Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: liphook on April 16, 2024, 03:15:17 pm
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Today was the second day trying to use my diy reel system, it lasted 10 minutes before I had the batt symbol on the controller. Back to backpacks rest of day.
I have a 120ah battery fitted with a trickle charger to the engine, and run a 100psi shurflo pump from it.
I asked an auto elec I know to look and he says if I’m only doing short journeys, and turn engine off when working, that the battery doesn’t get enough time to charge, which is why it’s not working.
Any advice on this please?
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Short journeys won't put enough power back into the battery. Ideally you should mains charge it each night. If you have been regularly draining it below 50% capacity (12v rested) then you have probably killed the battery!
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Well neither a split charge relay or a battery to battery charger will fully charge your battery if you dont do enough miles.
But i would check the battery isnt faulty and that its holding charge and i would then check its not a bad connection thats causing the controller to detect low battery rather than the battery actually being low...
If everything checks out ok then its just a case of bench charging the battery more often, personally i do this everyday.
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Well neither a split charge relay or a battery to battery charger will fully charge your battery if you dont do enough miles.
But i would check the battery isnt faulty and that its holding charge and i would then check its not a bad connection thats causing the controller to detect low battery rather than the battery actually being low...
If everything checks out ok then its just a case of bench charging the battery more often, personally i do this everyday.
I have purchased a mains trickle charger to charge it over night. I thought the 12v trickle charge from battery would be enough but clearly I was wrong.
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What battery reading are you getting?
After charge result without load. Then a result when running your pump when charged (let it run a few minutes before taking a reading).
Then keep a track of the readings without load during the working day to see how much it's loses.
Should give us an idea of what's going on.
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If you have been running your battery for a while without bench charging it you have most likely knackered it.
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Well neither a split charge relay or a battery to battery charger will fully charge your battery if you dont do enough miles.
But i would check the battery isnt faulty and that its holding charge and i would then check its not a bad connection thats causing the controller to detect low battery rather than the battery actually being low...
If everything checks out ok then its just a case of bench charging the battery more often, personally i do this everyday.
I have purchased a mains trickle charger to charge it over night. I thought the 12v trickle charge from battery would be enough but clearly I was wrong.
Best charger in my experience is ctek mxs 5
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Today was the second day trying to use my diy reel system, it lasted 10 minutes before I had the batt symbol on the controller. Back to backpacks rest of day.
I have a 120ah battery fitted with a trickle charger to the engine, and run a 100psi shurflo pump from it.
I asked an auto elec I know to look and he says if I’m only doing short journeys, and turn engine off when working, that the battery doesn’t get enough time to charge, which is why it’s not working.
Any advice on this please?
I think we need more system details. What diy reel? Trickle charge to engine?
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Just double check your battery to controller connections, especially the negative wire.
Any wire connections and fuse holders, just make sure they all have a solid connection before you start major surgery on your system.
If all seems to be ok, make sure your battery is fully bench charged at the start of the day and then use your controller to see what the voltage number is.
That’ll give you an indication on whether the battery is actually taking charge.
Again if all seems to be ok, have a look at your flow and calibration settings (auto cal is usually a good starting point). Obvs make sure you haven’t got air locks before you do this. (Air locks usually mean your pump doesn’t shut off, mine usually sounds like a moped!!)
Once you’ve got these out the way it’s easier to start pinning down the issue.
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The way to think of it in rough terms is that your charger could take 4 hours to charge up your battery.
That means you’d need to have the engine running for 4 hours to do it. Do you drive 4 hours per day? If not, then that’s the issue.
Mains charging it will likely sort your problem out.
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Update.
Tried pump before starting and after a few minutes the flow was stop start with “batt” on controller, I plugged in the smart charger and within 30 minutes it claimed to be fully charged, so guessing battery is goosed.
New battery arrived today so will fit that and see how I go. . It’s a 120ah battery so is that enough for 2 days running a 100psi pump or should I charge it daily?
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Update.
Tried pump before starting and after a few minutes the flow was stop start with “batt” on controller, I plugged in the smart charger and within 30 minutes it claimed to be fully charged, so guessing battery is goosed.
New battery arrived today so will fit that and see how I go. . It’s a 120ah battery so is that enough for 2 days running a 100psi pump or should I charge it daily?
Every other day you should be fine if only running one pump but if you have an electric reel I'd charge it up every night...
Remember leisure batteries last longest if they never get discharged lower than 50% ever!
