Split charge relay quote

[Woodsclan]

Does this sound about right? I'm just swapping over to a 21 plate van and the company dealing with the change over has told me that I need a newer split charge relay which will cost me in the region of £500. Sounds a bit steep to me.

 

[tench0771]

sounds pricy but everything window cleaning wise is blady pricy im asuming thats with fitting streamline sell one £164+vat im gesing the newer the van means more hitec relays who no's

 

[RyeCleanLiam]

The smart relays themselves cost around £250. Plus the wiring, connectors, fuses plus labour etc it soon adds up. Though £500 does sound a tad expensive I think you'd be hard pressed to find it much cheaper than £450 with fitting.

 

[ched999uk]

With a 21 plate van you will have a 'smart' alternator. Basically when you let go of the throttle the alternator is 'switched on' and charges the starter battery. The starter batter on your van is not a normal one, it can take the higher voltage a smart alternator puts out - getting towards 20 volts.

So to harness this alternator behaviour a Battery to Battery (B2B) charger is required that takes the high alternator voltage and lowers it to be able to charge your leisure battery. That's why the 'split charger' for your van is so much more expensive.

Personally I would say if you can mains charge each night then I wouldn't spend the £500. I would even be tempted to get a 100Ah lithium ion (LiFePO4) battery from FogStar and one of their mains chargers. This would give you about 100Ah whereas a 100Ah lead acid only gives you 50Ah. The Lithium should last about 5 times longer than a lead acid. I think it's guarantee is 10 years, has Bluetooth monitoring so you can see state of charge etc and a heater to ensure you only charge it when it's at the right temp. No need to connect that to the alternator at all.

 

[spruce]

I'm afraid labour rates are going through the proverbial roof.
The main motor dealerships are charging £125 +vat per hour. Minimum charge for 5 minutes work is half and hour.

Four years ago I fitted 5 new Pirelli Carrier tyres to my van. They were £85 each fitted and balanced. I needed to replace 2. They are now around the £180 mark for one.

If you own a Ford Custom with a wet belt, that will set you back £1250 + vat to replace.

 

[Woodsclan]

Thanks guys, gives me something to think about

 

[PC]

Still after all these years struggling to understand SCR. And especially this idea of spending almost £500!
The one I use at the moment is ‘Ouhoug’. Bog standard SCR - it was £50. Works lovely.
The one before that I can’t remember the name of but I think it was £30. It lasted 5 years before I changed it for this newer one. It was still going strong.
They are both wired straight from the main battery.
Never had a single issue.
So are these not Battery2Battery chargers then?
How then are they different from the stupidly expensive Battery2Battery chargers?
I drive a 2017 Transit Custom

 

[spruce]

Still after all these years struggling to understand SCR. And especially this idea of spending almost £500!
The one I use at the moment is ‘Ouhoug’. Bog standard SCR - it was £50. Works lovely.
The one before that I can’t remember the name of but I think it was £30. It lasted 5 years before I changed it for this newer one. It was still going strong.
They are both wired straight from the main battery.
Never had a single issue.
So are these not Battery2Battery chargers then?
How then are they different from the stupidly expensive Battery2Battery chargers?
I drive a 2017 Transit Custom

If an scr is working for you now, then stay with it, is my advice.
But things could well change if you bought a new Custom.
All an scr is, is an on/off switch between the starter and leisure battery. Whatever charge is going into the starter battery will be duplicated at the leisure battery.
With a smart alternator, it could be that the alternator isn't charging enough to charge a battery even though the engine is running. This means that the leisure battery will not be being charged either.
The alternator in this scenario will be putting out some voltage, say 12v, but just 'idling' as 12v isn't enough to charge a battery.

A b2b or dc to dc charger will take that 12v and boosts it up to 14.2v (or whatever it's set to), which will charge your leisure battery, even if the starter battery isn't receiving any charge.
With regenerative braking, the ecu tells the alternator to boost charge, which could be 18v. 18v is too high to charge a lead acid battery, so a b2b charger will reduce that voltage from 18v to 14.2v.

I have a b2b charger on my van. A vsr works just as well.

Please have a look at this thread.

Split Charge Relay

Split Charge Relay. Most window cleaners who use the Water Fed Pole with a van mounted tank will, sooner or later, question whether they need to add an auxiliary charging method for their leisure battery that’s driven from the vehicle’s alternator or not. A Split Charge Relay (SCR) is now a...

windowcleaningforums.co.uk

 

[PC]

I have no idea if I have a smart alternator or regenerative braking to be honest. Completely clueless when it comes to vehicles. I do have a Euro6 with adblue though and I’ve read before that a normal scr will not work on these vehicles yet works fine on mine for the last 4-5 years. Hence my confusion.
As you said if it works then stay with it mate