[pauld]

So I bought a split charge relay a few months and fitted it to there instructions
but the van battery kept dying on Me So I bought a new battery a month ago
and suprise suprise it,s still dying on Me #
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Smudger]

Alternator ??

I don't have a split charger, mines a relay (fused) wired directly off the batt with sperate earth

Darran

[ladders no more]

iuseing a split charger will not fully charge a battery
if only doing short trips.

 A lesiure bat needs to be fully charged after a days work
or they shorten the life

my advice is to get a bat charger put it on charge evey night

the split charger will alow you to work a few hours longer a day only

hope this answers your question

[Spruce]

Hi

As Smudger says, it could be an alternator charging problem, or still a dud battery.

Firstly, my suggestion would be to check that the alternator drive belt is correctly tensioned and that the alternator pulley isn't slipping.

Secondly, I would remove the inline fuse to the split charge relay from it fuse holder and use the van as normal and see if that corrects the problem  - but you will need to charge your leisure battery overnight. At the same time, I would the put a tester on the cable leading to the SCR from the fuse holder and see if there is power there - there shouldn't be with the engine switched off.

There are some new intelligent split charger relays that are setup in such a way that they will only allow the alternator to charge your leisure battery once the van battery is fully charged. If you have one of them there is an adjustment screw to be set to activate the relay at the correct time. If it been set incorrectly or has become incorrectly adjusted, then the battery voltage in the leisure battery could keep the relay continously activated and the leisure battery could be draining the van battery.

The last one we bought was a Smartcom off ebay from Brocott for my son's van. The relay wandered off adjustment the otherway so the leisure battery wasn't being charged at all. A quick phone call to their technical dept got us sorted no problem. I did notice that if it was adjusted too far the other way the 2 batteries could be connected all the time.

And then thirdly, if the problem still persists then the van battery needs to be checked by the supplier. The correct way of doing it is to fully charge your battery and then put it under load to check its performance. If it passes then they will need to recharge it as it will be flat.

Fourthly, if the battery is ok, then you need to get an auto electrician to test the alternator's charging output.

The van that I use has a relay that is activated by the alternator charge warning light. I don't do much mileage so have to put the charger on the leisure battery every couple of days, but I have never been caught with a flat van battery in the 5 years of using this type of relay, although I have been caught with a flat leisure battery when I have forgotten to charge it.

Spruce

[darren clarke]

i run my battery off a lead that i plug in to my cig lighter,  have bought a new battery as need one anyway,    that way the alt is only charging one battery, not spliting between 2

[luther1]

Probably you're split relay.Its quite common.

[Spruce]

Hi Blue Monkey,

Dave St-ives is also a great believer in just using the van battery and he has used this principle successfully on all his vans with a Varistream pump controller to reduce power consumption.

My son's van has the option of either using his leisure battery or switching over to the van battery on his Peugeot Partner van. One day his leisure battery died so switched over to his van battery to finish the day, but he didn't tell me this. I put his leisure battery on charge overnight automatically (he leaves his van at our house) and disconnected it the following morning, but never switched the change over switch back to his leisure battery as I didn't know what he had done the previous day. A couple of days later I again put his leisure battery on charge, only to find it was fully charged. I was a little confused but didn't think anything more of it as he wasn't around to discuss it. But a couple of days later his van battery was flat and he had a bump start the van on the hill he was parked on.

We mostly work within a couple of miles of home and never get stuck in traffic jams, so we don't drive far enough to re-charge the battery, whether it be the van battery or the piggy back leisure battery.

I have noticed though, with his van that if he uses it to do a 20 mile round trip into Middlesbrough the leisure battery is always fully charged afterward. So travelling a little more distance would reduce the necessity of separately charging the leisure battery in his van as often.

Spruce

[Spruce]

Probably you're split relay.Its quite common.

Hi Luther,

Another good thought. He will find that out if he disconnects the fuse to the relay and his van battery 'recovers' then the issue is with the SCR.

I had always thought that the SCR I have on my van is a problem child in its very design. I have always thought that as the van battery becomes more fully charged its resistance gets greater, so the flatter leisure battery will always take charging preference as it's resistance is lower and electrical current will always take the path of least resistance. But as I say, I have never been caught with a flat van battery although I have been caught with a flat leisure battery.

When my son's first SCR burnt out, it failed to charge his leisure battery at all, hence the replacement 'intelligent' SCR. I like the principle of the Intelligent SCR hence the reason why we bought it. This relay will kick in after about 30 - 40 seconds after the van has been started - you can hear the relay click. So if adjusted correctly, your van battery will always get priority.

Spruce

[pauld]

Thanks for reply chaps.
1/ The spr is one of the ones that charges the leisure once the van battery is full so i,ll
check for the attenuator switch.
2/ I did work it of of My van battery succesfully for around 3 months until it started
to continually go flat.

[darren clarke]

i use a gardiners controler and this flashed up if battery is getting low,  i just run the van for ten minutes and this usually sorts it out,  but some times a good run is needed,  i just wish i had done ot when i first started as it would of saved me £80 and a load of hassle charging a battery every nite

[dave f]

wouldent using a solar powerd charger eliminate the problem just a thought

[Spruce]

wouldent using a solar powerd charger eliminate the problem just a thought

Hi Dave
 I have thought about it, but the panels would need to be so big to be of any use. Most of the adverts call them trickle chargers that will keep your battery fully topped up at an airport parking lot eg. One advert says that it isn't suitable for charging a flat battery. The 2 'convenient sized' panel chargers I have looked at on Ebay now are 3 and 4 watts which is a little less than the same current that one of your front parking light bulbs would use. As your wfp pump is drawing 5 to 8 amps depending on the make, or 60 - 72 watts in 12v terms (AMPS = WATTS x VOLTS) then that trickle charger will never replace what the pump has drawn from the battery in the proverbial month of Sundays.

The 1 that would work is 100 watt (working amps 5.5) but the size is 1200 x 540 and the price of £190 + import duty from China and a weight of 9kgs somehow makes that less attractive. I have seen a large solar panel incorporated into the roof of a motorhome but that was megga bucks, and knowing my luck would smash it the first day out while getting my ladders off the roof which I occassional do for access and gutter cleans.

A 6amp basic battery charger costing £22.00  has worked for us over the past 5 years without any bother with the batteries getting some assistance with the split charge relays. The only problem we have had is one of the 3 split charge relays burning out. I haven't a clue what caused it as the 15 amp fuse never blew and the burn was on the tracking of the circuit board 'miles' from any components. I was tempted to solder a copper wire bridge across the burn but as it was a sealed unit which I damaged to get it apart to see the problem I didn't bother.

Spruce

[dave f]

good luck hope you sort it