Today was the first time I ever started my van using the assist mode. My van had been in the shop for a couple of months and I have a feeling they killed the batteries. Who knows, might just be their time but I had noticed the starts have been a little labored lately especially in the morning. Voltage normally drops into the low 11 volt range during a start (glow plugs + engine cranking) but the last couple of weeks it's been going lower and lower. At least for me, when AGM batteries die they go slowly and just won't supply a good high cranking amp power. The wet cell maintenance free type have often shorted out on me causing the battery to off gas and get really hot. I had always been able to tell when one is going because my shore charger would show an unusually high charge flow.
A couple of nights ago it froze and that made a huge difference. Last night I watched my charge rate and all was normal yet this morning I saw the starting voltage drop into the 9v range and the engine just started. Not good on the FICM and what not, so I closed the jump switch and the van started normally.
My batteries are about 5 years old so I think they're on their way south. I went and bought me a couple new Diehard Platinum's rather than head out to the hills like I wanted to.
I have the Blue Sea 7622 relay with remote kit. I have it configured to stay open during a start. If I hadn't have set it up that way I would have never known I was having starting battery issues.
Is it worth spending the time or money to install a switch? Probably not when you can just go back and put the connector back on to get the same results. But you don't want that lead to hit ground and need to keep it taped up. As far as a switch for the SurePower, unless it was a momentary switch (like I had back in 07) I'd probably leave it on by accident and a momentary switch would be too difficult to operate if you're by yourself unless it's at the dash.
For me the Blue Sea works better and the LED light display looks cool but most importantly it helps troubleshoot stuff quicker (with the flip of a switch
). I like having total control of the device. SMB only installs those remote kits upon request cause kids and exposed switches can have bad results.
I had some issues with my SurePower separators and went through several of them but other have had great success with em. I wouldn't add a switch because of the cost and if you do plan to convert to a Blue Sea it would be a useless upgrade. The standard Blue Sea 7622 has full controls on the separator itself so if you have easy access you'd be good to go.