One thought is this...
I drive 37 Miles each way to work, and have the ability to charge both at home and at work. -As simple onboard smart 10amp smart charger to a deep cycle would work just fine. I recently aquired (free) 2 30ah AGM batteries that would work good to a 50% discharge per run.
1 Swich: Turn off Alternator Field, Discconects Primary Battery, and connects car load to Deep Cycles.
Monitor voltage, if it becomse too low, flip the switch back over, and run off your already full starting battery and alternator. And just wait until you get to the destination to charge the deep cycle from shore power.
A changeover relay could take care of this. -Just leave the starter connected to the starting battery, so you can get by with a 30amp relay.
Thinking of that, you could just leave the alternator hooked up, with no demand, it shouldn't be working hard.
Could also be done with 2 relays, a Normally open, and a normally closed. Flip it one way, and you could if desired, charge both, or Jumpstart yourself. Just like RV's do between Starting and House batteries.
Not that starting is an issue with a manual
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
I haven't. EPA says up to 2% decrease for an extra 100 lbs. ( Tips to improve your Gas Mileage )
But there's no question that the weight penalty of carrying 130 lbs of golf cart batteries is far outweighed (pardon the pun) by the efficiency benefit of removing the alternator load from the engine. |