HKB voltage booster install (1 Viewer)

[mep1811]

My HKB booster arrived from Australia and plugged it in. It works. Voltage is now 13.6-13.8. The 14.4 voltage was after startup. I recommend this.

HKB Electronics

The Alternator Voltage Booster was the first of its type on the market and is the only unit available that was has been purpose built for alternator voltage boosting.

www.hkbelect.com

 

[Markuson]

My HKB booster arrived from Australia and plugged it in. It works. Voltage is now 13.6-13.8. The 14.4 voltage was after startup. I recommend this.

HKB Electronics

The Alternator Voltage Booster was the first of its type on the market and is the only unit available that was has been purpose built for alternator voltage boosting.

www.hkbelect.com

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If anyone is interested, and doesn’t want to wait a month for shipment from Australia...I ended up with an EXTRA HKB booster. Easy to mail as its tiny, of course.

Edit: Is now spoken for (gone).

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Just installed mine and everything seems to work well. Not sure if it is worth the price as I have never had an issue with my battery (X2 Power AGM), but hopefully this provides a bit better charge considering the heat it has to deal with. I'm well aware of the opinions about AGMs in the engine bay, but my experience has been that a high quality AGM holds up better to vibration from washboard conditions and even on the surface of the sun (Phoenix) the X2 has held up well for at least twice as long as any flooded battery I have used. The 5 Year warranty provides some additional peace of mind. If this mods helps get an extra year out of the battery it will be well worth it.

 

[CharlieS]

I also have an extra if anyone is looking and doesn't want to wait - I moved to the adjustable voltage version of the HKB diode.

 

[Sargy]

I will take it. PM sent

 

[kcjaz]

I also have an extra if anyone is looking and doesn't want to wait - I moved to the adjustable voltage version of the HKB diode.

Hey Charlie, as my FLA is about to give up (70% health and coming up on its 5th year), I’m replacing it with an AGM and want to add the HKB diode. There seem to be 4 versions of it including the adjustable version you ended up with. I don’t which one to pick. Why did you go with the adjustable version?

 

[CharlieS]

Hey Charlie, as my FLA is about to give up (70% health and coming up on its 5th year), I’m replacing it with an AGM and want to add the HKB diode. There seem to be 4 versions of it including the adjustable version you ended up with. I don’t which one to pick. Why did you go with the adjustable version?

I wanted to have some control over the process, rather than take a default setting. It let me adjust the voltage higher by a slight amount to charge closer to what the manufacturer of my AGM battery said was ideal for charging.

 

[CharlieS]

I also ran a dual battery guage in the cab so I could monitor them easily. I need to put one in the current car...

 

[kcjaz]

I wanted to have some control over the process, rather than take a default setting. It let me adjust the voltage higher by a slight amount to charge closer to what the manufacturer of my AGM battery said was ideal for charging.

Makes sense. Does the "dongle" thing with the setting dip switches just sit in side the fuse box? Where/how did you mount that?

 

[mep1811]

I use a National Luna dual battery gauge to monitor my batteries. A Blue Sea solenoid handles the charging.

 

[CharlieS]

Makes sense. Does the "dongle" thing with the setting dip switches just sit in side the fuse box? Where/how did you mount that?

I used industrial strength velcro to attach it to a horizontal surface inside the fuse box.

 

[kcjaz]

I used industrial strength velcro to attach it to a horizontal surface inside the fuse box.

Just ordered mine. My X2Power 27F wants 14.1 to 14.8v. The un-adjustable ones would put me in this range but the MK4 will let push to the top of the range. I assume you would want to set it toward the top of the battery OEM specified range.

 

[kcjaz]

So I just got the adjustable booster in the mail. The device comes pre-set to +0.6v and instructions say the 0.6v setting should put me in the 14.1v to 14.4v range when engine is hot (on a 20C day) or 14.2v to 14.6 v cold (doesn't say anything about if all the accessories are on or off). The instructions then say "Careful consideration should be given before using boost voltages greater than 0.6v as this may have an adverse affect on the vehicles electrical system and/or batteries and should only be done by persons with knowledge of vehicle charging systems and battery charging requirements." My knowledge of vehicle charging systems is pretty much limited to that I have one and it involves my alternator. So I guess I'm good there... I also know that my AGM wants 14.1v to 14.8v (I assume when engine is hot).

So, lets say I install this thing, fire it up and I end up at 14.5v when engine is hot (0.1v above the HKB says is the upper limit for stupid people that lack knowledge. Do I dial it down a click to 14.4v or do I push it higher to 14.8v because I know the battery OEM says 14.8 is the max for the battery? I truly don't know what this thing does to the charging system if the voltage boost is set too high or higher than needed. My simple "more must be better logic would say max it out to the battery OEM's max spec. I just don't want to find out latter that I've shortened the life of my alternator. Without knowing/understanding more about what the effects are to the vehicles charging system, it would seem I just see to set the thing within what HKB says is the range (14.1 to 14.4) as that is with in the battery's charging voltage spec of 14.1 to 14.8.