[MJH]

I am looking at running my pump directly from my van battery, is this the best method? or should i run it of a seperate battery to avoid my van failing. i have a varistream installed aswell.
Cheers Matt

[Spursboy1972]

Run it off a seperate battery. get yourself a 1ooamp leisure battery (about £40- £45) Then get a split relay charger (£11.75 towsure)that will run form your main battery through and connect through the relay. This will charge the battery whilst the engine is running as long as youyr main vehicle battery is chargerd. You will never need to remove and charge second battery or carry a spare.

[LWC]

DO NOT RUN IT OFF YOUR VAN BATTERY

i was told not to do this and i was like oh it will be fine! a few months later i had starting troubles and ended up having to get a new battery and a new alternator...

and i was off for a couple of weeks and cost me £250!

as said get a seperate battery and a relay 

[LWC]

Run it off a seperate battery. get yourself a 1ooamp leisure battery (about £40- £45) Then get a split relay charger (£11.75 towsure)that will run form your main battery through and connect through the relay. This will charge the battery whilst the engine is running as long as youyr main vehicle battery is chargerd. You will never need to remove and charge second battery or carry a spare.

hi could you help me with this relay buisness, i hate having to charge my battery at night

which relay do i need? and i had a look at the site, says self switching? someone told me to get a relay a while ago, but said make sure you switch it off, is this what this does? am i totally confused with things like this

are they easy enough to do?

thanks

[nat]

i have a brand new never used split relay if you want to buy it? bought it for my set up but never needed it. cost me £13.99

[Spruce]

Hi
When you buy a split charger relay all the instructions are included in the packet.

The best way to connect it up is via your alternator charge indicator wire (the small wire that goes from your alternator to the instrument panel and not the thick charging wire that goes to the battery), so you don't have to worry about switches - it works automatically. The only down side (if this is one) is that you may notice the battery charge warning light on the dash might glow slightly which you will see at night.

There is a website that has some excellent info on it with regard to van to campervan conversions and he explains the split charger relay options in great detail.

http://www.kampenwagen.co.uk/Electrickery.html and then read up on leisure batterys and charging thereof.
Spruce

[MJH]

Thanks lads some great advice there, i will get my head under the bonnet and sort it :

[Richy L]

my father has run is pump straight off the van battery with no problems. hes had it set up for about 5+ years now.

maybe he has just been lucky though

[Dean Aspects]

My last two vehicles have had the pumps with varistream run from the battery with no ill effects
vans have started fisrt time every time

[MJH]

Thats why i asked because my mate has also been running his pump off his van battery for around six years without a problem!

[riz]

Mine runs from van and is fine too

[LWC]

perhaps my battery was on the way out...

[macmac]

always (3.1/2 years) run my pump direct from van battery through cig-lighter & its always worked fine. had to fit new battery in march after the original one (6 years old) finally started to drain.

tony

[Moderator David@stives]

I have run 2 pumps off my van battery now for 2 years with no problems at all.

[Clearpoint]

I run a one pump, two pole system straight from the van battery and never had a problem. When using both poles the pump is up at the max. Adding another battery is just more expense which may not be required.

Hope this helps.

[Count Phil]

This seems hit and miss.
Mine died and now I have second battery. It was a new one too.

It wont cost much for peace of mind. Its horrible being stuck on some estate with a flat battery.

[Dave Turley]

i was told by my williamson pumps that running my varistream straight from the vehicle battery would exceed the 12 volts that it was designed to run on and ptentially damage the unit, which would therefore not be repaired under warranty   

[jeff1]

i was told by my williamson pumps that running my varistream straight from the vehicle battery would exceed the 12 volts that it was designed to run on and ptentially damage the unit, which would therefore not be repaired under warranty   

Williamsons are correct, the out-put from an alternator is around 18v your varistream and pumps are 12v, althought they will run, it does them no good in the long run.

[Dave Turley]

so doesn't a split charger charge at 18v also? (i wouldn't remember to turn off my varistrem at the end of every job so currently charge my battery at night)

[jeff1]

so doesn't a split charger charge at 18v also? (i wouldn't remember to turn off my varistrem at the end of every job so currently charge my battery at night)

I don't have a spec for a split charge relay, but relays can normally run with a little higher voltage, and are probably designed to run at the higher voltage anyway.