Blue Sea ACR-S vs T-MAX dual battery (1 Viewer)

[Dave 2000]

I have the Blue seas voltage sensitive system. Come with a switch to set it to off/auto/combine, and has been in there for around four years. Has never missed a beat, isolates when need be, connects when need be, being dual sense it will connect the batteries if the power is from the solar panel or alternator, and being 'marine' will have been built to a specific quality i.e. high. IME, anything built for marine use will also last longer.

I use the NL monitor for the batteries.

regards

Dave

 

[Rwhat]

I have the Blue seas voltage sensitive system. Come with a switch to set it to off/auto/combine, and has been in there for around four years. Has never missed a beat, isolates when need be, connects when need be, being dual sense it will connect the batteries if the power is from the solar panel or alternator, and being 'marine' will have been built to a specific quality i.e. high. IME, anything built for marine use will also last longer.

I use the NL monitor for the batteries.


View attachment 1213525

regards

Dave

Can you buy the NL display by itself? Also with the blu seas controller it can sense voltage from both batteries? I run a solar set up and have to manually disconnect the voltage input off the relay.

Never had to do it before when charging the aux off a trickle charger. Did some rewiring recently so I might have somehow combined 12+ off the aux breaker panel to the main battery.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Another vote for the Blue Sea ACRs. I have them in 3 trucks, and they are basically transparent and unobtrusive. Lifetime warranty. Very nice piece of gear. I run the 7610s which is plenty and only set one truck up to self jump with a switch since I carry jumper cables anyway.

Paying for that NL display is not a good use of $$. A $10 waterproof voltmeter and a $8 Carling rocker switch double pole center off switch and you have a far more precise and better "battery monitor". All you need to remember that a resting fully charged battery is about 12.7 volts, a resting, half discharged good battery is 12.2 volts, and an electrically dead battery is 11.8 volts. When being charged by your alternator, it will read 14.0 volts or a bit more.

 

[half k cruiser]

@Dave 2000 that is a nice setup you have there, thank you for posting the pic. What material did you use to make that custom panel.

@Cruiserdrew do you have a link to what your talking about as far as voltmeter and rocker ?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I'll get a pic later today.

 

[n00g7]

The only problem with a dual battery system is that if they are left connected they will drain due to differences in resistance. Don't need all this fancy stuff. Get a 500A relay and wire up a 3pos switch/relay as desired -- e.g., 1 - ON (connected), 2 - Auto (switched ignition), 3 - Off (Isolated)

 

[Cruiserdrew]

The only problem with a dual battery system is that if they are left connected they will drain due to differences in resistance. Don't need all this fancy stuff. Get a 500A relay and wire up a switch/relay as desired -- e.g., 1 - ON (connected), 2 - Auto (switched ignition), 3 - Off (Isolated)

This is simply not true.

Any voltage sensing relay (Like a Blue Sea ACR) disconnects the batteries when the voltage drops below charging voltage. A VSR has a particular advantage over a dumb relay in that it will close (ie combine) only when the voltage is sufficient to charge.

 

[Dave 2000]

Can you buy the NL display by itself? Also with the blu seas controller it can sense voltage from both batteries? I run a solar set up and have to manually disconnect the voltage input off the relay.

Yes you can buy the NL monitor by itself, and yes the Blue Seas ACR is 'dual sense' but, as soon as I switch on the ignition my solar panel disconnects via a relay, this allows the alternator to do it's job and not 'see' additional voltage from the panel. As soon as the ignition is switch off the relay goes to 'rest' and allows the charge from the panel.

regards

Dave

 

[Dave 2000]

Paying for that NL display is not a good use of $$. A $10 waterproof voltmeter and a $8 Carling rocker switch double pole center off switch and you have a far more precise and better "battery monitor". All you need to remember that a resting fully charged battery is about 12.7 volts, a resting, half discharged good battery is 12.2 volts, and an electrically dead battery is 11.8 volts. When being charged by your alternator, it will read 14.0 volts or a bit more.

