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House battery for accessories
#734437 March 29th 2018 2:06 am
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I was looking through the van trying to figure out how I could use a house battery to power the vans accessories. The van has a intellitec battery guard and from what I read this is used to cut power so the starting battery doesn't go dead. Would it be possible to run a line from the house battery to the intellitic and power the accessories that way? Currently there is a hot wire from the starting battery to the intellitic and it appears the rest of the wires on the intellitic go to the inside of the van.

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Re: House battery for accessories
94chevyG20 #734448 March 29th 2018 2:27 pm
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Not familiar with the intelltec system, but I am not really fond of low voltage cut offs. They have a small parasitic load, and if/when they do disconnect, based on voltage, the battery capacity remaining at that voltage/state of charge still might not be enough to crank the starter depending on the health of the battery.

There are a thousand products and methods for having an additional battery for house loads and not draining engine battery. I think in many cases where the owners think this is necessary, they could get away with simply carrying a fully charged jumper pack. When their engine battery dies from repetitive deep cycling, replace it with the biggest marine battery which will fit, as these are more tolerant of deeper cycles, even though the internals are closer to a starting battery than a true deep cycle battery, despite the sticker's claims.

All lead acid batteries always want to be kept fully charged, and cool. Due to the voltage regulation imposed upon alternator, the vehicle's charging system will almost never return a discharged battery to 100% full.

So those that regularly use their battery with the engine off, should have a plug in charging source applied regularly, and promptly, after any significant discharge.

The alternator might be capable of 130 amps when cold and spinning fast, but the battery dictates how much amperage it wants at the voltage reaching the battery terminals. Only when well discharged can a battery accept large amperages.

It basically takes 4 hours minimum to get a battery from 80% charged to 100% charged, it ideal voltages. Getting to 80% charged from 50% or less can be done quickly with high amperage, but the source has to be seeking and holding voltages in the mid 14's.

No vehicle allows ideal voltages for prompt and full battery charging.

Except mine:) I have modified my voltage regulation and can choose whatever voltage I want at the spin of a dial on my dashboard. I use only one battery, a group 27 Northstar AGM, for house and engine loads, though I can carry 2 addtional group 27's. It is 53 months old and has ~750 deep cycles on it.

Re: House battery for accessories
wrcsixeight #734452 March 29th 2018 8:18 pm
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Was trying to find an easy way to hook up accessory lighting tv etc on my two agm batteries that I have. I already have an isolator just need to take these things out of my old van.

Re: House battery for accessories
94chevyG20 #734481 March 30th 2018 2:23 pm
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Get a new fuse block and a bussbar such as these and hook all circuits you want on the house battery, to the house battery.

https://www.amazon.com/Terminal-Gro...mp;psc=1&refRID=KX0FD1F72GDS3M5JV6HD

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...mp;psc=1&refRID=WBX1SM281RGYJZ0D8RTQ

Note thatthe house battery should be fused to protect the cable running to isolator/alternator. ABYC code is within 7 inches of battery terminal.

I like these blue seas fuse which ft to battery posts, if the extra height clearance is available

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...mp;psc=1&refRID=WS3N2QPGMDVNG5PXGHDE

Re: House battery for accessories
wrcsixeight #734507 March 30th 2018 8:11 pm
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I have the second fuseblock that you linked in my other van. Are the fuses for the house accessories somewhere inside the van ? I think I'll have to buy a repair manual or something to find where they all are.

Re: House battery for accessories
94chevyG20 #734511 March 30th 2018 8:23 pm
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Behind the driver seat is a wood panel on the wall is where alot of the conversion co put the fuse box so I have found tearing into them in the yard.


SUNSHINE VANS-VAN DIEGO
ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON & CHASIN RACIN
ONE FOR THE DIRT & ONE FOR THE STREETS
'93 CHEVY G30 454 4X4 SPORTVAN EXT 146" WB
'92 CHEVY G30 454 BEAUVILLE EXT 146" WB
Re: House battery for accessories
94chevyG20 #734608 April 02nd 2018 10:11 pm
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So here is that intellitic device. Would I be able to attach the positive line from the house batteries to where the positive line is going to the starting battery right now and power house accessories that way?

Here is fuse panel that I found behind the drivers seat. How exactly would I go about wiring that to my house batteries?

Thanks for help.

Attached Files IMG_20180402_184618.jpgIMG_20180402_184948.jpg
Re: House battery for accessories
94chevyG20 #734669 April 03rd 2018 11:10 pm
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If that were a simple 'DUMB' solenoid of the two fatter studs one would goto the Engine battery, and the other would goto the House battery. The two smaller connectors would activate the electromagnet which would open or close the contacts connecting or separating the two larger wires.

One of the smaller wires would be ground, one would be 12v switched by the ignition.

I am not sure how that intellitec product works.



The secondary fuse box in the back are kind of PITA's as some wires are always live, and some are only switched on with the ignition. YOu will need to spend some time with a digital multimeter, determine which circuits are which by pulling the fuses and turning on accessories on and off. It will be a bit of a puzzle, to figure out which circuits you want to move to the house battery.

I recently just moved only the rear interior lighting on a 95 g20 conversion van to a new fuse block I installed and it elicited quite a few curses.


Re: House battery for accessories
94chevyG20 #738028 July 09th 2018 1:31 pm
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I'm a little late to this thread, but I was an automation tech for years and have spent quite a bit of time rewiring my old dodge. Here is a rough diagram of how you're going to want to wire the second battery:

[Linked Image]

The negetive wire comes from your car battery, goes to the intellec, then comes out the other side and goes to your second battery. the positive wire should be connected directly.

Then, as others described, one of the two little terminals goes to ground and the other goes to accessory power - something that is only energized when the car is running. With this system, both batteries will be in use while the car is operational which allows the alternator to charge up both batteries. When the van is off, only your secondary battery will be used to run the accessories.

You'll probably want to use a fairly heavy gauge wire for the main power leads to your secondary battery. You'll also want to make sure that the two batteries you use are fairly close in specification.

The main issue with a system like this is that the batteries can be come un-balanced, which can put strain on your existing electrical system. This is because your alternator is designed to vary the output depending on how much power is needed. If your existing battery is fully charged and you aren't running much in terms of accessories, the output is low. But when your battery is quite drained, the voltage can get as high as 14.5 volts in order to give the battery a full and complete charge.

When you have two batteries wired up like this, the alternator is measuring both of them as if they were a single battery. If you've been running the stereo all night and your house battery is quite drained, the alternator will try to charge it up quickly. But this can cause an overcharge condition with your main battery and drastically reduce it's expected life.

If the wires you use are too small, or the capacity of the second battery you install is drastically different from the one used to start your van, this can also cause huge problems.

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