Engine Auto Start / Stop System Suggestions?

[VanFan]

Does anyone know of a remote engine start system that has these characteristics:

1) Simple (not requiring complex combinations of key fob button combinations to arm, disarm, and so forth);

2) Able to be actuated by a pulse from a third party device (specifically a Victron battery monitor), and;

3) Will allow the engine to run for longer than 60 minutes once started.

I'm currently using a Viper 5806V paired with a Victron monitor to automatically start the engine when the battery state of charge drops to a predetermined percentage, but the Viper fails all three requirements above and I would gladly replace it if I could find a better system. Thanks!

[SteveWolf]

What chassis do you have your Viper on?

[VanFan]

Originally Posted by SteveWolf

What chassis do you have your Viper on?

We have a 2017 Promaster.

[Jill Ellis]

What do I make sure when auto start does not work.
Everything else fine without that.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by VanFan

Does anyone know of a remote engine start system that has these characteristics:

1) Simple (not requiring complex combinations of key fob button combinations to arm, disarm, and so forth);

2) Able to be actuated by a pulse from a third party device (specifically a Victron battery monitor), and;

3) Will allow the engine to run for longer than 60 minutes once started.

I'm currently using a Viper 5806V paired with a Victron monitor to automatically start the engine when the battery state of charge drops to a predetermined percentage, but the Viper fails all three requirements above and I would gladly replace it if I could find a better system. Thanks!

ARV’s Autogen system remote starts and stops with two different fobs, a cell phone and a touch screen. It is programmable to auto start when the battery gets down to what any % SOC you program it to do. You can also program to run any minutes up to 115 minutes and will shut off when the battery is fully charged. You have to have an ARV to get that functionality because it is integrated into their systems. It illustrates it is doable.

[VanFan]

Originally Posted by Davydd

ARV’s Autogen system remote starts and stops with two different fobs, a cell phone and a touch screen. It is programmable to auto start when the battery gets down to what any % SOC you program it to do. You can also program to run any minutes up to 115 minutes and will shut off when the battery is fully charged. You have to have an ARV to get that functionality because it is integrated into their systems. It illustrates it is doable.

Thanks, Davy. The Victron / Viper combination we're using does all of this except we don't have the Silverleaf touch screen (we use our cell phone) and the Viper has a maximum run time of only 60 minutes. That's the longest run time I was able to find. If you ever find out what kind of remote start / stop module ARV is using instead of Viper, please let me know.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by VanFan

Thanks, Davy. The Victron / Viper combination we're using does all of this except we don't have the Silverleaf touch screen (we use our cell phone) and the Viper has a maximum run time of only 60 minutes. That's the longest run time I was able to find. If you ever find out what kind of remote start / stop module ARV is using instead of Viper, please let me know.

I suspect it is all custom. The 115 minute limit was likely set from MB guidelines not to idle for more than 2 hours before driving on the highway again. There are other features like programmable lock out for quiet hours so the engine would not auto start if the battery SOC setting indicates to do so.

I never auto start and really never have to idle the engine with 800ah of lithium ion batteries. I’ll drive routinely and charge the engine that way. It is just a belts and suspenders feature that’s there. With the Silverleaf screen showing SOC down to the single percent, a realtime readout of amps in use, and a history learned quick as to how much battery you need in a period of time, I think you would have to be negligent to not let your battery run down.

[VanFan]

Originally Posted by Davydd

I never auto start and really never have to idle the engine with 800ah of lithium ion batteries. I’ll drive routinely and charge the engine that way. It is just a belts and suspenders feature....

With all the other amenities we wanted, 600ah is all I could figure out how to physically fit in our Promaster, which of course is about 3' shorter than your Sprinter. Your extra 200ah would be nice for summer boondocking, but we can still run our air conditioner to get about 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep with just one hour of engine idle time so that's not too hard on us or the engine.

And the Viper does allow a remarkable number of options such as programmable "quiet time", as your system does. My gripe is how hard the Viper is to program. It has to be done with various combinations of pressing five buttons on the fob different numbers of times, listening for certain numbers of beeps in response, and the ways to get it wrong are legion. I'd still love to replace it with a different remote start/stop module that's more intuitive or user friendly.

It's certainly possible ARV's system is 100% custom. If anyone could do that, it's them. But I doubt they'd invest the R&D time, when the alternative is to find a start/stop module they like and hack it to interface with the SilverLeaf and to deliver the longer run time. Or else maybe they found one that allows the longer run time as a standard feature. Either way would be a lot less expensive to get to market than starting from scratch.