Hi,

I agree that it would be a nice product to offer. Larry Goddard reads this
group, hopefully he'll come up with a good solid product to offer. I'll
copy him on this note as well.

I must admit that I'm not sure I like the automatic switching approach - I
guess I just like to be in control of which battery is being used. The idea
of 2 battery switches and diodes to stop flow seems OK to me, but I'm not
sure it is necessary. I have always used 1 single 3 position switch (Batt
1/Off/Batt 2). I have never had a problem making a fast switch from battery
A to battery B. I wonder if there is a perceived need for something that
really isn't necessary. But I'm not an expert on batteries or diodes.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com


"Gary Emerson" wrote in message
. net...
A quick Google of Schottky Diode and TO-220 yielded some sources.

I just tried the first one and then found this:

http://www.onsemi.com/PowerSolutions...do?id=MBR2515L

looks like even slightly better than what I had bought.

You'd lose about 0.3 volts during normal operation.

Datasheet at:

http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/MBR2515L-D.PDF

I'm sure some googling will find that someplace like DigiKey will have
these and will take small ordering quantities.

Is Paul Remde out there? Might be a nice "kit" to add to your line. Kit
includes 4 diodes, 4 heat sinks, 4 insulating washers some heat shrink
tubing, etc.??

Good luck.




Gary Emerson wrote:
Nyal Williams wrote:

I'd like to see a full write-up with diagrams, photos,
and names/addresses of places to buy parts. This would
make a good article for Soaring.


Here is a sketch

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/emer...y/e/sketch.JPG

and a pic of my install...

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/emer...y/e/diodes.jpg

There is a aluminum bracket which is lightly mounted to the bulkhead. The
PC board just provides insulation and some support for the wires.

Each diode has a heat sink, but I don't really think it was necessary.

I don't have the part numbers handy, but I'll see if I can't find
something.

With 18Amps of forward current capability (each), there isn't really any
"need" for the two diodes in parallel, but for an extra $5 and a few
extra minutes of wiring, if any one diode ever did fail "open" the other
would still provide power. Most likely overkill.