My Xantrex Echo charger has bit the dust. Trik L start $55.00 Amp L start $73.00 Magnum battery combiner $ 89 and change. Not sure if all the features on the Magnum would be needed to keep the start batteries happy. Looking for results of members using one of the above.
Trik L Start is all diode based, most simple and works year after year in all conditions. Its job is to keep a few amps of the right voltage flowing from house to start, when house bank is being charged. All the others have voltage circuit boards that try to connect and disconnect the two banks at the right time, sometimes working better than others. After trying voltage based combiners, we find we are just better off with Trik L Start. And that is without any consideration for cost of products. We did add a small switch on wire to start bank, to 'turn it off' so if disconnecting start bank cables for cleaning or maintenance, house battery voltage can be also be disconnected.
There you go again, scaring at least one of the members! :o
What symptoms declared its demise? So far mine is perking away fine.
Trent
Craneman,
Here is the Trik L Start at RV Upgrades Store for $29
LSL Products TLS-OEM 5 Amp Starting Battery Charger (https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Ultra-Trik-L-Start-p/tls-oem.htm)
mine failed in an insidious mode - LED indicated it was charging but it as not -
ate two sets of Red Tops before I figured it out
Now have qty 2 (yes 2) Trik l Starts (cheap insurance on one going out installed at AM solar AND a Battery Minder 1500 installed that is only on when plugged into shore power
bibs, belt and suspenders......
Tim Fiedler
Sure Start Soft Start (http://www.gen-pro.biz)
TCER Direct (http://www.tcerdirect.com) generator-gas-prod (http://www.generatorgasproducts.com) 630 240-9139
Gen-Pro
Mine went the same way as Tim's green light on, no voltage being transferred. Called Xantrex and was told that is the way they fail.
John: RV upgrades can't buy from LSL they are sold only by LSL now. I called them up and told them about Google still showing they stock it, same with amp L start.
Put in the xantrex and by leaving the headlights on ran a set of red tops dead. Turned on the engine and the charge rate blew the 30 amp,fuze in the xantrex and never charged the battery's. No indication.
Chuck,
The Trik-L-Start seems to work fine for us.
Trik L Starts work great - and they are relatively cheap -
but they do not have the best longevity, at least that has been my experience - hence my approach with redundant trim l starts.
Tim Fiedler
Sure Start Soft Start (http://www.gen-pro.biz)
TCER Direct (http://www.tcerdirect.com) generator-gas-prod (http://www.generatorgasproducts.com) 630 240-9139
Gen-Pro
So how do you know if your Trik-L-Start has failed?
Rich
when you have one, and your coach is in storage for a month without anyone touching it, you come to find low or dead batteries (or it is sitting in FL for 6 months with your Mom in it who can't drive it and you go to start it and find dead batteries.
I store my coach remote from where I live and visit it monthly, but the batteries can run down quite a bit in a month if the coach isn't started.
If you start and run your coach regularly - weekly or more, none of these devices is required, which is probably why Foretravel didn't install them OEM
Tim Fiedler
Sure Start Soft Start (http://www.gen-pro.biz)
TCER Direct (http://www.tcerdirect.com) generator-gas-prod (http://www.generatorgasproducts.com) 630 240-9139
Gen-Pro
My experience is exactly the same as Tim's.
What Tim said. Or, if you park your coach hooked up where you can visit every day (like we do in our driveway), then you could install dual volt meters. Once you get used to seeing what the "normal" volt reading is for each bank, it would be quickly obvious if the start battery bank was not being properly maintained. Fortunately, our Trik-L-Start has never failed us (knock on wood).
Go to the isolator and check voltage on both house and start terminals, while on shore power. The house terminal will shed voltage over to the start terminal if over 13 volts. Mine had 13.2 at house and 12.4 at the batteries as they had been charged 2 days before by the boost switch. I then removed the start wire from the Echo charger and with a volt meter it had nothing coming out of it. It is dead. The green light only means that it has power from the house side terminal.
Edit Chuck's idea will work also just that I wanted to make sure the problem was the Echo.
Our two plug in red led dash gauges actually seemed to consume a noticeable amount of battery power. Enough to pull them out until the coach is in use.
My solar output is small enough and with slightly dirty panels and low winter sun angle the batteries were lower than without the inexpensive cigarette lighter plug in gauges
I put in the amp-l-start as I wanted more amps but mine quit. Then I heard that they only charged after the house batteries are up and
as the chassis battery is the most important battery to have charged I made my own. I went and bought 2 40 amp diodes and used some aluminum angle to make a heat sinc and hooked them up between the house and chassis batteries. 40 amps may been enough
but when I start the engine in the cold I have my generator running so I didn't want to burn out the diode.
How long did the Amp L Start last? It was going to be my choice.
I don't know when I checked it a few weeks ago it wasn't passing current. I bought it last year. The way I have it now is way cheaper.
I bought both diodes for $12 and the aluminum I had at home. Now it can charge up to 80 amps.
Won't it keep passing current when the house batteries are below 12.5 volts? Which would not be good
They don't carry it any more.
I could only find it at the manufacturer.
Ultra TRIK-L-START Starting Battery Charger/Maintainer (http://www.lslproducts.net/TLSPage.html)
Printed on the device is a Winnebago Industries part number.
I understand they are installed on many of their new products.
Amp L Start although make by the same LSL company, is not just a higher amp Trik L Start. Trik L is diode based. Amp L switched on and off at preset voltages, similar to Magnum & BlueSea. We prefer the simplicity of Trik L. Diode based flow current from house to start anytime the start is about 4/10ths or more lower in voltage than the house, no other control.
I want something other than my boost switch to keep the start batteries up, so I'll order the trik L Start and use it until it dies.