Hellroaring vs. National Luna vs. PowerGate (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I only want the best .... period. So I am a bit of a nut when it comes to researching things. After speaking with a guy from Perfect Switch (Power-Gate) ... who was very generous with his time, I am 100% sold on their product.

Having somewhat of an engineering background myself, albeit mostly audio, video, and electronics related ... I kind of get what these guys are doing. I do not want any voltage drop in my system nor do I want to install anything that will generate excessive heat. I do not believe that any of the other battery isolator systems can make that claim. Also, I believe systems like the Hellroaring and National Luna take a different approach to handling dual batteries which is not best suited for my application.

Their approach reduces voltage drop and heat buildup to a point where it is no longer an issue. These are by far the best systems I have found so far. Due to their design approach and quality engineering, their systems are popular with mission critical industrial, commercial, and aerospace clients.

I want a totally isolated battery for my electronics gear and refrigerator. I went with their new Dual Isolator design for 100% isolated operation and will install a Momentary Switch for jumping the batteries if ever needed. This is a clean, simple, and reliable system that is perfectly suited to my needs.
 
Awesome Rich, glad you were able to make the decision. I decided NOT to actual speak to any of them. My feeling is that if you talked to Mike at Hellroaring or the National Luna guys you would have been equally sold on their solution as well. Everyone thinks their solution is the best so instead I go off of what other people do and recommend. For me there just wasn't enough people with the PG unit so in my mind it wasn't a truly MUD tested unit. It was a fringe item. HellRoaring is on a TON of cruisers with no issues so for me the decision was easy. I have zero regrets about running the HR unit but like I said, because of simplicity, I am still considering the PG for my 60.
 
Filmpros said:
I only want the best .... period. So I am a bit of a nut when it comes to researching things. After speaking with a guy from Perfect Switch (Power-Gate) ... who was very generous with his time, I am 100% sold on their product.
Click to expand...

I have found that Scott is the only guy in the battery isolator market that will openly criticize competing products by name; both in private conversations and in public forums like here on IH8MUD. If you will have that same conversation with Mike at Hellroaring or the guys at National Luna, you will probably not hear them discounting their competitors like Scott does. Ask yourself... Why?

Also ask about warranty and price. The last time that I researched the PG products, it would take around $600 to duplicate the same functionality that is offered for about $200 in the competing products. They also had only a 90 day warranty.

FYI, the parent company of Power Gate used to recommend the Hellroaring battery isolator in their advertisements.... before they started building a clone. :D

-B-
 
Beowulf said:
I have found that Scott is the only guy in the battery isolator market that will openly criticize competing products by name; both in private conversations and in public forums like here on IH8MUD. If you will have that same conversation with Mike at Hellroaring or the guys at National Luna, you will probably not hear them discounting their competitors like Scott does. Ask yourself... Why?

Also ask about warranty and price. The last time that I researched the PG products, it would take around $600 to duplicate the same functionality that is offered for about $200 in the competing products. They also had only a 90 day warranty.

FYI, the parent company of Power Gate used to recommend the Hellroaring battery isolator in their advertisements.... before they started building a clone. :D

-B-
Click to expand...

Wow....where do I begin.

Firstly, you confuse criticism with actual performance specifications.....I simply call it like it is.

Secondly, we've NEVER offered a 90 day warranty period, it's ALWAYS been a year, and you'll not find anyone on the planet who will tell you their warranty expired and the guys at POWER-GATE were jerks about it. Why would you purposely try to mislead your fellow Land Cruiser enthusiasts???

Thirdly, we don't build a "clone". A "cloned," HR device would have heat sinks and a massive continuous current rating of 80 amps.....we play in a different arena. When we weren't manufacturing battery isolators, and had no intention of manufacturing battery isolators, we too had heard good things about HR, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that if someone asked our opinion about battery isolator options, we said, "hey, take a look at HR....we've heard good things about it." No doubt, the HR is a neat product and there are happy customers like Beo whom vigerously cheerlead on HR's behalf. However, when we created an isolator for a customer a few years ago, we did so on a fluke, and the performance shocked us.....it was nothing shy of brilliant. But before you start a new business venture, you do a little homework and make sure you're not re-inventing the wheel....make sure someone else isn't doing EXACTLY the same thing. We looked at lots of different devices and walked away very confident that what we'd prototyped in two weeks was novel, unique, and allowed for handling levels current unachievable by other products....including HR ( and Cole Hersee, Sure Power, Vanner, etc...).

Part smart, part lucky, we moved forward with refining the concept, persuing national and international patent protection, and here we are today with both single and dual rectifier battery isolation devices that are just simply more efficient than anything else out there.....and I don't say that out of arrogance or contrite sales jargon, like our tennis ball is just better than their tennis ball. There are no heat sinks and no airflow requirments for POWER-GATE. HR is built on a platform of aluminum extrusion...not because it looks tough....because it gets hot.....you do the math. That's not a criticism, that's a fact....the specs bear that out so why sugar coat it?

