Maxwell Engine Start Module

My 770 is well insulated and the 8,000 should be enough, but we will not know until I hook it up. Only thing I am worried about is I am mounting the AC unit in closet and piping down thru floor under truck. I plan on using pvc pipe glued together instead of dryer hose along with insulating the pipe too.

 

Installed the Maxwell ESM with 3 of my 7 AGM deep cycle batteries......



Took about 30 minutes to charge up the first time off the batteries and I fully charged the new AGM batteries overnight. I did a starter test to see how many times the Maxwell ESM would crank my big CAT motor before it would run out of juice. It started the truck 7 times before it ran out of juice that it took about 2 minutes charging off the batteries to start again.

Great technology to compliment a battery powered APU system without having 2 separate battery banks.

 

Also check out my solar panel thread in the Owner Operator forum for more information on the Maxwell ESM.

 

Reading these posts has made it clear to me that I'm not exactly an expert on batteries so I'm gonna ask some stupid questions here hoping you guys can help me out. I've got room for four in my box and replaced one with the Maxwell. The 25% loss of reserve power has made a noticeable difference in motel load capacity. Kinda shot my maintenance wad here year end for taxes so my short term budget is limited. Question 1: would I benefit by replacing the 3 old batteries with the Sam's club deep cycles? (my son's a member). Question 2: If the maxwell ever craps out on me can I use the deep cycles to start the truck? Question 3: If I can find a 2nd battery box that holds 2 or 3 more batteries can I wire them up to the old batteries? In other words is there any problem mixing the two types?

I know this is batteries 101 stuff but I skipped that class. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Question 1 answer: Yes

Question 2 answer: Yes if there is enough voltage left in them and the Maxwell ESM has a 4 year warranty

Question 3 answer: I would not wire different types of batteries together and I would not recommend hook older batteries of the same type together either because the older ones will drag the newer ones down in voltage. It is best to match all batteries of the same brand, age and type.

Note: The Sam's Club deep cycle marine batteries have both a post and stud mounting and you can not use a straight battery cable. You need to use individual cables looping from battery to battery. The studs are short and will only allow for the connectors and is best to get some marine battery terminal clamps that have studs on them to mount all your other wiring connectors to the batteries. Wal-Mart has them.

 

Thanks for the info. Have a new project to work on.

 

I learned the hard way that you do not do a bunch of start ups and short runs while the main batteries are in low condition because the ESM once completely depleted will only charge up to what condition the batteries are at if fully discharged over several start up cycles. Thanks to my solar panels, I re-cranked to never do it again and normally don't sit over 10 hours anywhere. 2 days and 2 nights was extreme and rare for me. More in my solar panel thread.

I still highly recommend the Maxwell ESM as a great alternative for 2 battery banks, 1 that has 7 batteries for hotel loads on truck and 1 is the Maxwell ESM isolated to start truck.

 

That's why you need a few hours of running after draining down the batteries for a long time. A larger alternator would help too.

 

Truck Country in Davenport just quoted $1346 today. International dealer in Langhorne PA was $1225, and Freightliner dealers I went to "couldn't find anything in the system".


So in a few weeks a price has nearly doubled? Not liking that at all. I've looked at the KAPower system which I think is technically superior, but installation can be much more involved. They charge in under 30 seconds as a capacitor should. The maxwell taking 15-30 minutes to charge probably has something limiting the initial charge current or voltage, because the capacitors themselves should reach near full capacity in seconds with the remaining charge to 100% taking a few seconds more. The ESM product though is a more finished, easier and ready to install product I believe.


Anyone know of any better pricing right now?