Equipt FAQ: Is The Solenoid In The Intelligent Solenoid / PPP Big Enough For My Truck?

Video Transcript

Hi, this is Paul with Equipt Expedition Outfitters. Today, I want to answer one of the questions that we seem to get a lot of and hopefully dispel some of the confusion about the National Luna dual battery system that uses an intelligent solenoid as the brains of the unit. This little guy right here is the solenoid that connects and isolates based on what the circuit board up here tells it to do, to connect an auxiliary battery to the main battery and charge. The current runs through this switch to put the two batteries in parallel and charge together. Right here on this solenoid, it says an 85 continuous current. We get asked a lot, well, 85 amps isn't a whole lot in a vehicle that has an alternator with the capacity of putting out upwards of 180 amps. Well, okay, that makes sense. 85 is less than that. I can understand that.

This solenoid, ironically enough, is made by Cole Hersee, an American company, and National Luna uses the Cole Hersee solenoids because they're rated as the best solenoid out there as far as quality, so they use this. Now, this 85 amp continuous solenoid has a max average capacity of 400 amps. I have been using this system for, oh, going on a dozen, almost 15 years now, in different vehicles. I put them in a lot of different vehicles, and not once have I ever had an issue with the solenoid not being able to do its job perfectly.

Over the years, I've had dozens and dozens of customers call and say, 'I need a higher amperage solenoid than that just because I need more and more.' Every time I ask the customer, 'Please try this, give it a chance, give it a try. If it turns out that it does not work, then we'll move you to a 200 amp Cole Hersee solenoid, same size, but the 200 amp continuous solenoid has a max capacity of 800 amps.' To a fault, not one of them has ever come back and said this doesn't work.

So, if you have an alternator in your vehicle that's running up there 135 to 180, 185 is very common in our vehicles now. The alternators in our vehicles provide the current necessary; they don't provide a constant output of that nature. So, there's a flux of what the alternator is actually putting out. For instance, you turn on your vehicle, let it idle, and then start turning things on. What you'll hear and see is, look at your idle and listen to the engine. Anytime you turn something on in that vehicle, air conditioning, headlights, whatever, you'll hear the engine bump up a notch. What that is doing is providing the current necessary to get the job done, not that it's a constant fire hose of 180 amps. That's not really the case. What it's doing is adjusting its output to take care of the necessity of that vehicle at that time. This system has worked without a flaw for decades and will do so in the future. It's a very cost-effective option, and we stand by it 100%. This solenoid gets the job done.