually switching the Norcold for a Samsung, would this setup alleviate any fears of running out of battery capacity or should I replace the original convertor/inverter from 2003/04 in addition?

We used the original 2000w magnum invertor with no problems at all (with Samsung).
We also doubled battery capacity, but we actually added 4 more!
We can watch hours of tv, run the fridge and still wake up with around 70 % SOC in the batts.
Only runny the genny for heat generating items (coffee pot, hair dryer, curler, etc) and the microwave.

gsgriffin · 09-27-2017, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diesel odor

Do you have solar assist from the factory? You described the dry camping scenario perfectly with the generator. We have a percolator now so coffee can be made during quiet hours.

This is an improvement that MotorHome magazine should use. Since this improvement can apply to the majority of Class A rigs that have enough height in the battery compartment. They can do their informercial article along with a discounted ad by the battery manufacturer.

Question. Since I am thinking of eventually switching the Norcold for a Samsung, would this setup alleviate any fears of running out of battery capacity or should I replace the original convertor/inverter from 2003/04 in addition?

Yes, I have solar from the factory, but I don't count on it or think about it really. If I'm camping in warm weather, I head for the shade. I personally don't think the little trickle of electricity from solar outweighs the heat coming in from the sun. Fall through spring, fine, get in the sun, but it would take a roof full of solar panels to really change the scenario.

I'm not an expert, but the totally capacity is just shy of doubled. That simply means that if I change nothing, I should get twice the time running on batteries. Mind you, the charge time will be twice as long, too, but I found the batteries with my converter were charging fast enough and I would run the generator a little longer just to not go back on batteries too soon (plus, the Onan 7.5k generator doesn't like to be run for short periods of time with little load.)

Replace your inverter if the capacity is low. Can't tell you how much for which setup, but the more you can put back into your batteries the faster, the less generator running (assuming your generator can run for short times).