[petski2]

Hi all.
I recently fitted a split charge relay from the van battery to our wfp battery.
Problem is I dont know if its working
Does anyone know of a way I can test it?
My wfp battery ran out of power today but that is after 4 days of solid graft and as its a new battery I dont know if thats normal for it or not?
Cheers

[geefree]

Hey up pete,

try checking fuses, i have around 3 fuses on the wires to the van battery.

Gary

[Craig - CW Window Cleaning]

if you can get hold of a volt metre check the voltage on the wfp side when the engine is running and then test again with engine off.
you should notive a difference of about 1.5 volts.

other than that if your wfp battery is flat and you do a fair amount of driving its not working.

cheeers

[jarvy]

If your pump controller has a battery meter on it like mine (pure freedom 1) then it should read about 12.6v when engine not running and 13/14v with the engine running.

[petski2]

Cheers guys,I will borrow the brother in laws volt meter.
Gaz does this sound right..
Wire from positive of van battery--20 amp fuse---split charge relay--earth from negative on van battery onto chassis---wire from aux on relay --20 amp fuse--positive onto wfp battery---earth from negative on wfp battery to chassis?
Cheers

[Spruce]

Hi Petski2
Wire from positive of van battery--20 amp fuse---split charge relay--earth from negative on van battery onto chassis---wire from aux on relay --20 amp fuse--positive onto wfp battery---earth from negative on wfp battery to chassis?

The wiring description sounds correct. Its sounds as though you have one of the 'new' intelligent split charger relays that are able to identify the sate of charge of both batteries (vehicle and leisure) and give priority to the vehicle battery over the secondary leisure battery.

The split charger relay I have in my van has a 'third' wire , connected to the alternator charging warning light circuit in my case to activate the relay. This means that the relay is only activated when the engine is running, which is the system most caravan setups use. As mine is just a relay, priority charging goes to the flattest battery ( least resistance) but I have never had a flat van battery although I have sometimes run my leisure battery flat. 

I can connect a volt meter across the battery and see the needle rise when the engine is started, indicating the battery is being charged. We also have a small battery charger which we use to top the leisure batteries up as we do very little mileage. It has a light that is red, but when the battery is fully charged it turns green. That red light turns green the moment I start the engine so I occassionally use that to check that everything still works.

Spruce