What Does a Battery Isolator Do?

When it comes to the most important pieces of an off-grid campervan electrical system, many users opt for a battery that stores electricity or an inverter that converts 12V, 24V or 48V DC to 110V or 220V AC. Today I want to introduce you to a device that I think is very important in a camping electrical system.

Why should i add an extra battery to my car?

Every vehicle has a starter battery that gets the vehicle started and provides steady power to your engine.

We can compare a starter battery to a rechargeable battery, a starter battery is almost like your cell phone. The starter battery will slowly flatten if you use it too much. If used too much without recharging, the battery will not turn on again. Unlike your phone, which needs to be physically plugged in, you already have a charger in your car -- an alternator.

When your engine is running it turns the belt which spins the alternator and keeps the battery charged, you can think of it as a battery charger.

What can happen if your car battery dies while driving?

The alternator is the second main part of the electrical system and the third part is the accessories, i.e. anything that needs power such as headlights, mirrors, windshield wipers, plugging into a cigar socket or a USB port or even Anything from the vehicle computer.

So running the car and using battery power by plugging in the accessory is like using a phone, and when it's plugged into the cord, the battery will stay fully charged.

The accessories slowly drain the battery, and then the alternator must recharge the battery to keep it charged. The problem is that the accessory slowly drains the battery when the vehicle is turned off, and there's nothing left to recharge the battery. If your battery is low and dead, you won't be able to start your vehicle and will be stuck.

How does the second battery charge?

1. Charging at home

Many users add a second battery to the setup, your starter battery is used to start the vehicle and run any vehicle accessories while driving. When you head to camp, you can shut down the vehicle and use the second battery to run all your camping accessories, so you can run your refrigerator, camp lights, and all your gear without worrying about the main battery dying.

You can use a completely separate battery with a DC to AC power inverter and use it to run your accessories while you're camping. The battery system can be 12V or 24V, so the power inverter may be DC 12V to AC 110V or DC 24V to AC 220V, choose according to your vehicle needs.

The disadvantage is that the battery must be charged every time it is used up, and it must be plugged in at home and recharged.

2. Charging while driving

To charge the second battery while the vehicle is in motion, you can charge the main battery and the second battery at the same time.

If you want to charge your second battery while driving, you can't simply connect the two batteries directly with nothing in between.

Otherwise, when you shut down the vehicle, all your accessories will simply drain the same amount of power from both batteries, the battery you started is still dead and you may not be able to start your vehicle

How to Choose an Isolator or DC DC Charger for Your Battery Backup?

You can put a couple of options in between these two batteries to prevent them from discharging at the same rate, saving you from being stuck in camp. The most common ones these days are smart battery isolators and DC-DC chargers.

1. Battery Isolator

A battery isolator isolates your battery, so it completely separates your second battery from the starter battery into two separate systems. You don't have to do anything, it's all done automatically based on your vehicle's voltage.

When the alternator is charging, it senses and connects the two batteries into one; it recognizes and separates the two batteries when you shut down the vehicle, keeping the batteries separated means your starter battery is always fully charged and ready to start the vehicle.

The smart battery isolator works perfectly with your standard alternator and once your vehicle is on it will connect both of your batteries and then your alternator will actually power both your starter battery and your second battery at the same time Charge.

2. DC charger

Another problem arises if you use two different battery types that require two different levels of charge. When you're shopping for a battery, here's something you should consider. If the battery you start needs a certain amount of power, but your second battery needs a little more, the latter may never be fully charged and may shorten the overall life of the battery.

A good solution to both problems is to install a DC charger between the two batteries. If you think of an alternator as a battery charger for the starter battery, then a DC DC charger is a charger for the second battery. This means that both batteries are being charged independently, so they will be fully charged and get a long lifespan.

Carspa has a 12V DC charger with a built in solar charge controller that is perfect for this situation:

1. With DC input and solar input

The DC charger featured with DC input and solar input, the vehicle’ alternator delivers charging to starting battery, starting battery charges the backup battery.

The ignition terminal is capable of identifying whether the generator is started to prevent over-discharge of the starter battery and protect the generator.The other option is solar input, solar energy will be the main source of energy for backup battery when the vehicle engine is off.

2.Current optional

The charging current is optional--10A/15A/20A/25A/30A/35A/40A

3.Multiple battery types

The DC charger is compatible with multiple battery types, offering high-efficient charging to AGM, Gel, WET, Lithium, Lithium iron phosphate batteries, even a customized battery type.