[encantotom]

chuck, the picture you posted will not work at all. it will short out on the side wall of the engine battery compartment.

in looking, i only used L lug batteries for the oreilly agms, the starting batteries were these.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/fle...tery&pos=1

does not appear they have this battery in the L lug config

tom

[cknuth]

Bill and Tom, I was trying to achieve the impossible to get rid of those military adapters. But it will be nice to have a "maintenance free" starting set anyhow.

Thanks again!
Chuck

[cknuth]

The new batteries and the Amp-L-Start went in shortly after the previous post - all good. The Amp-L-Start Charging indicator light remained on and never rolled over to the Maintaining light, which I took as acceptable; there are some parasitic loads in the chassis that continue to draw current.

About 10 days ago, I started the engine to stir the oil - no issues. Also ran the generator. I don't remember whether I turned off the Amp-L-Start (I have a switch on the house battery side) before doing this. I know that I did not turn on the Sterling charger that works in the opposite direction: alternator to house batteries.

With that setup to the real story... TODAY, I noticed that the Starting Bat red light was rapidly flashing, indicating that the batteries aren't taking a charge. Sure enough, they are dead. Not just low, but 0.00V. Chassis cut-off switch was still On as intended. Merge switch has been off throughout. House batteries and loads are normal. Any ideas about what has happened?

[Richard]

Is it possible that you have two things going on?

One, you have a parasitic draw that needs identification. Do you have a clamp on DC ammeter function on your voltmeter? It’s a matter of monitoring the meter and pulling fuses until you find the culprit

Two, have you exceeded the AmpLStart’s ability to charge? Is there a fuse between the AmpLStart and the chassis batteries? When I read the AmpLStart manual, I interpret the flashing red light to mean starting battery disconnected.

What voltage are you floating your Lithium house batteries?

Time to get out the voltmeter and check the voltages and continuities.

[cknuth]

Time for an update.
First, let me pay homage to the local O'Reilly's for replacing the expensive 8Ds under warranty.  Great advice from Tom to use O'Reilly's.  I won't be installing them until all this is sorted out.  I have a cheap WalMart 12V standing in during analysis.

With the chassis cutoff switch turned on and all chassis loads turned off, there's about a 2.5A current.    At the front chassis panel, I found that although there are 10 fused circuits that are always on (vs. controlled by the ignition switch,) the only one that was pulling current was the automotive radio.  That radio has never worked right, so I just pulled the fuse.  Now zero current from the start battery.
To drain a fully-charged pair of 8D batteries (@1425CCA,) it would take 152 hours or over 6 days at 2.5A.  I think that's the general time scale of what happened.

I'm just starting to look at the Amp-L-Start.    My lithium bank is maintained by the inverter at 14.2V.    In "Quiet Mode," the voltage drops to 13.6.  It appears that the Amp-L-Start is only working at the lower voltage - needs to be confirmed.    This is the newer model with a jumper for lithium house batteries - need to check that too.

Question:
- what's the thing pictured here?    If it's a diode (which might make sense,) it's bad.    If it's a fuse, it's good.

Cheers,
   

[Richard]

That is an automatically resetting circuit breaker. Check it for continuity.

[folivier]

Isn't the echo charger what Newell installed, similar to an amplstart?
Just want to clarify what you mean by "maintained by the inverter at 14.2V". Battleborns should be charged at 14.2-14.6 Volts and either not floated or floated at 13.4 or so. What inverter/charger do you have?

[cknuth]

Hi Forest,
I have a Magnum inverter. Using the CC/CV charging profile set up with Battleborn's guidance. I should have said my charged voltage is 14.4V. I had an EchoCharger; when it stopped working I installed the Amp L Start per several recommendations.

Thanks,
Chuck

[cknuth]

The image below shows the AmpLStart with a blinking yellow light, indicating "Limiting Max Voltage," the meaning of which is not further defined.    At this time, the house battery voltage is 14.4V.    When the inverter goes to "Quiet Mode," the house batteries are at 13.6V.    At the lower voltage, the AmpLCharge shows green: Maintaining.    Throughout, the voltage of the start battery used for this testing is at 13.5-13.6V.    Do we think the lithium voltage is shutting down the AmpLCharge output most of the time?  

   

[Richard]

I gotta echo what Forest asked. Your battleborns were at 14.4 while being charged, or while at rest? Cause if you are keeping the lithiums at 14.4 all the time, then you have a bigger problem.

As far as the Limiting Max Voltage
An Overvoltage Protection feature automatically limits the maximum starting battery voltage to 13.8 volts, regardless of the house battery voltage. This allows conventional lead-acid starting batteries to be safely used in conjunction with LiFePO4 house battery chargers that may constantly produce in excess of 14.5 volts. http://www.lslproducts.net/ALS_Overview_Page.html

I am kind of an old school guy so here is what I would do. Turn off the AmpLStart (ALS) Discharge the Walmart 12v Battery a bit, maybe down to 12.5. Right now it's topped off so you don't know if the AmpLStart even thinks it needs charging. Measure the voltage at the Walmart. Tunr the ALS on, does the voltage on the Walmart start to rise? If so the ALS is working, leave it working and see if it shuts off, or changes from charging to maintaining, when the Walmart reaches around 13.4

I don't have one of these, and there are two points in the manual that confuse me. One is the lithium jumper and how it changes the turn on and turn off voltages. Is that voltage on the house bank or chassis bank? The second point which is confusing to me is the manual seems to indicate to me that the only time the ALS charges the chassis batteries is IF the house batteries are being charged.

Time to call the AmpLStart folks.