Using 2nd pump

[Darkjustice]

Have 2 man set up using pure freedom set up. Thought I'd try second pump for 1st time after 3 hours the reel started slowing then died. Battery was on 9 so tried 1st pump battery was on 12.5. any reason why second pump killed battery

 

[spruce]

Have 2 man set up using pure freedom set up. Thought I'd try second pump for 1st time after 3 hours the reel started slowing then died. Battery was on 9 so tried 1st pump battery was on 12.5. any reason why second pump killed battery

Could be the result of a number of things.

What you really need to investigate what is happening with your battery. Controllers will usually automatically switch off when the battery voltage under load drops to around 10.5 volts. If your battery voltage drops to 9 volts under load, then the possibility exists that either the battery wasn't fully charged at the beginning of the day or your battery has lost capacity. A flat battery will very quickly show a recovered positive voltage when the load is removed.

I was running a diesel heater and my brush a few years back. While around the back of a house, I noticed that the pump had stopped working. The diesel heater had also cutout and was flashing a low voltage code. (It also cuts out at 10.5v). By the time I got back to the van, my volt meter was showing a good battery voltage, as it had 'recovered'. But there was not enough charge in the battery to run my pump for long before the controller switched the pump off again.

You could have a faulty connection somewhere on the second system. Fuse holders are a primary point of high resistance and voltage drop.

 

[Darkjustice]

Could be the result of a number of things.

What you really need to investigate what is happening with your battery. Controllers will usually automatically switch off when the battery voltage under load drops to around 10.5 volts. If your battery voltage drops to 9 volts under load, then the possibility exists that either the battery wasn't fully charged at the beginning of the day or your battery has lost capacity. A flat battery will very quickly show a recovered positive voltage when the load is removed.

I was running a diesel heater and my brush a few years back. While around the back of a house, I noticed that the pump had stopped working. The diesel heater had also cutout and was flashing a low voltage code. (It also cuts out at 10.5v). By the time I got back to the van, my volt meter was showing a good battery voltage, as it had 'recovered'. But there was not enough charge in the battery to run my pump for long before the controller switched the pump off again.

You could have a faulty connection somewhere on the second system. Fuse holders are a primary point of high resistance and voltage drop.

Thanks it died on me today got it on charge. 1st time I've had to charge it

 

[spruce]

Thanks it died on me today got it on charge. 1st time I've had to charge it

Most of us use leisure batteries as our wfp driver. I have a combo leisure battery in that it can be used as a starter battery as well. (It's neither a good starter battery nor a good leisure battery.) It can deliver around 800 cold cranking amps. Although it has the ability to deliver a large current to start an engine, it doesn't accept a recharge at the same rate. In fact, it's more like a trickle charge in comparison.

Numax once advised me that we should never recharge a leisure battery at more than 10% of the battery's capacity. In other words, my 105amp combo battery shouldn't be recharged at more than 10 amps.

The lower in charge a battery gets, the more current in amps it will accept. Then the fuller the battery is, the lower the rate of recharge it will accept.

When we used to clean our local school, my van wouldn't move for the best part of the day. When starting the engine, there was an initial current surge into the leisure battery, which very quickly tapered off to a charge rate of around 8 amps. The 2 of us had taken approx 30 amps from the battery. If my leisure battery would accept 8 amps until fully recharged, then that means my return journey would need to be around 4 hours.

Under normal working conditions for me, (working half day), I can end the day with say 90% battery capacity left. On my way home, my leisure battery may only accept a charge rate of 3 to 4 amps. If I didn't 'bench charge' my leisure battery in the evening, my current draw would eventually exceed my charge input and in time, my battery would be flat. If I'm taking more water from the glass than replenishing it, the glass is eventually going to be empty.

Each time my battery is reduced to a fully discharged state, I reduce the battery's longevity. This is one reason why most of the battery manufacturers will not guarantee a battery used by the window cleaner. Numax make good batteries, but view us as battery abusers.

Is there a solution? I believe that as window cleaners, having a Lithium-ion battery would negate the need to keep bench charging our batteries as they will accept a higher rate of recharge. On my usage, my return journey home would be enough to fully recharge this battery. However, it would also hammer the van's alternator. Winter also becomes a problem as you can't charge a frozen Lithium battery. It also would need a battery to battery charger programmed to charge lithium batteries.
Sterling want £550 for a lithium battery and a 60 amp B2B charger is another £300. So the cost far out ways the benefits imho.