ARB smart solenoid

Dont suppose you bought it from Town & Country 4WD in Sthn Syd did you Marko??

I asked for ARB Smart Solenoid and same story.......fitted some other system from who knows where!!!

Marko

We have an OX which does the same thing. Only starts off main battery, unless you physically link the 2 by pressing the "link" pad.

Added benefit is when jump starting. Hook up slave to aux bat THEN link so no chance of spikes.

Cheers

I bought an Arrid Smart Solinoid. It cost $135.00 from the 12 volt shop.
It switches off the ignition, however it will not engage the aux battery until 1 minute after the ignition has been switched on,allowing time for your starter to recover and preventing the aux from being involved with any start load.

Marko

Providing the dual battery system is otherwise okay (wiring, charging etc) both batteries being used at start means that the second battery at least gets some regular excercise.

I had a proffesionally installed (auto electrician) dual system that did this and also had an ability to start from the second battery alone. The only cautionary note was not to leave the iginition in the on position for a lengthy period.

Never had any starter motor issues. The vehicle started first time everytime. I once removed the second battery and I did note that the starter motor turned a little slower.

It worked fine for the ten years I had the vehicle. The starter and second battery were five years old ( second lot, later model (better) batteries than the first ) when I sold the vehicle and they were both fine.

Regards

Paul

Marko,

I have a Redarc.

My understanding is that it starts the car from the crank battery and then puts charge back into the crank battery until it senses about 13.8 volts in the crank and then switches to charging the aux. If it senses less then 12.6 in the crank it swaps back to charging it. Its main function is to ensure a fully charged crank battery at all times.

In the event that your crank battery dies, you can override it manually to start from the aux. Cost around $120 from memory.

Cheers,

Jim.

Marko,

I too have a REDARC.

they offer great support, replying to my email questions within hours.

Andrew

Marko, even a dumb solenoid will do what you want, the solenoid needs power from somewhere to close the contacts, just make sure this power source is not on when the vehicle is cranking. Now with your 80 series this is very simple, there is a box over on the drivers side under the bonnet with some screw contacts, these are power connections for Ignition, Accessories and permanent, wire it up to the accessories and it will only power the solenoid with the ignition or accessories on and no power any other time including cranking.

I had a Redarc on my GU Diesel,good unit but not waterproof.
After a hard trip the inside corroded up and shorted out,destroying the electronic board.
I then fitted a ARB smart solenoid,this protects from surge through the engine management by delaying the change over action.
It is totally sealed and works well,and although expensive is still cheaper than some systems.
regards

Marco ,it would appear that you got dudded ,demand that they change your system to what you asked for, or even better to a Rotronics system which works ....Totally isolates main and aux until main batt is fully recharged after starting then charges aux, fully isolates main from aux at ignition shut down ....The Rotronics system is simple to install yourself and not that much dearer than " so called smart solenoids " inhouse branded.