Water genie pump controller with built in battery charger?

[jason20581]

Evening all, just came across this on eBay! Just wondering if anyone uses one and are they any good?

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[Nudel]

I'd be sceptical to the quality of the charger in that. I mean, a good quality ctek charger is almost twice as large as the entire flow controller assembly. They must have put a wee dinky charger circuit in there, and I don't trust those for a beefy leisure battery.

 

[jason20581]

I'd be sceptical to the quality of the charger in that. I mean, a good quality ctek charger is almost twice as large as the entire flow controller assembly. They must have put a wee dinky charger circuit in there, and I don't trust those for a beefy leisure battery.

That was my first thought too. If it were that simple I think everyone would have one.


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[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Been running that controller and their pump fir over 2 years on the same battery.  Never had an issue. Never had to charge it once. 

 

[Tuffers]

I'd be sceptical to the quality of the charger in that. I mean, a good quality ctek charger is almost twice as large as the entire flow controller assembly. They must have put a wee dinky charger circuit in there, and I don't trust those for a beefy leisure battery.

The controller works the same as a split relay. You have extra leads on it that go to your vehicle battery so your leisure battery gets charged as you drive around. I do charge my leisure battery 2-3 times a week just to be sure though. 

 

[Nicky]

I have been the controller for over 3 years and never had a ‘problem with it ,would recommend it

 

[spruce]

Evening all, just came across this on eBay! Just wondering if anyone uses one and are they any good?

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If you have a new van from 2015 then this won't work if the van has regenerative braking.

 

[Tuffers]

If you have a new van from 2015 then this won't work if the van has regenerative braking.

Could you explain in more detail please Spruce? I had this controller on a 2008 van and now have it on a 2016 van. When I stop driving and open the rear doors the controller is flashing CHG or something similar which must mean it is charging the leisure battery. It goes off after 5-10 seconds.

 

[spruce]

Could you explain in more detail please Spruce? I had this controller on a 2008 van and now have it on a 2016 van. When I stop driving and open the rear doors the controller is flashing CHG or something similar which must mean it is charging the leisure battery. It goes off after 5-10 seconds.

This will effect vans that have regenerative braking. If your van doesn't have this feature (not all vans did from 2015) then you won't have the issue.

There was lots of info on this thread

https://windowcleaningforums.co.uk/topic/22375-split-charge-relay/

The idea of regenerative charging when braking and decelerating is that is uses energy that would other wise be lost. The van's ecu will tell the alternator to charge the starter battery until it is 80% charged. The alternator will then stop charging. It leaves that bit of extra space (the 20%) to be charged when the vehicle is decelerating or braking. The charge voltage could jump to anything between 15.5 and 18 volts - a charge voltage too high for our lead acid leisure batteries.

So the easiest way to see if you have regenerative braking is to plug a digital volt meter gauge into your van's cigarette lighter. If it reads a steady 14.0 to 14,6 volts all the time when driving, then you don't have this feature on your van.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-24V-LED-Cigarette-Car-Battery-Tester-Voltage-Meter-Voltmeter-B9L3-/263005185368?oid=271523172364

If you have a higher voltage reading than 14.6 when you are going down hill with your foot off the accelerator and you have times when the volt meter reads in the mid 12 volts with the engine running then you have regenerative braking,