We installed an Inverter and a auto Gen start, but not without one problem. The highest we can set this auto gen start is 12 volts, when it starts the generater the voltage drop is bad enough to where the inverter thinks that the battery is going dead and shuts down. In the process it cuts off the satellite receiver and we have to wait for it to restart and get a signal. I was thinking of moving the generator onto its own starting battery, and installing an isolater between it an the house batteries to allow that battery to charge also when the converter is charging the house batteries. Has anyone done this or thought of doing this?
My coach is wired with a separate generator starting battery from the factory.
The battery is charged three ways:
From the generator via a 12v rectifier on the generator.
From the coach battery charger (via shore power or generator)
From the Alternator
There is a battery isolator installed. I have had to replace it twice in 8 years.
Had the 3 battery banks factory installed on Country Coach from 1980's.
I am not big fun of the insulators however. They cost me couple of batteries in the past when they leaked to the ground, not to mention that they cut .3 v in the process. I would go for battery combiner, or even manual switch.
This inverter is an older Xantrex unit that doesn't let me set the shutdown voltage. My Auto start will not let me set the autostart voltage above 12V, but I probably could put a resistor on the line to cut the voltage down to the autostart sense circuit to trick it into thinking the battery is lower than it really is but I still think that the voltage drop from the generator would be enough to kick the unit off. Since the batteries are on the other side of the coach from the generator there is quite a bit of battery cable between the generator and the house batteries. I would rather just put a starting battery on the generator anyway. I have the room in the batery compartment to add a regular starting battery, but was kind of thinking that it might be better to mount it in the bay that the generator is in. My leveling hydrolic tank and motor are in that bay too. That way I can use shorter cables between the generator and the starting battery, then use the old cables from the generator to the house circuit to feed the isolator or a newer relay based isolators. I was a little concerned about the heat etc, but it can't really be much worse than under the hood of a car? Or at least I would think. The compartment is mostly open due to the Generator being in there.
As long as you don't have any spark-producing equipment in the "near the generator" battery location it will work fine. If limited ventilation, but no spark source, and AGM battery would be your best bet as the outgas only under severe overcharging conditions.
And, as you observed, the shorter the run from battery to generator, the more voltage is available under the heavy starting loads.
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