Saturday, Mar 06, 2004 at 19:18
Bob, are you referring to the megapulse battery "regenerator" or the battery saver that simply cuts off the fridge for a certain time period every hour? If so, previous threads on the battery saver have not been good, unlike the good reports on the megapulse.
The "bat saver" results in the fridge temperature cycling as the commpressor cannot come on when the temp rises if the bat saver is in the "off" period. Thus the fridge gets warmer and when the "on" period arrives, the compressor runs all the time. The "bat saver" ends up replacing the fridge thermostat and instead of running the fridge on temperature, you end up only allowing the fridge to run based on the 'bat saver" setting, resulting in large
swings in the fridge temperature with little overall
battery power saving.
In the extreme, this can result in frozen food not being properly frozen and you could unwittingly contaminate your frozen food. Or WORSE, if on the fridge setting, may end up with warm beer!!!
If your current battery is near new and in good condition, the megapulse will have little effect at this stage (but will probably help as it gets older). What type of battery isolation system are you running? A solenoid type (even the smart solenoids) will not fully recharge your battery unless driven for very long periods. It gets even worse with 3 batteries (2 for the 4X4, 1 for the van).
The only system that will properly charge multiple batteries is a charge/isolator like the rotronics. This isolates and charges each battery in turn, but priority is given to the starting battery. The drawback to this is the cost, over $1,000 for a true 3 battery isolation system. I personally use a smart solenoid on the second battery in my Patrol and a manual switch to charge the 115Ah battery in my van. I know it is not as efficient as the rotronics, but cannot justify the price.
Cheers
Mark
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