2013 FWC Hawk Shell battery separator questions

[DavidGraves]

Howdy

I have attached a photo of the FWC original battery separator in my 2013 Hawk Shell.

1- How can I step down from the 4 GA wire I am routing from truck battery ?

2- Two obvious wires...red and white lead to camper battery....what do the other white wires do ?

3- Will this separator keep my camper battery charged if I run plus and minus 4 GA from truck battery all the way to the separator ?

Anyone who answers all three questions wins a PRIZE !

Many thanks

David Graves

 

[DavidGraves]

Edit:

2- Two wires are red and black to camper battery

 

[billharr]

See photo trace the white wire if you can to see if it goes to the fuse panel. If you can not trace disconnect and see if all goes dead. EDIT white to circuit breaker should be RED to.

Forgot to answer your first question. Your 4 gage should go to the top terminal. I would fuse (or circuit breaker) each end

 

[DavidGraves]

Hi Bill

Thanks VERY much

Do you have the same separator ?

David Graves

 

[DavidGraves]

Bill

Does my truck battery ground 4 GA wire go directly to the ground terminal strip left in photo?

Thanks Again

 

[billharr]

Bill

Does my truck battery ground 4 GA wire go directly to the ground terminal strip left in photo?

Thanks Again

I would take the 4 GA to the neg terminal on the battery. I had the same separator, but had the low voltage problem where my camper battery got low and the separator would not let the truck charge the battery. Had to plug in and charge my batteries before the separator would work again. I went back old school and put a solenoid under the hood that separates the truck from the camper when the motor is off. Now have enought\ solar not sure I really need to have the truck connected.

 

[Vic Harder]

David,

What Bill said is all right on. That battery separator may work well for you with the upgraded 4G wiring. If not, then the BlueSea ML ACR 7622 is the way to go. Also, do consider fusing the other end as well, with 80A fuses (both ends) on the positive lead. The fatter wires will encourage the alternator to push more amps... ;-)

 

[buckland]

Having searched this, I'm afraid me being 'electrically slow' ... I have a question which is way basic... I have a 2011 Eagle ... Under the truck hood by the battery was installed, I believe, a "battery protector" (?). Just a small + to + and - to - first from battery to this and then the FWC harness to the plug in the truck bed. In the camper battery box there is another unit that has red and green lights. When juice is flowing in it is green and otherwise it flashes red.... Separator?

If my battery in the truck for some reason (usually stupidity) should go dead.... what do I do to get the juice from the Camper two AGM batteries so I can start the truck..... or.... is this an 'automatic' process? It is my understanding that the separator monitors both battery sets and if truck one is low it kicks in camper batteries?

I am embarrassed to say as it has been doing fine for five years....I never thought to consider the possibility.

 

[Vic Harder]

Having searched this, I'm afraid me being 'electrically slow' ... I have a question which is way basic... I have a 2011 Eagle ... Under the truck hood by the battery was installed, I believe, a "battery protector" (?). Just a small + to + and - to - first from battery to this and then the FWC harness to the plug in the truck bed. In the camper battery box there is another unit that has red and green lights. When juice is flowing in it is green and otherwise it flashes red.... Separator?

If my battery in the truck for some reason (usually stupidity) should go dead.... what do I do to get the juice from the Camper two AGM batteries so I can start the truck..... or.... is this an 'automatic' process? It is my understanding that the separator monitors both battery sets and if truck one is low it kicks in camper batteries?

I am embarrassed to say as it has been doing fine for five years....I never thought to consider the possibility.

Slow is good, I've heard

That little widget under the hood sounds like a fuse. The one in the camper battery box is likely the separator. IF the battery in the truck goes dead, the separator will keep the camper batteries disconnected, by design.

Now, you want to reconnect them to jump start the truck? I suspect you have the stock wiring in place in the camper and from camper to truck battery. That is 10 Awg at best. NOT good enough to jump the truck with. Think of waay to skinny inexpensive jumper cables and the smell of melting plastic or flames as the wires overheat. Not only that, the little widget under the hood is likely rated at 30 Amps, not enough to crank the truck over.

You could use (good, long) jumper cables from the camper's battery box though.

 

[PaulT]

Perhaps, as good as long, large diameter jumper cables is one of the portable lithium ion jump start units to allow starting the truck. There are many units available but Noco & Anti-gravity are two well known ones.
On Amazon, search for "Portable jump start"
Just remember to keep it charged.
Will charge up your cell phone / tablet also.

Paul

 

[buckland]

Well as I have two AGM batteries in the camper (kept charged up by solar) I would assume they could be popped out and set beside the truck then jumper cables to truck battery to start?

