Sharx
Advanced Member
As I have been considering replacing my Sure Power 1314a Battery Isolator, I recently sent a request for more information on a company (located in Montana) called Hellroaring Technologies that has made battery isolators for a long time and got a response back that I thought I would share. I of course am not connected to this company in any way or offer this info for any other reason than to simply report it and provide another option to consider.
Per my question regarding the differences of their models vs. the Sure Power one (installed in my '15 Fleet mounted on my V6 Tacoma), Mike Hines replied:
1.) The Sure Power device is a mechanical solenoid based system. So, it comes with the drawbacks of mechanical contacts arcing and wearing over time. We have found the mechanical contacts can exhibit wide variations of contact resistance when there is a low initial across the contacts such as occurs when a battery voltage is on both sides. It is possible that the contacts can develop a high resistance, precluding proper charging. Yet that same relay could be removed, battery voltage applied to one side, and a load on the other side (i.e. 12V across the contacts initially), and the contact resistance appears normal and good. Our BIC's are all solid state power switching that has a consistently low ON resistance time after time regardless of how the voltage differential is between the two sides. So, charging is more consistent.
2.) The mechanical solenoid based devices consume significant power when ON, your Sure Power device at 0.75A. That is over 9 Watts when ON. Since its turn OFF voltage is 12.7V, that power consumption will draw down both batteries until that level is reached. So, when it is time to rest, the batteries never get the opportunity to rest at their natural Rest voltage. Some new batteries can naturally rest as high as 12.9 to 13,1Vdc when full. Our BIC's consume only 0.01A when ON (to illuminate the bulit in LED) and the switch off threshold is set for 13.2Vdc. So, it will isolate much sooner when not charging. This allows the batteries to rest at their more natural full charge rest voltage.
3.) Our BIC's are fully encapsulated in epoxy, so they are waterproof. The only electrical item exposed are the terminals.
The above are some of the main differences (to the Sure Power unit). For our Auxiliary battery setup, best performance, i.e. charge rates, are achieved by mounting the BIC in the truck under the hood and wiring the truck charge line with (good) 8 AWG wire. It can be mounted in the camper, but variations in truck wiring size and the typical length to the camper can result in a reduction of charge rate by 50% due to cycling on/off while the camper load causes voltage loss across the input wiring to go below 13.2 Vdc. Because it is solid state power switching, the BIC can do this silently. The mechanical solenoid based systems would just chatter and not be effective. This probably one reason most of those systems have such a low switch off threshold. Even though ours does better, we recommend for best performance, it can be mounted closer to the charge source, i.e. under the truck hood. This typically avoids a cycling situation.
For more information and setup diagrams visit their site:
http://www.hellroaring.com
Per my question regarding the differences of their models vs. the Sure Power one (installed in my '15 Fleet mounted on my V6 Tacoma), Mike Hines replied:
1.) The Sure Power device is a mechanical solenoid based system. So, it comes with the drawbacks of mechanical contacts arcing and wearing over time. We have found the mechanical contacts can exhibit wide variations of contact resistance when there is a low initial across the contacts such as occurs when a battery voltage is on both sides. It is possible that the contacts can develop a high resistance, precluding proper charging. Yet that same relay could be removed, battery voltage applied to one side, and a load on the other side (i.e. 12V across the contacts initially), and the contact resistance appears normal and good. Our BIC's are all solid state power switching that has a consistently low ON resistance time after time regardless of how the voltage differential is between the two sides. So, charging is more consistent.
2.) The mechanical solenoid based devices consume significant power when ON, your Sure Power device at 0.75A. That is over 9 Watts when ON. Since its turn OFF voltage is 12.7V, that power consumption will draw down both batteries until that level is reached. So, when it is time to rest, the batteries never get the opportunity to rest at their natural Rest voltage. Some new batteries can naturally rest as high as 12.9 to 13,1Vdc when full. Our BIC's consume only 0.01A when ON (to illuminate the bulit in LED) and the switch off threshold is set for 13.2Vdc. So, it will isolate much sooner when not charging. This allows the batteries to rest at their more natural full charge rest voltage.
3.) Our BIC's are fully encapsulated in epoxy, so they are waterproof. The only electrical item exposed are the terminals.
The above are some of the main differences (to the Sure Power unit). For our Auxiliary battery setup, best performance, i.e. charge rates, are achieved by mounting the BIC in the truck under the hood and wiring the truck charge line with (good) 8 AWG wire. It can be mounted in the camper, but variations in truck wiring size and the typical length to the camper can result in a reduction of charge rate by 50% due to cycling on/off while the camper load causes voltage loss across the input wiring to go below 13.2 Vdc. Because it is solid state power switching, the BIC can do this silently. The mechanical solenoid based systems would just chatter and not be effective. This probably one reason most of those systems have such a low switch off threshold. Even though ours does better, we recommend for best performance, it can be mounted closer to the charge source, i.e. under the truck hood. This typically avoids a cycling situation.
For more information and setup diagrams visit their site:
http://www.hellroaring.com