Or you can leave them permanently connected as per mine, a simple glance tells you which battery is getting the lions share of the charge or, they are charging together correctly, and the colour coding takes away any need for a memory...and...er...sorry where was I? And also you get an alarm to warn of low OR high voltages, so for 'me' it was the perfect choice and FWIW, I think it looks the dogs bollocks.

regards

Dave

 

[Dave 2000]

This is simply not true.

Any voltage sensing relay (Like a Blue Sea ACR) disconnects the batteries when the voltage drops below charging voltage. A VSR has a particular advantage over a dumb relay in that it will close (ie combine) only when the voltage is sufficient to charge.

Agreed, and left in 'auto' means I don't have to remember to switch it on or off, the system is very 'fit and forget' IMO and IME.

I did use a relay wired to close which was wired to the alternator on my Land Rover Discovery but, if I needed extra power for a fridge for a couple of hours it meant running the engine, with the ACR you simply press a button. I agree that extra 'fancy stuff' does add a complication but, if and I MEAN IF, you purchase quality gear in the first place, and install it correctly then you should see years of fuss free operation.

regards

Dave

 

[Dave 2000]

@Dave 2000 that is a nice setup you have there, thank you for posting the pic. What material did you use to make that custom panel.

Good old fashioned speaker cabinet covering, remembered using it around 40 years ago for boom boxes, and to hide shelf speakers in my younger days. It is tough, cheap, comes in a variety of colours, and looks good IMO, I cover anything custom made nowadays in this stuff.

regards

Dave

 

[lcwizard]

Will any of these allow you to winch across them in an emergency? Winches can easily draw 350~450 amps. I prefer just running a 500 amp
solenoid between the two that gets engaged when you turn the key on. The batteries are separated while the key is off but joined with the key on so both batteries are charging while driving.
The secondary battery handles the winch, ARB ice chest and any camp related accessories. I can run it dry without affecting the startup battery.
The 500 amp solenoid between the two lets the primary battery pull in the event the winch battery dies with that last five feet to go.

I also have a voltmeter. that I can toggle between the two. It's only valid with the key off since once the solenoid is engaged the batteries share
a circuit. Any single pole double throw toggle with do. I'm partial to the Carlings since you can hundreds of pre labels covers for them at
OTRATTW.net

In dash voltmeters and 500 amp Packard solenoids (PAC-500 ) at Amazon

I'm sure the Packard solenoids are of imported origins. If you're someone who has to have the very best, Gigavac builds solenoids for the military and powerplant industries. They're manufactured in Santa Barbara. Waytek handles them. They are on Amazon but they are sometimes hard to locate in their search. Waytek has better descriptions and more options listed. I prefer to go to the Gigavac site and select a part number then search. Their 300amp contactors advertise an overload rating of 3000 amps

 

[n00g7]

This is simply not true.

Any voltage sensing relay (Like a Blue Sea ACR) disconnects the batteries when the voltage drops below charging voltage. A VSR has a particular advantage over a dumb relay in that it will close (ie combine) only when the voltage is sufficient to charge.

K. With the engine on, the alternator is running, which outputs a "voltage sufficient to charge" the battery. The blue sea ACR is also only 120A.

Note that I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and love gadgets as much as the next guy, but I still wouldn't buy all that stuff.

 

[Douglas S]

Will any of these allow you to winch across them in an emergency? Winches can easily draw 350~450 amps. I prefer just running a 500 amp
solenoid between the two that gets engaged when you turn the key on. The batteries are separated while the key is off but joined with the key on so both batteries are charging while driving.
The secondary battery handles the winch, ARB ice chest and any camp related accessories. I can run it dry without affecting the startup battery.
The 500 amp solenoid between the two lets the primary battery pull in the event the winch battery dies with that last five feet to go.

