Hey guys I will be installing an espar airtronic D2 or D4 in my 2006 long and tall sprinter before winter and want to know if an auxiliary battery is really necessary or can I get by without killing the battery? Any of you guys run the espar heater without aux batteries? Thanks in advance.
Espar question
- Thread starter TheNomad
- Start date
If your starter battery is good they say you can run the espar for about 8 hours. You can leave your headlights on for a couple hours and start your truck but do you?
In all honesty I do not know why anyone would run their espar on the starter battery. Miss one load because of a dead battery and you could lose more money than the aux battery would have cost.
Sent from my Fisher Price ABC-123.
In all honesty I do not know why anyone would run their espar on the starter battery. Miss one load because of a dead battery and you could lose more money than the aux battery would have cost.
Sent from my Fisher Price ABC-123.
No, you cannot get by without killing your starting battery. You won't kill it right away, but you will drastically reduce the life of the starting battery. The starting battery is designed for one thing, to provide large amounts of current all at once, and not for low amp draws over long periods of time. If something happens to your aux battery you can connect the Espar to the starting battery as a temporary solution, but only for a few weeks at most.
Think about how a battery works. When it's cold outside, like in the winter, the starting battery already has fewer amps to begin with for starting the engine. If you run an Espar off the starting battery while it's cold outside, you're drawing even more amps from a battery that is already thin on amps, reducing the number of available cranking amps even further.
You don't need some big fancy schmancy high dollar deep cycle aux battery. A simple "marine" deep cycle hybrid battery will do, since those batteries are designed for low amp draws (running lights and trolling motors) of exactly the same type of low amp draws of the Espar.
Think about how a battery works. When it's cold outside, like in the winter, the starting battery already has fewer amps to begin with for starting the engine. If you run an Espar off the starting battery while it's cold outside, you're drawing even more amps from a battery that is already thin on amps, reducing the number of available cranking amps even further.
You don't need some big fancy schmancy high dollar deep cycle aux battery. A simple "marine" deep cycle hybrid battery will do, since those batteries are designed for low amp draws (running lights and trolling motors) of exactly the same type of low amp draws of the Espar.
This is one of those deals where you can get by with it for a short time, and that's what tricks you into thinking you can get away with it indefinitely. Sure, you can run the Espar off of the starting battery--- for a short time. But, each time you do it you shorten the life of the starting battery and bring the day when you get that hot load you've been waiting for-- and then have to tell dispatch you can't do it because the van won't start-- that much closer.
Open your wallet, buy the auxiliary battery-- might as well spend some money on this because it'll be doing duty on more than just the Espar-- and realize the auxiliary battery is really cheap insurance.
Open your wallet, buy the auxiliary battery-- might as well spend some money on this because it'll be doing duty on more than just the Espar-- and realize the auxiliary battery is really cheap insurance.
Our cranking batt was down, so the book got checked and it stated do not use fast charging devices. A reason was not given, would hate to fry the electronics buy jump starting with a booster.