[Paul Coleman]

Nice one.  Would suggest putting in split relay charger and buying a leisure battery.  Your vehicle battery will last longer this way, and can still charge leisure battery as you go along, without risking running your main battery down.

But otherwise I am jealous!  Very smart looking interior.  I like the use of gutter brackets!

Running off the van battery is not working, so we are going to fit a Leisure battery and a split charge relay which is the way we run our vans. Again the split charge relay won't fully charge the leisure battery, but its a backup. We just don't do enough mileage.
We will 'bench' charge his battery every couple of days.

Spruce

Sounds a good idea.  I do a fair bit of mileage but still need to bench charge the leisure battery sometimes - especially if I've had a run of larger jobs and lowish mileage.  I sometimes need to run the engine for a while when working if I've been a bit slack about charging.  At least there is always this to fall back on but have to be selective as wouldn't want the van nicked.  I tend to take a break at such times and sit in the van with engine running with my sarnies.

[Spruce]

Nice one.  Would suggest putting in split relay charger and buying a leisure battery.  Your vehicle battery will last longer this way, and can still charge leisure battery as you go along, without risking running your main battery down.

But otherwise I am jealous!  Very smart looking interior.  I like the use of gutter brackets!

Running off the van battery is not working, so we are going to fit a Leisure battery and a split charge relay which is the way we run our vans. Again the split charge relay won't fully charge the leisure battery, but its a backup. We just don't do enough mileage.
We will 'bench' charge his battery every couple of days.

Spruce

Sounds a good idea.  I do a fair bit of mileage but still need to bench charge the leisure battery sometimes - especially if I've had a run of larger jobs and lowish mileage.  I sometimes need to run the engine for a while when working if I've been a bit slack about charging.  At least there is always this to fall back on but have to be selective as wouldn't want the van nicked.  I tend to take a break at such times and sit in the van with engine running with my sarnies.

I tend to take a break at such times and sit in the van with engine running with my sarnies.

Especially nice when the weather is freezing cold outside. 

I've had to do this several times when my first battery started to see better days. I often thought that we need a similar device that Police cars use that allow them to idle with their lights on with them away from the car. You can't steal it as the moment you touch the clutch the engine cuts and can't be started.
Spruce

[[GQC] Tim]

I can't comment on multiple pump setups, but if your van battery is failing when your pump runs off the van (with digi controller) then your van battery is no good. I do very few miles, and it works brilliantly.

Have you actually tried it Spruce? I thought it would never work, but went ahead and did it, backup charger pack in the van and it's been fine for a very long time now.

[Spruce]

I can't comment on multiple pump setups, but if your van battery is failing when your pump runs off the van (with digi controller) then your van battery is no good. I do very few miles, and it works brilliantly.

Have you actually tried it Spruce? I thought it would never work, but went ahead and did it, backup charger pack in the van and it's been fine for a very long time now.

Hi Tim,
Yes, run off his van battery for 4 or 5 working days. His van battery in a 60amp unit. Had a 10 amp charger on it for 3 hours after the last time it was out working all day. If I hadn't of recharged it, then I doubt it would have lasted the following day.
Spruce

[Spruce]

Update time again.

Both son and son in law have the identical 85 amp hour Numax leisure batteries. I have swopped them around and they both behave the same way in Son in Laws Transit Connect.

He goes out with a full battery charge in the morning and comes back in the evening with half a charge. I put it on my Numax intelligent charger and read the voltage gauge. He then drives the van home and returns the next day having driven 18 miles. The battery will then about 3/4 full which will get him through the day. It does appear that the flatter the leisure battery is the quicker it will take a charge, but it's charge acceptance seems to diminish as the battery comes more fully charged.

His van also has the lastest Varistream with our usual 5l Shurflo pump and I'm getting the impression that it consumes more current than the older digital and analogue varistreams do.

I'm very tempted to buy a 30amp volt and amp meter combo and test the amp draw on his pump and compare them to the old units we (son & I) have. I will also be able to see what amps his alternator charges his battery at.
Son in Law does run his pump at a slightly higher flow rate than we do, so that could account for his higher power consumption, but I know of a local lad with a 2 man system who only charges his battery every second day and he doesn't have a split charge relay.

Otherwise the only addition to this van has been an inline on/off tap fitted to the supply from the tank to allow the pump to be drained down overnight with this freezing weather.

S.I.L. also finds that this Connect, with the Tddi motor (non comon-rail but with turbo) is very fuel efficient and takes ages for the engine to warm up, so the other day we spent some time thawing pipes to get him going even though he had driven 9 miles here that morning with the heater fully on.

Spruce

[[GQC] Tim]

Just a thought, have you cleaned the van battery terminals and greased them. Have you taken the leads off the alternator and taken off oxidation on those posts and ring terminals? Electricity is lazy and needs proper clean contacts.

I'm still running with just my van battery. I do few miles. And that's with the positive terminal knackered so doesn't exactly have good connectivity.

[Spruce]

Just a thought, have you cleaned the van battery terminals and greased them. Have you taken the leads off the alternator and taken off oxidation on those posts and ring terminals? Electricity is lazy and needs proper clean contacts.

I'm still running with just my van battery. I do few miles. And that's with the positive terminal knackered so doesn't exactly have good connectivity.

Hi Tim

I know the Transit Connect generally suffers from cable issues from the alternator to the battery. The insulation breaks down, water and moisture play havoc with it. It's a well know Ford issue. So it could be that although the alternator is charging sufficiently (his battery is always fully charged) it may not be working efficiently. (I understand that Ford also use the ECU to regulate alternator charge rate on these Connects and the early ones did have ECU program issues which Ford didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to correct.)

On my son's Peugeot Partner van we have a change over switch that allows him to either use the van battery or is leisure battery, and even with a new van battery it went flat, so there may be a problem with that alternator as well.

I know you have a Partner/Berlingo so I'm not sure why you can sucessfully do it and we can't - it makes no sense as the charging circuits and alternator will be the same.

Spruce

[londoncleaners]

Nice and neat,