Lesson learned!
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Update.
Tried pump before starting and after a few minutes the flow was stop start with “batt” on controller, I plugged in the smart charger and within 30 minutes it claimed to be fully charged, so guessing battery is goosed.
New battery arrived today so will fit that and see how I go. . It’s a 120ah battery so is that enough for 2 days running a 100psi pump or should I charge it daily?
Every other day you should be fine if only running one pump but if you have an electric reel I'd charge it up every night...
Remember leisure batteries last longest if they never get discharged lower than 50% ever!
Lesson learned!
Thats handy to know. im only running the PSI on 35 so shouldnt be a big draw on battery. my backpacks got charged every two days so be good if i can do the same.
Yes its only the pump and a manual reel
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Mine goes on charge every night in garage using a c tek charger......never have an issue with it.......it stays on charge all weekend and holidays too.
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Update.
Tried pump before starting and after a few minutes the flow was stop start with “batt” on controller, I plugged in the smart charger and within 30 minutes it claimed to be fully charged, so guessing battery is goosed.
New battery arrived today so will fit that and see how I go. . It’s a 120ah battery so is that enough for 2 days running a 100psi pump or should I charge it daily?
Every other day you should be fine if only running one pump but if you have an electric reel I'd charge it up every night...
Remember leisure batteries last longest if they never get discharged lower than 50% ever!
Lesson learned!
Thats handy to know. im only running the PSI on 35 so shouldnt be a big draw on battery. my backpacks got charged every two days so be good if i can do the same.
Yes its only the pump and a manual reel
You mean you are running at a flow rate of 35. This figure of 35 has nothing to do with psi. You indirectly set the psi when you calibrate the controller and that remains constant until you recalibrate it again.
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My charger is fitted into van connected permanently to my pair of batteries. I just connect my camping power lead straight too it each night.
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My charger is fitted into van connected permanently to my pair of batteries. I just connect my camping power lead straight too it each night.
This is what I have set up today.
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Running it at 35? That seems low I run at 75 .....not sure I'd get much flow at 35 with a rinse bar must try it.
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Another question on my setup please.
I have bought a mains powered trickle charger to charge my battery over night, I haven’t used the battery yet but put it on charge, it’s been on charge 18 hours now and still isn’t saying fully charged. Is this correct?
This is my battery- https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/hankook/xl31/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlZixBhCoARIsAIC745Ctm1780yeiLGYVumQ5-OgDzL3SiJi_R0Wl_5RhBfv2BKOHdI_6xJ0aAvVMEALw_wcB
This is my charger- https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07TBY1RPJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Thanks for the help.
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Yeah it could be.
Your charger is very small by the looks of it. 1amp?
Someone else like spruce will be able to tell you exactly, but I think it could take a good 24 plus hours to fully charge at that rate.
A lot of chargers are 4 or 5 amp for example, which is 5 times more power than your charger has.
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Yrs I have a charger or 2 like that - if the battery get pancaked then its a complete weekend to get anywhere near full power
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Yrs I have a charger or 2 like that - if the battery get pancaked then its a complete weekend to get anywhere near full power
Battery was brand new, so not sure how much charge was in it to start with.
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Yeah it could be.
Your charger is very small by the looks of it. 1amp?
Someone else like spruce will be able to tell you exactly, but I think it could take a good 24 plus hours to fully charge at that rate.
A lot of chargers are 4 or 5 amp for example, which is 5 times more power than your charger has.
Any Recommendations on a better charger to do the job quicker?
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Ctek MS 5.0
It will make your battery last longer. I once reversed the polarity on mine with no harm done. Also through a bizarre accident it once spent overnight in a bucket of water and still works.
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Ctek MS 5.0
It will make your battery last longer. I once reversed the polarity on mine with no harm done. Also through a bizarre accident it once spent overnight in a bucket of water and still works.
I think he might need the mxs7 or 10 with his 130amp battery?
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I have two 85A batteries linked together (in effect 170A) and it works well. I do charge every day but the charge time is certainly not excessive. They are always fully charged by the morning, if I check van before I go to bed they are often charged by then.
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Yeo I’d recommend a ctek mxs 5.0 or higher.
7.0 is perfect really.
They aren’t cheap, but they last forever it seems, and really help prolong battery life.
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I have two 85A batteries linked together (in effect 170A) and it works well. I do charge every day but the charge time is certainly not excessive. They are always fully charged by the morning, if I check van before I go to bed they are often charged by then.