 

[Vic Harder]

yes. Question, two 12 volts in parallel or two 6 volts in series? If two 12 volts, you just need to pull one.

 

[buckland]

2 twelve volts... plus to plus and neg to neg.

 

[Happyjax]

You might want to check your AGMs to see if they can provide CCA. True deep cycle batteries are not made to provide CCA and will likely be damaged if you try. If that situation existed then you would need to charge your starting battery from the house battery but remove the house battery before starting the truck. Other option (which might also damage your batteries) would be to put the 2 12V house batteries in parallel to get twice the available current. Still probably not a good idea if they are true deep cycle......
Just my 2 cents YMMV

 

[Vic Harder]

True, but batteries are a lot cheaper than a tow truck in remote areas.

 

[buckland]

Just bringing this into the mix. I have the superpower separator that came with my 2011 Eagle. I now have 2 AGM batteries, 160 W solar on roof and 90W portable. I decided to upgrade my separator (I am not an electrician) to something that allows the panels to keep my truck battery tended as well. So after advice from learned souls of this site I bought a ML-ACR 7622 and I asked by PM a bunch of questions that might be helpful to have out there if anyone else is doing this. So I copy and paste it as it was sent:


I got the relay today.. it is heavy! Thought I'd ask a few questions.

1. When this is hooked up my truck battery will also be float charged while the solar panels are in use? I'll explain why later as it is a tad off topic.
2. The old separator is removed and 7622 installed and remote switch wired to it. I assume I don't use all of the ACR remote wires to the. switch?
3. In what circumstances would I use each ACR knob position?
4. The remote seems redundant as it would just be next to the ACR?

Attached is the separator that is in there now.
The new Separator has two sets of directions: "Start Isolation" and "Engine Isolation ".... I assume I set up as "Start Isolation"
Is it as easy as taking the "main" wire wire (I believe is from truck) and attaching to the "B" (start battery) and the other two from the Camper battery to "A" (that is red one is from the camper battery and the other, white, comes from"somewhere else"!

All the remote wires (6) would be capped off except the black ground? The Superpower has a ground on it east to transfer.
( I have the switch sent with the ACR but I don't see the needs it would be right next to the ACR anyway.

Finally.... the reason I asked #1 is I have On Star wifi in truck unlimited data. When I park it besides the house I plug in a battery tender and turn key to accessory position. The tender keeps the battery charged and I have internet in my house via On Star! We live remote and have no other way. So...... when I hook this ACR up.... and the truck is out in the sun solar panels working.... I wouldn't need the AC battery tender as the panels would keep the truck battery charged? Wifi takes very little juice.

 

[Vic Harder]

Good questions....

1) Yes. It is raining outside right now, and my rooftop panel is still charging both truck and camper battery banks!

2) No, you don't need all the wires. If NOT using the remote, you don't need any of those wires.

3) You usually leave the ACR in auto mode, that is with the knob rotated fully to the left when looking down on it. OFF is fully to the right.

4) My remote switch is in the truck cab, in overhead console.

Here is a pic I found online that shows how to wire up the switch -

This is the troubleshooting flowchart - http://assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/technical_briefs/Technical_Brief_ML-Series_FAQ_Matrix.pdf

The instructions for the 7622 - http://assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/instructions/990180180.pdf

Here is a video I made of how it works - https://1drv.ms/v/s!AkN_bhdKHe4ij5s2PtzNnxGcnFSIYA

 

[buckland]

Well the was cool! Nice video and nice set up with the console.. Is that marine or is that automotive? Good to be able to see what is happening in a flash
I am not yet at that wiring confidence level but it looks like a fun project. All the other info is also helpful... for my purposes I suppose it is the simplest use of the unit. (I assume that as in your video... you could leave your ignition on in accessory with the sun hitting the panels and feel like you weren't running down the truck battery? That is a nice feature if so.

So there is no need to ground the ACR with the thin black ground if not using the remote switch? (just tape them all off?)

This is going to make me feel a lot more secure if I was stupid enough to drain my truck battery with a door ajar or light left on... the panels will eventually charge it back up or for that matter i could start the truck with the combined juice of Camper bank and truck.

Thanks again

 

[Vic Harder]

As you saw in my video, keying the truck on takes a surprising amount of juice, never mind starting it. And that's with almost all LED lights in my truck too. I'd like to monitor how many AH you would drain overnight just with the truck keyed on, and your OnStar w-fi powered up, before I said you are in the clear with doing that.

I think you need that ground wire, with a small 10A or so fuse in it, as per most of the wiring diagrams.

 

[buckland]

I think you are right Vic... there are things being powered that are not seen. The 1.6 amp tender is not enough... I think a 5 amp battery charger would be better.