Your suggestion that POWER-GATE is an HR clone is offensive to us and soooo far from the truth, it's absolutely laughable. Hey Beo, what if we take one of the 300 amp devices we're currently making for NASA and de-rate it down to 80 amps, strap a pound of aluminum heat sink to it, and cut the price to a hundo-and-half? Would you love us then? Probably not. People ask us direct questions and we provide direct answers. We don't lie. We don't fudge. We don't mislead. What you see is what you get. You want a 200a device, we're going to send you a device that can handle 200 amps all day, every day, with no heat sinks, no air flow, no fuzzy math, no de-rating clauses, no spin....just a sweet little semiconductor package.

For those who are in the market for a battery isolator, do your homework, consider your options, consider your budget, then choose the device that will meet your application requiments. POWER-GATE is not for everybody....just as the HR device isn't for everybody.

ABS package low res.JPG
 
Last edited:
What I have STILL never seen is a competitive matrix comparing all the top contenders. That way instead of sifting through all the marketing speak, we can all make sound decisions based on technical facts.
 
NLXTACY said:
What I have STILL never seen is a competitive matrix comparing all the top contenders. That way instead of sifting through all the marketing speak, we can all make sound decisions based on technical facts.
Click to expand...

You're right. Sounds like a magazine article begging to be written.....Beo...you available?
 
mobi-arc said:
You're right. Sounds like a magazine article begging to be written.....Beo...you available?
Click to expand...

ok ok this thread was good and informative until the pissing contest. I am although very serious about a competitive matrix. I will send a note over to the Overland Journal guys to see if this is something they would pick up.
 
Here is what I sent to the editors at Overland Journal. I am not expecting anything but hopefully, maybe they will decide to pick it up.

Hello there fine editors at Overland Journal.

What I am asking/recommending/begging/pleading is for you fine folks to do a comparison of the various various dual battery isolators currently out on the market. There are of course many different uses for running an isolator but the main reason, I think, that most people would be interested in is for dual battery systems where you have a main and an aux. battery.

I am permanently addicted to the IH8MUD.com website and I create the following thread in order to help me decide:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/221311-hellroaring-vs-national-luna-vs-powergate.html

The problem is there are so many people that are so adamant about their decision but a lot of times there isn't enough actual/unbiased research that goes into the decision. Plus we have some reps for some of the companies who are very vocal about their products and some that are not vocal at all. I and everyone else considering such a system would greatly benefit from a detailed write and competitive matrix. ANYTHING that I can do to help the cause please let me know.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Joey Romero
NLXTACY​
 
Nicely put. Depending on how they respond, you might pitch the Off-Road/4WD magazines.
 
reply from the editor:

"Check the "Coming to Overland Journal" section for the winter issue's contents"

For those that don't have Overland Journal:
• Comparison test: dual battery systems
 
NLXTACY said:
reply from the editor:

"Check the "Coming to Overland Journal" section for the winter issue's contents"

For those that don't have Overland Journal:
• Comparison test: dual battery systems
Click to expand...

HA! Yes, that is correct. I've been working on an article for dual-battery systems which will indeed be in our Winter issue, so your timing is impeccable. The article is intended to be a primer for those who are in the research phase and looking for a concise overview of the different types of systems available, what's needed to put them together, and how to calculate their electrical requirements. Featured in the article will be op/ed pieces from Overland Journal subscribers who are using some of the more notable products on the market, including HellRoaring and the Perfect Switch Power-Gate. By the way, I've really enjoyed your research thread and the detailed install write-up you did. Nice work!
 
BajaTaco said:
HA! Yes, that is correct. I've been working on an article for dual-battery systems which will indeed be in our Winter issue, so your timing is impeccable. The article is intended to be a primer for those who are in the research phase and looking for a concise overview of the different types of systems available, what's needed to put them together, and how to calculate their electrical requirements. Featured in the article will be op/ed pieces from Overland Journal subscribers who are using some of the more notable products on the market, including HellRoaring and the Perfect Switch Power-Gate. By the way, I've really enjoyed your research thread and the detailed install write-up you did. Nice work!
Click to expand...

Right on. Well if you ever need another member of the team :cheers:
 
Read it last night. Thanks Chris!

I've had the National Luna for nearly a year. I haven't had to self jump or do any heavy winching yet, so I haven't tried to combine the batts yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

O
80 series vs other Toyota vs domestic, ease of maintenance
Replies
19
Views
1K
tmxmotorsports
tmxmotorsports
Herrett
Old vs new Marathons
Replies
2
Views
557
BILT4ME
BILT4ME
M
Anyone use Eimkeith RAMs AND Delta VS Arms?
Replies
7
Views
586
Broski
Broski
Z
LC80 Open vs Lock rear diff differences
Replies
7
Views
1K
matzell
matzell

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom