From: Ronzo (rojoha@attbi.com)
Date: Sun Apr 13 2003 - 08:06:55 PDT
It has been said that the military issued an MWO concerning the Sure Power
battery maintenance system conversion. Does any one have a copy of this or
ever even seen one?
My vehicle has had a Sure Power put in and when left for several days,
the forward battery will be below 11 volts while the upper stays around 12
volts. This after both had been individually fully charged while in the
truck 5 days before. The truck will not start because by the time the glow
plugs get used, the engine will only spin a couple of revs before the relays
chatter.
The upper alternator, which the manual says is supposed to charge the
forward battery, is disconnected. The lower alternator is the only one
feeding the system. Since BOTH alternators are rated for 28VDC at 200 Amps
by themselves, it should do the job. At the point the Sure Power was
installed is a large "wad" of wires and tape that do not or unknown as to
what they are connected to anymore. I have not taken the "wad" apart for
trouble shooting yet. Obviously the old 'whatever' that was there had more
places to hook up wires than the Sure Power does.
It does appear that the Sure Power is 'ALWAYS' on. Thus it is taking 24
VDC and doing it's wizardry to send 12 volts back to each battery, but you
don't get something for nothing. Why the lower battery gets drawn down while
the upper battery stays up is a mite confusing, but probably something to do
with the guts of the Sure Power.
I am going to look into putting in an normally open, power to close
relay driven by the ignition switch which will disconnect the ground side of
the Sure Power when the ignition is off and establishing the circuit when
on. Hopefully, this will stop the draw down by shutting down the Sure Power.
Comments?
Ronzo
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