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Old 09-05-2011, 11:00   #1
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Trik-L-Start?

Has anybody used the Trik-L-Start starting battery charger/maintainer? It is a cheap alternative (less than $50) to something like the Xantrex Echo-Charge. The Trik-L only charges at a max. of 5 amps, but that should be plenty normally for a starting battery. It appears to be mainly aimed at the RV market, but it is described as "completely waterproof, virtually indestructible."
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Old 09-05-2011, 16:40   #2
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Re: Trik-L-Start?

Reading up a little more on this Trik-L-Start thing it seems a lot of RV folks like them a lot, and I think it's Winnebago that supplies them as standard equipment. One thing that might or might not be a problem is that the unit includes a diode to prevent the starting battery from feeding back into the house bank, and I believe the charging voltage is at 13.8V. However, that shouldn't be a huge problem if one does a long motoring run once in awhile. Also, like the Echo Charge, I assume this unit would provide some charging any time the house bank voltage was goosed up via solar, wind, shorepower, etc.

That's the thing that worries me about a battery combiner, like the Yandina. What happens on long motoring runs to the starting battery if the charging regimen is being supplied for what the house bank needs? Or, if you just use the engine for a little bit with a combiner, your starting battery may actually lose some charge into the house bank--am I correct?
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