[Clever Forum Name]

Hi Guys

I was wondering if this sounds normal or not?

I Have a 75AH leisure battery (2 months old) and a Split charge Relay System.

I charge my battery overnight, when i start the day my volts are around 12.10/12.20 Volts (under load) Half way through the day my volts are around 11.80/11.70 under load. On the varistream the L flashes and then sometimes its constantly on.

By the end of the day my Battery is usually showing around 11.8v - 12.2v. Under load or not under load.

I get home and i am finding i have to charge my battery every day.

Driving wise 20 mins too work and 20 mins home. During the day lucky if i do a total of 5 mins of driving.

is a 75AH up to the job, or is it the limit for a shurflo and controller?

I know everything is working fine, just a bit concerned that only after 3/4 houses i am already getting the flashing L

I understand what the L and U mean

Thanks

[andyM]

A fully charged battery in good condition should really be showing a charge of 13 volts +.
How are you checking the charge of your battery, a voltmeter?
If your battery is only showing 12.1/12.2 volts then I would suspect one or two of the battery cells are dead or could possibly be a faulty battery charger.

[Clever Forum Name]

When the van is idling it shows 14v ish.

When the battery is charging it shows over 13V

When i switch the van off its showing around 13V.

Switch the pump on and controller and it goes down to around 12.6V (under load)

After 4 houses in a row (say an hour cleaning) it reads around 12.1/12.2V

Start van drive for say 2 mins then it shows 12.4/12.5V (Not under load)

By the end of the day when the pump is running and done a good day, battery is showing 11.8 ish or slightly less. With the L flashing or L lit up.

Having been reading up online i understand a bit more now todo with volts and amps. I think mine is fine, and just worrying as the L is flashing.

In an ideal world i should have gone 125AH but van is small and i have hidden the battery away. The first day is flashes U and stops me working i will order a 125AH and chop some metal away lol

[firefly123]

my battery is the same i do the same as you for split charger to work you need to drive along way

[dazmond]

ive been thinking of a split charge relay for my next van but i usually only drive 10 mins to work then usually only 10-15 mins driving throughout the day.sometimes its 10 mins to work,10 mins back and 2 mins moving the van round the corner!

would this not be sufficient to charge the battery?

[Clever Forum Name]

Let me copy and past this, from SPRUCE so we know it's golden.

I have a 110 amp leisure battery powering my system with a split charge relay.
I have this in a Citroen Relay SWB van with a 150amp alternator.

The reason why we have to charge our leisure batteries regularily is that we mostly don't drive enough miles to put back into the battery what we take out.

Each of my Shurflo pumps draws about 3.4amps with the digital controller setting we use. The battery will accept a recharge of about 10 amps at best, but usually between about 5 - 7.5 amps with a fairly full battery - remember a battery nearing a fully charged state will accept an ever reducing charge until the battery is fully charged.

So if we travel 10 minutes to and from the day's work, a 20 minute charge of 7.5amps (2.5amps) won't come anywhere near replacing the 13.5 amps we have used assuming the pump runs 4 hours.

The split charge relay wiring from the main van battery is protected by a 15 amp fuse which has never blown in the 3 years this system has been in this van. This means that the amps drawn by the leisure battery has never been more that 15 amps even when the battery was flat. If it had then the fuse would have blown.

My son in law has a Ford Transit Connect LWB with the latest Varistream digital controller and he drives around trip of about 30 miles a day and he now manages keep his 85amp leisure battery pretty much fully charged travelling this distance with his split charge relay. (The new digital Varistream draws current even when the controller is switched off, and its only since we have put an isolator switch on the supply to the Varistream that we have been able to achieve this. We estimate that the draw on the battery was about 25 amps over a week.) But it's not the distance he travels that's the most important - what is important is how long it takes. I have found that my battery will still be charged at the exact same rate whether the engine is reving at 3000 rpm or just idling at traffic lights.

[James Bulton]

Check your fuse on the relay its probably gone. I had this once so fitted a fuse at easy reach so I can check.

[Spruce]

Taking a volt reading from you leisure battery can also be tricky.

You will notice that if you are supplementary charging your leisure battery with a split charge relay, it takes quite some time before the battery settles down to a stable voltage after you have switched the engine off. So taking a reading too early will give you a false state of charge. I have noticed that when the leisure battery is fully charged, the amp meter will still show the battery accepting a minimal charge from the alternator and then it becomes zero charge, then about 10 seconds later shows a minimal charge again. This repeats over and over again.

The voltage across the battery also drops when it is put under load. Once you stop the load, the battery will slowly recover.

My leisure battery on the van has never shown a fully charged voltage of 12.8v. It is usually around 12.6v. The voltage on my battery also drops below 12v when it's under load. Whenever I watched the gauge its around 11.8v.

