The NorthStar AGM Battery + Voltage Booster Upgrade

I’m in search of a booster as well with hkb unavailable

any options other than those diodes you can get on digikey? Specifically that would work for older stuff (5vz)

 

So then hook up the winch to your deep cycle.
In my case, yes, it is enough for winching, but I don’t do the kind of off-roading where you essentially winch up and down the entire trail lol

 

bumping this for a battery report - i only got 2.5 years out of my X2 with a booster. I'm presuming it's due to my truck sitting quite a bit between drives with some small draw accessories draining the battery, but it's not nearly the 5-7yr that others have reported.

 

That's definitely short for such a stout battery. I'm coming up on eight years with my Northstar 27F, also equipped with a(n HKB adjustable) booster. A little over 40K miles, so quite a bit of time sitting as well, but mine spends most of its "resting" time on a CTEK Smartcharger set for AGM charging.

 

House battery is lithium...everything I've read has recommended against using it for winching.

I'll probably look for a group 24 with high CCA when the current X-2 group 27 dies or see if I can find a lighter group 27 that'll get the job done.

 

Do you think that increased voltage will cause an issue with my factory LED headlights?

 

Charger helps for sure. I’ll be better about that this winter.

 

All quality led lamps are current controlled for the simple reason that their output is much more sensitive to changes in voltage so they are made to ignore such changes through the use of drivers that control the current to a fixed amount despite any fluctuations in voltage. Autos are infamous for having dirty voltage output so all of the sensitive components are built to withstand it.

 

Do you know if your battery has diminished capacity? Is there a way to measure that and compare it to factory spec?

 

only by doing a drawdown test

 

Can anybody confirm with me that I did this accurately? I used a little fuse diode with an add a fuse and a 7.5 fuse with it?

It appears I went up about a .5 voltage with this set up.

My main question is to does this offer me the proper fuse protection doing it this way?

 

No protection. But it does work that way and I ran mine for months before stuffing in the HKB.

The fuse only protects the added circuit, they are parallel. What we would want is series wiring which could be done (think of 3 AAA batteries with one oriented opposite to the other 2) but I don’t know of any plug and play options.

two of

$12 Micro Traders 2pcs Car Fuse Holder Connector 32V 20Amp 16AWG Heavy Duty Wire Extension Small Fuse Holder Connector for Vehicle with 4Pcs 20A Fuses (23cm,S)

these in series could work with minimal modification to tie one leg of each together.

 

It depends on the orientation of the add-a-fuse holder. It’s designed for the fuses to be in parallel with the wire on the output side(opposite the hot rail) but reversed they end up in series. This is because the two fuse slots are only connected at the end of the holder normally plugged into the hot rail.

 

Not true for the OEM circuit, only true for the added circuit. The OEM circuit has no way / no path to route through the upper fuse slot without modifying or using a fuse extender and hacking.

I'm sure you realize this and you were thinking of the added circuit, note that for alternator we're not concerned with anything other than the lower slot.

 

I was only referring to the add-a-fuse holder and how orientation affects series vs parallel of the two slots.

 

The discussion was about using a gm diode to boost voltage. Which is what this thread is about. And then, specifically while using an add a fuse, is there was a viable means to protect and boost. Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy way as there is no option for series wiring with the OEM circuit regardless of orientation.

 

Remove the tab of the add-a-fuse that normally plugs into the hot rail and replace it with a fuse tap connected to the wire from the output side of the add-a-fuse. Install the remaining tab of the add-a-fuse into the hot rail and the fuse tap/wire into the output side and install your diode and fuse which are now in series and provide both boost and protection. Current will flow from the hot rail to the remaining tab, through that fuse slot to the other end which is already tied to the other slot, back through that slot to the wire and on into the fuse tap to the protected side of the circuit. Done. Yeah, I’ve read the thread.

 

HKB seems to be back available on ebay, Just placed an order and I should get it in a couple weeks.

 

where? i think your link is broke and hkbselect shop on ebay only has MK3 & MK2

 

Yep should have clarified, but I bought an mk3
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224393420344