rotronics isolators

Submitted: Saturday, Jul 07, 2007 at 23:18

ThreadID: 47491 Views:4388 Replies:4 FollowUps:6

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thebigeasy

been looking through the archives re rotronics independent 3 stage isolators.everyones got their own ideas on isolator setups.i'm interested to hear from anyone who has one of these systems and how it performs ie charge times on particular battery@30%discharge etc.looking to charge 1xcrank,1x100ah agm under bonnet&1x100ah agm in camper. have 1 60lt waeco+2 sml fluros on ct batt &possibly another waeco in back of 4b from aux agm under bonnet. been told by someone who should know that this set up should work.have looked at solar & gensets with 240 chargers but am trying to eliminate more stuff to pack,set up,use,get flogged and so on whilst keeping charge times down if possible. thanks matt

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Reply By: Member - Mick T (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 08:16

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 08:16

Hi thebigeasy,

have a Rotronics system in my 80 series cruiser with a 100AH AGM battery. Have had no problems with it at all ( have had system for approx 18mths) Can charge AGM battery from 10.5 volts to 14.7 in about 30 mins....I just start my car and leave it on a low idle approx 1500rpm for about 20 mins evry 2-3 days when in the one spot. Keeps my 80 litre Waeco runnin g along with charging various lights and kids DVD players..Looking to upgrade to the system that charges battery in CT as well.

hope this helps

AnswerID: 251274

Follow Up By: thebigeasy - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 08:34

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 08:34

hi mick t

thanks for the reply.thats the charge time i've been looking for cheers matt

FollowupID: 512425

Follow Up By: Member - Mick T (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 08:44

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 08:44

No worries ..glad to help

Mick

FollowupID: 512426

Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 09:02

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 09:02

Mick,

Out of interest what ampage alternator do you have?
I need to get my alternator checked (280,000 since new and not touched), so if it needs some work, wondering about a larger one.

I have an earlier rotronics (about 10 years old) and an 80 amp alternator.

The first 5 minutes of running usually only charges the main battery (engine start usage), and I see the rotronics switch charge over to the auxilary after that. (Volt meters on both batteries.)

When I run my 39l engel off my N70ZZ (80 amp hour?) for 2 to 3 days until it is half charged (12.0v), I find it takes about an hour of driving to bring the battery up to reasonable charge (80%?), and a good 3 to 4 hours driving to really fully charge the battery (90+%?). I am checking charge level by letting the battery sit for an hour before checking voltage, is that the right thing to do?

Have been told that another controller off the 2nd battery is the way to go for the CT. That way batteries are charged in order, main, 2nd , CT. Sound right?

FollowupID: 512427

Follow Up By: Member - Mick T (QLD) - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 17:03

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 17:03

Oldplodder,

honestly could not tell you ...have never looked...Will go and have alook and get back to you..as for the CT question, i was going to post that myself.....upgrading camper and new one has 120a/h battery. wasn't sure if I had to upgrade the rotronics to the 3 battery system or if there was another way to do it????

the way you explained it sound right to me but you never know?????

FollowupID: 512477

Reply By: Member - Paul H (NSW) - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 09:50

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 09:50

Matt,
I also have a Rotronics system (RDC12M). Have my starter, a 100a/h aux under the bonnet and a 120a/h in the camper. When the main is topped up all charge is given to both the car aux and the camper battery. When this is occuring I am getting generally between 10-14amps going into the camper battery. Haven't measured the under bonnet aux but would obviously be more than this.
I am extremely happy with the way the system manages the battery however my only gripe with the system is that the winch is wired off the car aux (which is the way the instructions say to do it). To use the winch you have to flick the switch which isolates the alternator from the aux which means as you are winching the aux is not getting charged by the alternator (apparently for alternator spike protection). But this then limits the time for winching as you then have to stop, flick the switch again and allow the alternator to start charging the aux.

My thoughts only!

Paul.

AnswerID: 251289

Follow Up By: Mainey (WA) - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 12:44

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 12:44

Paul,
you should run your winch from a Cranking 'type' battery that's rated a minium of 650 CCA, and not a battery rated in "Amp Hours" as this would be a storage 'type' battery, eg low discharge deep cycle battery used to run a fridge.

FollowupID: 512455

Follow Up By: Member - Paul H (NSW) - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 17:29

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 17:29

Thanks Mainey....yeah this is what was installed when the rotronics system went in. When this battery dies will definitely be getting a different battery..cheers.

FollowupID: 512480

Reply By: Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 10:39

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 10:39

Hi Matt

The rotronics are a very good system and one of the best available. These systems that control the alternator are the best to use. Our BiSolator does the same thing but my testing of AGM batteries shows they will only absorb a max rate of C4 (25% of their capacity per hour up to around the 80%).

Here is a picture of how I wire our BiSolator to charge 2 auxiliary batteries totally independently of each other, there are many wiring options but the rotronics system you are interested in is very similar. Don't expect the battery to charge at more than C4 at fast idle.

Regards

Derek.

AnswerID: 251296

Reply By: Mainey (WA) - Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 13:11

Sunday, Jul 08, 2007 at 13:11

The "independent" Rotronics system would have to be the best available because it charges the batteries "independently" and not in parallel, that said I use the Rotronics RDA12 which is a parallel charger rated at up to 95% and a reworked alternator/regulator which controls the current going to ALL the batteries from the alternator, only when driving...
...but,
I use a solar system to charge my AGM batteries 24/7 so I've never seen them get under 12v anyway, the 70Lt fridge/freezer runs 24/7 with it's auto disconnect set at 11.5v and it's never been activated.

AnswerID: 251310