air zenith amp draw?

Originally posted by 86IsuzuPup



ive never screwed around with a digital dist block, but it could work correctly. an ammeter must be installed in series with the load. therefore, it could be attatched to the battery and the load connected to the other side and be legit.

this is dc, not ac current. also, ameters are pretty pricey for a good accurate unit, unless that digital block was made by an instrument company like iquus or something like that, i would question it's accuracy. it porbobly gives you a decent ball park, but take one of those distribution or fuse blocks with just a voltmeter, then connect a high quality meter to it and you'll see the difference.

in all of my EE classes we used DC

i agree that it may not be 100% accurate, but im sure its not 10 amps or so off

Originally posted by shvd64cdy



Originally posted by loudciv



Edited: 4/20/2006 7:58:25 AM by loudciv

I HAVE 2 OF THEM RUNNING 150PSI ON A 5 GALL, 8 GA WIRE EACH FROM A DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION BLOCK THAT MEASURES AMPS & VOLTS. THE DIST BLOCK IS DISPLAYING AMP DRAW FOR BOTH AT 70 AMPS (DEAD EMPTY) TO 86 AMPS (FILLED).

i don't know how accurate an ameter on a distrubution block could be at all accurate. ameter's can only give you a true reading on a live line consuming power. check with an a/c tech, they'll explain how an ameter on a block could not be accurate. ameters read off a line, on a distribution block they would read all power on a circuit (which would be your entire vehicle, even though the entire vehicle is not running off that block, is still conected to the vehicles battery which would make it the same point (electrically) as the post on the battery.it's a fairly common misconception, and the electrical theory and principles behind it are complex, but this is the truth, i say ask an a/c tech because the are extremely versed in amperage and circuit designs/operations as well as taking readings such as voltage and amperage (and yes, those are two completely different things.)

hope this helps clarify, sory for the novel.



I'M NOT SAYING YOUR WRONG AND I'M RIGHT. ALL I KNOW IS THAT BEFORE THE COMPRESSORS KICK ON, THE BLOCK SHOWS NO DRAW & WHEN THEY KICK ON THE METER GOES FROM ABOUT 70 - 86 AMPS.

AND TO WHOEVER ASKED, I HAVE A 160 AMP ALTERNATOR. I HAD AN UNDERDRIVE PULLEY, BUT HAD TO PUT THE STOCK ONE BACK ON TO GET THE AMPERAGE / VOLTAGE BACK UP. I WILL BE ADDING ANOTHER OPTIMA AS SOON AS IT GETS HERE.

HEY SAM, HOW DO I HAVE TO WIRE THE 2 BATTERIES? NEED AN ISOLATOR? I WOULD LIKE THE CAR TO RUN OFF BOTH BATTERIES AND THE ALTERNATOR TO CHARGE BOTH.

I'M NOT SAYING YOUR WRONG AND I'M RIGHT. ALL I KNOW IS THAT BEFORE THE COMPRESSORS KICK ON, THE BLOCK SHOWS NO DRAW & WHEN THEY KICK ON THE METER GOES FROM ABOUT 70 - 86 AMPS.

AND TO WHOEVER ASKED, I HAVE A 160 AMP ALTERNATOR. I HAD AN UNDERDRIVE PULLEY, BUT HAD TO PUT THE STOCK ONE BACK ON TO GET THE AMPERAGE / VOLTAGE BACK UP. I WILL BE ADDING ANOTHER OPTIMA AS SOON AS IT GETS HERE.

HEY SAM, HOW DO I HAVE TO WIRE THE 2 BATTERIES? NEED AN ISOLATOR? I WOULD LIKE THE CAR TO RUN OFF BOTH BATTERIES AND THE ALTERNATOR TO CHARGE BOTH.



You just wire the batteries in series to keep the same 12 volts.

Yea adam get a battery isolater relay. Stinger makes a nice one I know of off hand. It's just + to + and - to -. Make sure there are fuses at both batteries.

Originally posted by fatheadjames



Yea adam get a battery isolater relay. Stinger makes a nice one I know of off hand. It's just + to + and - to -. Make sure there are fuses at both batteries.

& THE ISOLATOR IS JUST IN BETWEEN? 1 STUD IN THE + LINE, & THE OTHER STUD IN THE - LINE?

if you use the isolator solenoid, youd run a pos from your main battery to one of the large terminals, a pos from the other large terminal to your aux battery. ground each battery directly to the car with the shortest cable possible (under 2' if at all possible). also, connect a small gauge switched ign wire to a small terminal on the solenoid, and ground the other small terminal. run a fuse near the main battery to protect the circuit.

Basicly what bryan said. Just make sure you fuse each battery.

AIR-ZENITH.COM

IF YOU WIRE IT PROPERLY THEY WORK GREAT, I HAVE TWO OF THEM AND THEY REALLY GET THE JOB DONE QUICK!

IF YOUR RUNNING TWO OPTIMA'S AND BOTH ARE THE SAME (I.E. GROUP 34'S) AND YOU HAVE AN UPGRADED ALTERNATOR, RUN THE TWO OPTIMAS IN PARALLEL. POSITIVE TO POSITIVE, NEGATIVE TO NEGATIVE. THIS WILL DOUBLE YOUR CRANKING AMPS, AND YOUR RESERVE AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR AN ISOLATOR AS LONG AS THE BATTERY'S ARE THE SAME. WHILE IT DOESN'T DOUBLE YOUR VOLTAGE WIRED IN PARALLEL, IT DOES NEARLY DOUBLE YOUR RESERVE, ABOUT 30% MORE CRANKING AMPS AND TAKES TEH STRAIN OFF YOUR STARTER, WHILE HELPING TO INCREASE THE CONTINOUS VOLTAGE ON YOUR RUNNING SYSTEM. YOU DO NOT NEED AN ISOLATOR TO DO THIS. I HAVE 3 OPTIMA YELLOW TPS ALL WIRED IN PARRALELL AND THEY WORK PERFECT.