By charging every day, you are basically just putting back what you took out of the battery that day.
If those batteries are low on charge, then you need something bigger. Numax quote a 10amp for up to 135amp and a 20amp for anything bigger.
The slower you recharge a leisure battery within reason, the better for the battery. Numax suggest a maximum charge rate not exceeding 10% of the batteries' capacity. I'm not sure how you would charge a 20 amp battery, as the 10% rule flies out of the window.
Many years ago, my son put a 10 starter battery charger on his motorbike battery, and it destroyed it, according to him.
Running an electric hose reel does put an extra burden on the battery. If you clean 15 houses a day and fully rewind your hose reel 15 times, then expect to draw between 8 and 10 amps a day. The main impact an electric hose reel has on the leisure battery is that spike of high amperage current the battery undergoes when the electric motor initially starts up. It's like a direct short. Leisure batteries don't do well with that.
I have always recommended a good quality combo battery. It's a good in-between battery as it can be used as a leisure battery and also a starter battery. It was designed around the caravan motor movers market. But these batteries aren't good starter batteries and aren't good leisure batteries either. Generally, if looked after, you can expect 3+ years from them, period.
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I think i bought 130amp agm’s for my vans a few years back. I thought there was something in the instructions of the mxs5 charger that made me upgrade to the mxs7. I’ve just tried to dig out the instructions but I can’t find them. They’re on the website though but i still can’t find the bit that suggested to me i would be better off with the mxs 7 apart from it being quicker🙄Maybe i dreamt it🤷♂️🫤
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I think i bought 130amp agm’s for my vans a few years back. I thought there was something in the instructions of the mxs5 charger that made me upgrade to the mxs7. I’ve just tried to dig out the instructions but I can’t find them. They’re on the website though but i still can’t find the bit that suggested to me i would be better off with the mxs 7 apart from it being quicker🙄Maybe i dreamt it🤷♂️🫤
I have bit the bullet and bought the mxs7.
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I have two 85A batteries linked together (in effect 170A) and it works well. I do charge every day but the charge time is certainly not excessive. They are always fully charged by the morning, if I check van before I go to bed they are often charged by then.
By charging every day, you are basically just putting back what you took out of the battery that day.
If those batteries are low on charge, then you need something bigger. Numax quote a 10amp for up to 135amp and a 20amp for anything bigger.
The slower you recharge a leisure battery within reason, the better for the battery. Numax suggest a maximum charge rate not exceeding 10% of the batteries' capacity. I'm not sure how you would charge a 20 amp battery, as the 10% rule flies out of the window.
Many years ago, my son put a 10 starter battery charger on his motorbike battery, and it destroyed it, according to him.
Running an electric hose reel does put an extra burden on the battery. If you clean 15 houses a day and fully rewind your hose reel 15 times, then expect to draw between 8 and 10 amps a day. The main impact an electric hose reel has on the leisure battery is that spike of high amperage current the battery undergoes when the electric motor initially starts up. It's like a direct short. Leisure batteries don't do well with that.
I have always recommended a good quality combo battery. It's a good in-between battery as it can be used as a leisure battery and also a starter battery. It was designed around the caravan motor movers market. But these batteries aren't good starter batteries and aren't good leisure batteries either. Generally, if looked after, you can expect 3+ years from them, period.
Who said anything about a 20A battery?
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Nobody. Spruce’s just saying about the rule of thumb no more than 10% charge rate I think. Kinda thinking out loud.
Don’t question Spruce. Just take his advice!😄
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Nobody. Spruce’s just saying about the rule of thumb no more than 10% charge rate I think. Kinda thinking out loud.
Don’t question Spruce. Just take his advice!😄
I was just thinking of the Numax advice regarding what charger is needed for what size battery, as you pointed out Simon.
It was totally irrelevant to the threads though. 😂
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You want a 20amp charger if you have 2 batteries to run your system
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You want a 20amp charger if you have 2 batteries to run your system
Usually takes 4-10 hours to charge (depends on work day). Had current batteries 2 years and would expect them to last a few more. The slower you charge them the better is my understanding.
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For years I bought cheap leisure battery's I think they are class C. About 80 quid or so.
I was replacing them every year.
Last time out I bought a good un..200 quidder... I've had it 22 months so far. Hopefully it will last a bit longer and will be value for money.