I also have a voltmeter. that I can toggle between the two. It's only valid with the key off since once the solenoid is engaged the batteries share
a circuit. Any single pole double throw toggle with do. I'm partial to the Carlings since you can hundreds of pre labels covers for them at
OTRATTW.net

In dash voltmeters and 500 amp Packard solenoids (PAC-500 ) at Amazon

I'm sure the Packard solenoids are of imported origins. If you're someone who has to have the very best, Gigavac builds solenoids for the military and powerplant industries. They're manufactured in Santa Barbara. Waytek handles them. They are on Amazon but they are sometimes hard to locate in their search. Waytek has better descriptions and more options listed. I prefer to go to the Gigavac site and select a part number then search. Their 300amp contactors advertise an overload rating of 3000 amps

K. With the engine on, the alternator is running, which outputs a "voltage sufficient to charge" the battery. The blue sea ACR is also only 120A.

Note that I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and love gadgets as much as the next guy, but I still wouldn't buy all that stuff.

The Blue Sea units discussed are rated for 500 amps continuous at 12V. 10sec rating at 2500 amps.

They won't allow one battery to pull the other down below 12.7 volts.

 

[1973Guppie]

the blue sea units are great, for me I want something I don't have to think about and it just works. It does it's thing when I start and stop the car for camping and thats that. I mounted my switch next to my battery box in the engine bay because really I don't have a use for it. I just don't see myself needing to connect or disconnect the batteries so often that I need that mounted on the dash. I am trying to keep my interior as clean and clutter free as possible. With 2 kids, 2 dogs and a wife that gets hard.

 

[n00g7]

The Blue Sea units discussed are rated for 500 amps continuous at 12V. 10sec rating at 2500 amps.

They won't allow one battery to pull the other down below 12.7 volts.

Didn't see that, the one in the original post was 120A. If it's 500A then that's fine.

Yes, I understand how it works, but it's simply not necessary for most use cases unless you have charging (e.g., solar or whatever) for the 2nd battery because it enables charging of the 1st battery. The only difference over an ignition switched solenoid if there's no charging on the 2nd battery is that it allows for some Ah draw off the first battery, down to the cutoff voltage.

 

[Douglas S]

Didn't see that, the one in the original post was 120A. If it's 500A then that's fine.

Yes, I understand how it works, but it's simply not necessary for most use cases unless you have charging (e.g., solar or whatever) for the 2nd battery because it enables charging of the 1st battery. The only difference over an ignition switched solenoid if there's no charging on the 2nd battery is that it allows for some Ah draw off the first battery, down to the cutoff voltage.

I don't disagree, the ACR offers the same basic utility as an ignition controlled solenoid for most people.

 

[lcwizard]

The Blue Sea units discussed are rated for 500 amps continuous at 12V. 10sec rating at 2500 amps.

They won't allow one battery to pull the other down below 12.7 volts.

I only saw the unit in the original post , a 120 amp ACR. I went to the Blue Sea site and saw the 7620, 500 amp version. It's a little more spendy
at 250.00+. But if it won't let the main battery drop below 12.7 it wouldn't allow winching off it. It would be cool if it had a manual override on the circuits. The description states...automatically combines batteries during charging and isolates batteries when discharging and when starting engine. I wonder if your can use the "emergency" setting to parallel the batteries for winching

 

[n00g7]

I only saw the unit in the original post , a 120 amp ACR. I went to the Blue Sea site and saw the 7620, 500 amp version. It's a little more spendy
at 250.00+. But if it won't let the main battery drop below 12.7 it wouldn't allow winching off it. It would be cool if it had a manual override on the circuits. The description states...automatically combines batteries during charging and isolates batteries when discharging and when starting engine, so I'm guessing, in the event something went wrong with your start battery, the acr would not allow a connection to start the truck?

Has leads and override switch. Looks to be $180-$200 on amazon, which isn't THAT bad, but still $100-120 more.

 

[half k cruiser]

I only saw the unit in the original post , a 120 amp ACR. I went to the Blue Sea site and saw the 7620, 500 amp version. It's a little more spendy
at 250.00+. But if it won't let the main battery drop below 12.7 it wouldn't allow winching off it. It would be cool if it had a manual override on the circuits. The description states...automatically combines batteries during charging and isolates batteries when discharging and when starting engine. I wonder if your can use the "emergency" setting to parallel the batteries for winching

It doesn't' t have a choice if your winch is wired off of the primary.