Are all truck batteries created equal?

An SAP switch solved virtually all the problems (except the problems with the switch) by running 2 batteries in parrallel all the time with a big 12 volt generator, and switching the second battery into a series string for starter only.

For all the colonials (and rebs) the Boot light is called a trunk light on the west side of the big pond.

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You might want to look at a different inverter, many have a low voltage shutoff feature to turn them off at something like 11V to prevent deep discharge damage.

On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:11:11 -0600, CaveLamb wrote: ANd 27 of yours for absolutely nothing - which results in 4 more of absolutely nothing from me.

I agree with you. I will look into this.

The battery in my 66 GTO would be dead if it sat more than a few days. That turned out to be a bad battery cable. The insulation had turned to carbon, and was draining the battery. It ran trough a metal tube to keep it away from the engine, so the damage wasn't visible until it was removed from the car. The new cables were made from #1 welding cable, and the electrical system had about 5 microamps leakage after the repairs.

You might also want to measure the actual current your inverter draws from the power source as all (particularly cheap Chinese) inverters are not created equally and some of the cheaper ones actually draw more current then larger (better designed) ones with the same load.

Would you be better of building a DC-DC converter for the laptop instead of running DC->high voltage AC only to transform it back to low voltage and rectify it again? If your charger uses a proprietary connector instead of the typical barrel setup (or a "smart" battery minder) maybe you could find a spare charger and hack it to accept

While it would be less convenient (building a new converter every time you get a new laptop that takes a different voltage) I can't help but think it would be at least a little bit more efficient...

--Glenn Lyford

Here's a source for the necessary connectors and parts ... ... just find your laptop on the list, get the corresponding converter, and then you can cut it up for the parts and connector to build your own converter.