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Battery size

As long as it is a regular 12v battery, the potential current does not matter as long as it's enough to last you through the day. The system will draw current as needed from the battery.

 
Yes will be fine the higher the number the bigger the capacity the battery has just make sure it’s charged up well 

 
175 ah is 175 amp hours.

My pump draws 6 amps per hour so if i had it on continuously for 10 hours I would of used 60amps, more than enough for a days work.

You shouldn't be cycling your battery down more than half way, so 175 amp hours would be around 87.5 amp hours half used. If you go below that its detrimental to your batteries life span.

175 ah is good enough to supply power for a couple of days work without charging.

If your charger is say 10 amps, it will put back 10 amps per hour of charge back into your battery. if you use 80 amps it will take 8 hours to charge until full.

Its a good battery.

 
175 ah is 175 amp hours.
 
My pump draws 6 amps per hour so if i had it on continuously for 10 hours I would of used 60amps, more than enough for a days work.
 
You shouldn't be cycling your battery down more than half way, so 175 amp hours would be around 87.5 amp hours half used. If you go below that its detrimental to your batteries life span.
 
175 ah is good enough to supply power for a couple of days work without charging.
 
If your charger is say 10 amps, it will put back 10 amps per hour of charge back into your battery. if you use 80 amps it will take 8 hours to charge until full.
 
Its a good battery.
Aaaah it makes sense now, thank you for taking the time to explain this to me (I can be a bit simple at times haha)


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175 ah is 175 amp hours.

My pump draws 6 amps per hour so if i had it on continuously for 10 hours I would of used 60amps, more than enough for a days work.

You shouldn't be cycling your battery down more than half way, so 175 amp hours would be around 87.5 amp hours half used. If you go below that its detrimental to your batteries life span.

175 ah is good enough to supply power for a couple of days work without charging.

If your charger is say 10 amps, it will put back 10 amps per hour of charge back into your battery. if you use 80 amps it will take 8 hours to charge until full.

Its a good battery.


It will take longer than that as the battery accepts a less and less charge as it gets closer to being fully charged. This is the biggest issue with lead acid batteries. But what you say is correct in theory and being simplistic, makes it easier of others to understand. :1f44d:

 
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It will take longer than that as the battery accepts a less and less charge as it gets closer to being fully charged. This is the biggest issue with lead acid batteries.
Every day is a school day, funny really as i used to hate school.

Cant get enough of it now.

 
Every day is a school day, funny really as i used to hate school.

Cant get enough of it now.


Its interesting as you can see a direct implication in your day to day life. I loved physics at school because the teacher brought the subject to life with day to day application of the 'experiments' we did. I disliked history because it just didn't interest me.

I love the technicalities of this job. It is more than pumping water from a tank in the van through a hose and washing a window using a brush on the end of a pole. There is complexity in the detail.

 
 
Its interesting as you can see a direct implication in your day to day life. I loved physics at school because the teacher brought the subject to life with day to day application of the 'experiments' we did. I disliked history because it just didn't interest me.
 
I love the technicalities of this job. It is more than pumping water from a tank in the van through a hose and washing a window using a brush on the end of a pole. There is complexity in the detail.
The last system I had was a “facelift” full set up, pretty much a plug and play thing, however that was all someone else’s equipment so it was installed professionally, setting up on my own is a whole new ball game to me but gotta say I’m enjoying it so far. Just the battery and split relay charger to wire up tomorrow [emoji51]


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Never a truer word spoken.

I hate it when you hear "its only window cleaning" or "why make a simple thing complicated"

As Bruce lee once said "Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I've understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. The height of cultivation is really nothing special. It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum. It is the halfway cultivation that leads to ornamentation."

 
The last system I had was a “facelift” full set up, pretty much a plug and play thing, however that was all someone else’s equipment so it was installed professionally, setting up on my own is a whole new ball game to me but gotta say I’m enjoying it so far. Just the battery and split relay charger to wire up tomorrow
emoji51.png



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DIY or self sufficiency is empowering.

And the more that goes wrong along the way, the greater your understanding. 

 
Am I the only person that does not use a separate battery to run my pump I just run the wires straight to the van battery drive to work and back charges it and never goes flat never been a problem for me


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Am I the only person that does not use a separate battery to run my pump I just run the wires straight to the van battery drive to work and back charges it and never goes flat never been a problem for me


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Are you still getting 12v to your pump controller? I was told that if I ran it straight off the van battery I would only get 6v?!? I don’t know if this is true or not [emoji854]


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Are you still getting 12v to your pump controller? I was told that if I ran it straight off the van battery I would only get 6v?!? I don’t know if this is true or not [emoji854]


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I’m not sure about the voltage but I’ve been doing it for 7 years and never had a problem only had a flat battery once but put down to cold weather a got a new one

I can check the voltage on Monday if it helps


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I will check and get back let you no Monday
But as I say I think you would be ok me and my dad have done it for years


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Are you still getting 12v to your pump controller? I was told that if I ran it straight off the van battery I would only get 6v?!? I don’t know if this is true or not
emoji854.png



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If he is using a proper Spring or Varistream controller then the controller cuts out when it reaches a voltage low of 10.3v under load. So it won't be 6v.

There may be a slight voltage drop from the vans battery to the controller but this can be minimised by using a higher amperage cable and keeping joins to a minimum. We prefer to solder joints where possible.

Some people have managed to run their pumps from the van's battery for years. We haven't been able to. The most we were able to get is 4 days before the van's battery was flat. We do very low daily mileage. At the same time we were doing this a fellow window cleaner in the south, with the identical van, was successfully using his van's battery - a Peugeot Partner 2.0hdi. 

We later had to replace that van's battery with a new one. We tried the same experiment but again the van's battery only lasted 4 days.

So being able to do this is all about how long your daily drive is. If you are stuck in stop start traffic then this will allow the battery to receive a longer charge provided your engine is running. In our case our journey times back and forward to work are 20 minutes tops and my van isn't used much for private use either. So what might work for one may not work for another using the same van.

We also tried the same with a Transit Connect T220, and although a little better, still didn't last much longer even with more private mileage than we do.

My suggestion is to try it but use a good multimeter and test the voltage across the battery every day. You will then be able to monitor the state of your vans battery charge. A battery is fully charged reading 12.8v or above and flat (minimal charge) at 12.0v. You need to start to make plans when the battery gets to 12.3v as starting the engine may become an issue.

These voltages can only be checked accurately when the battery has stood idle for about 4 hours. This time allows the voltage in the battery to stabilise.

Its worth noting that a battery looses its ability to charge quickly the fuller it gets. So a battery in a low state of charge will accept a faster charge than a battery nearing fully charged.

.

 
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