My van has been standing for 3 hours since I've come back and I have just taken a reading of 12.2v before putting the battery charger on. The battery charger tells me the battery is fuller than 75% and less than 100%. Its taking a charge of 5.4amps at the moment.

[Spruce]

ive been thinking of a split charge relay for my next van but i usually only drive 10 mins to work then usually only 10-15 mins driving throughout the day.sometimes its 10 mins to work,10 mins back and 2 mins moving the van round the corner!

would this not be sufficient to charge the battery?

No Daz it won't be enough.

RC Property (who I posted the link to on his gas heater installation) also uses a solar panel clipped to his passenger visor. He maintains that the constant trickle charge the battery receives every day along with his split charge relay is sufficient to keep his battery fully charged.

[Clever Forum Name]

Nice one spruce made me feel a bit better lol.

I saw the volts in 11 and my heart sank ha.

Next van will be bigger and gonna have a 200AH Battery

[Spruce]

Nice one spruce made me feel a bit better lol.

I saw the volts in 11 and my heart sank ha.

Next van will be bigger and gonna have a 200AH Battery

Once you get too big battery wise, you then have to source an expensive battery charger to charge it. If my memory serves me my Numax Leisure battery charger is ok for a battery up to 165amp.

When we fitted my son's Peugeot Partner out, I also fitted a change over switch that would allow him to source power from his main van's battery should the need arise. He has never used that switch intentionally in 6 years. His battery is an 85 amph one.

The latest Varistream controllers flash L (Low Voltage) at 11.5v and U (Under voltage) at 10.3v which will cause the unit to switch off.

I would recommend you check that all connections to the wiring are tight and secure and that the fuse holders are good. We have come across cheap fuse holders that don't make a good contact on the blade of the fuse. Also ensure that wiring is capable of carrying the amperage. If the wiring isn't of the right rating or there are bad connections, a resistance will creat a voltage drop. Strip connector are also prime places to look for poor connections.

You will find things improve dramatically if you fit an isolator switch between the leisure battery and your Varistream controller. SIL switches his off at the end of each working day.

[Small but perfectley formed]

I had this problem , make all the wiring to varistream and pump as short as possible this cured mine.

[robert mitchell]

I understand that a normal car battery can take a higher charge rate , thats what i use and have no problems but i do enough miles as i use my van as my private vehicle too.

Spruce - As a car battery can take a higher charge rate will the split charger automatically charge it at a higher rate or can you fit a higher rated split charger?

[Spruce]

I understand that a normal car battery can take a higher charge rate , thats what i use and have no problems but i do enough miles as i use my van as my private vehicle too.

Spruce - As a car battery can take a higher charge rate will the split charger automatically charge it at a higher rate or can you fit a higher rated split charger?

I haven't any experience fitting a split charge relay to charge a second car battery I'm afraid.

Most of the split charge relays at our end of the market are 30 amp units. I would guess that most of us would use 30 amp wire with 15 amp fuses. I would upgrade the fuses to 20 or 25amp and monitor the situation if I was experimenting.

I have searched the web on numerous occassions and found no info on charge rates for starter batteries. What I do find interesting is that the sellers of the SCR don't warn us that these aren't for use on auxillary starter batteries.

There must be someone out there using a split charge relay to supplementary charge a starter battery. It would be interesting to find out what batteries they use, what SCRs, wiring and fuse rating.

[Clever Forum Name]

Nice one spruce made me feel a bit better lol.

I saw the volts in 11 and my heart sank ha.

Next van will be bigger and gonna have a 200AH Battery

Once you get too big battery wise, you then have to source an expensive battery charger to charge it. If my memory serves me my Numax Leisure battery charger is ok for a battery up to 165amp.

When we fitted my son's Peugeot Partner out, I also fitted a change over switch that would allow him to source power from his main van's battery should the need arise. He has never used that switch intentionally in 6 years. His battery is an 85 amph one.

The latest Varistream controllers flash L (Low Voltage) at 11.5v and U (Under voltage) at 10.3v which will cause the unit to switch off.

I would recommend you check that all connections to the wiring are tight and secure and that the fuse holders are good. We have come across cheap fuse holders that don't make a good contact on the blade of the fuse. Also ensure that wiring is capable of carrying the amperage. If the wiring isn't of the right rating or there are bad connections, a resistance will creat a voltage drop. Strip connector are also prime places to look for poor connections.

You will find things improve dramatically if you fit an isolator switch between the leisure battery and your Varistream controller. SIL switches his off at the end of each working day.

All wired in as best as I could with new wiring and all to a very high standard. I installed a switch when I first read you recommended it. It's not your normal bodge job.