Split Charge Relay...

[Clearview Lee]

I'm very interested to know if the people who use this method also use a trickle charger, and a Smart charger??...or is that over-doing it??

I've had untold charging probs, but that's cos' I was very naive changing over from Trad.

I got my new set-up from window cleaning warehouse (Inter-loc) a few years ago, and the battery is well and truly (4)bolted away!! I assumed just driving about would be enough. I drive about within a 10 mile radius.

Cheers

 

[spruce]

I answered that question on the thread about how long a Shurflo pump should last.

http://windowcleaningforums.co.uk/threads/shurflo-pump-lifespan.16771/page-2#post-250545

You asked;

Also...how the hell is one supposed to know how many miles driving is sufficient enough using a SCRelay??? Winds me up all this probability ballsack.

I answered;

As I've mentioned before I have a 110 amp h leisure battery on a split charge relay. Our pumps on the van draw around 4 to 4.5 amp an hour each.

If I manage a 6 hour day on my own and my pump actually works for 3 hours of that day actually on the glass then I can presume I have used 12+ amps from my battery. If my battery was fully charged the previous night, then at the end of the day I would estimate that I have approx 98 amps left in the battery.

On my way home I see that my alternator is charging the battery by about 6 amps. At that rate I would theoretically need to drive for 2 hours to replace the charge I had used that day. However if it only takes 15 minutes to get home, then I have only replenished the charge in the battery by 1.5 amp. If I drove back to the same area the following morning I would put a further 1.5 amps into the battery. So I took 12 amps but only replaced 3 amps.

I know its a lot more complicated than that as a discharged battery will accept a higher charge rate. As the charged battery gets 'fuller' then the rate it will accept a charge reduces. My battery when nearly fully charged on my intelligent battery charger will only accept about 0.5 amps from the alternator.

It was once stated in an Australian Motor Home magazine that it would take a journey of 750km to fully recharge a discharged (flat) leisure battery. I can vouch for that on a trip I did in my van to London. I started off with a 75% charged battery and it was fully charged by the time I got to London - a distance of 250 miles. It took that distance, around 5 hours driving time, to put back about 35 amps.

My van alternator will supply the leisure battery with exactly the same charge rate, whether its traveling down the motorway or idling at traffic lights. So taking it slowly saves fuel and gives your battery a longer charge, but the results aren't big numbers.

I'm now going to add;

I usually supplementary charge my leisure battery every second night with my Numax 10 amp leisure battery intelligent charger. I usually leave it on all night.

So you may rightly ask why I bother with a split charge relay or a VSR as they now refer to it as.

It just gives a bit of peace of mind. On both occasions the leisure battery has failed we were able to let the engine of the van run on idle which provided sufficient current to power both pumps to finish the job.

When I had the wfp trailer often the battery would end up flat during the working day. My little Suzuki used to idle in the street quite often whilst I finished the last couple of houses to keep the pump going.

 

[Jake]

My 110ah battery lasts 3 days at a time, then I charge it over night with my ring smart charger, much more effective in my opinion...

Split relay seems silly for a short radius of driving

I think one of the reasons mine lasts so long is my one shot remote saves battery power so much, also the fact that I have a solar panel charger always connected, which is better than a split really as it's always working (well when it's light!)

 

[spruce]

My 110ah battery lasts 3 days at a time, then I charge it over night with my ring smart charger, much more effective in my opinion...
Split relay seems silly for a short radius of driving

I think one of the reasons mine lasts so long is my one shot remote saves battery power so much, also the fact that I have a solar panel charger always connected, which is better than a split really as it's always working (well when it's light!)

Its just for peace of mind.

The other option is a change over switch so your pump can either draw power from your leisure battery or the main starter battery. We did that on my son's van as well as the split charge relay.

He never used the change over switch so I didn't both to add this to the other vans.

 

[Clearview Lee]

I'm just wondering if to disconnect my split charge, as I solar trickle when can is off, then smart charge it twice a week??

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jake]

I'm just wondering if to disconnect my split charge, as I solar trickle when can is off, then smart charge it twice a week??

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Huh?