[P @ F]

Having broken down in exactly the same place twice in a row now , i can only assume my van battery is on the way out , i have about 45 minutes of work on a main road that needs me to use the hazards , each time i go to drive off the van wont start !

What i am thinking of doing is using my multi function Numax as the van battery , couple of reasons for this are that i wont have to buy a new van battery and also that i will then have an alternator to charge alongside the solar , are there any reasons that what i propose wont work ?

[Don Kee]

Has your numax got a cca rating?(unless its old, it should have as most of the new nimax’s do)

I’m not Spruce, last I looked but it should work if you set it up as shown.
You’ll just have to be super careful to always put more in than you get out (i.e if you dont do alot of driving for a few days on consistantly cloudy days, then you’ll take out more than you out in and van wont start, which is the problem you’re trying to solve!!)

I’d always get seperate batteries if I’m honest...worst case, if your system battery dies in a day at least you can use the excuse to go home (and actually get back)

[Spruce]

Having broken down in exactly the same place twice in a row now , i can only assume my van battery is on the way out , i have about 45 minutes of work on a main road that needs me to use the hazards , each time i go to drive off the van wont start !

What i am thinking of doing is using my multi function Numax as the van battery , couple of reasons for this are that i wont have to buy a new van battery and also that i will then have an alternator to charge alongside the solar , are there any reasons that what i propose wont work ?

I see no reason why that wouldn't work. The Numax leisure battery you bought also has a CCA value so is capable of starting an engine as well.
However, what I don't know is how well the leisure battery would survive numerous starts a day over a period of time.

If it fits in the battery holder I would certainly give it a try myself, but I would talk to Numax and ask them how they felt their battery would perform. They could well tell you that you void its warranty, but then they aren't telling you anything new. 

We all know that a starter battery has thin lead plates and a leisure battery has thick lead plates. I'm assuming this combination battery has plates which are a compromise between the two. But I don't know how the new calcium technology applies in these new batteries.

.

[Spruce]

Has your numax got a cca rating?(unless its old, it should have as most of the new nimax’s do)

I’m not Spruce, last I looked but it should work if you set it up as shown.
You’ll just have to be super careful to always put more in than you get out (i.e if you dont do alot of driving for a few days on consistantly cloudy days, then you’ll take out more than you out in and van wont start, which is the problem you’re trying to solve!!)

I’d always get seperate batteries if I’m honest...worst case, if your system battery dies in a day at least you can use the excuse to go home (and actually get back)

I understand what P & F is trying to achieve. The only short term issue is going to be when the leisure battery now starter battery needs a boost charge. These new vans with their on board electronics don't like the power to be removed too often as you risk the ecu not rebooting properly each time you connect the battery up again.

I doubt there would be too much of a problem driving the van onto the grass outside his house when the ground is firm, but in this weather chances are it will be soft and boggy.

.

[P @ F]

Cheers Don and Spruce ,
Don my battery was bought in September and is very well maintained , it does not have a CCA but does have an MCA of 960 , the model number is XV24MF ( 86Ah )

Come  to think of it , it has let me down 3 times , all of them when the hazards have been used , the first time was in a different place than the second two , on this occasion the dash was telling me all manner of stuff , air bag failure , check fuel filter amongst them , the first thing i did was to pull the fuel filter out which was a mare in itself , that when i clicked that it was a power problem with all the warnings going off , i ended up putting the Numax in and starting with that , then putting the van battery back in with the van running , i had done a lot of solid work that day previously so i know the battery is good for it .

My main concern is ..... should the Numax be charged at the rate that my vans alternator charges a standard battery , will it be too much of a boost to handle ? 

[Spruce]

Cheers Don and Spruce ,
Don my battery was bought in September and is very well maintained , it does not have a CCA but does have an MCA of 960 , the model number is XV24MF ( 86Ah )

Come  to think of it , it has let me down 3 times , all of them when the hazards have been used , the first time was in a different place than the second two , on this occasion the dash was telling me all manner of stuff , air bag failure , check fuel filter amongst them , the first thing i did was to pull the fuel filter out which was a mare in itself , that when i clicked that it was a power problem with all the warnings going off , i ended up putting the Numax in and starting with that , then putting the van battery back in with the van running , i had done a lot of solid work that day previously so i know the battery is good for it .

My main concern is ..... should the Numax be charged at the rate that my vans alternator charges a standard battery , will it be too much of a boost to handle ?

MCA = marine cranking amps. The cranking performance of that battery is measured at 0 degrees  where CCA values are measured at  -18 degrees C. Your battery has a CCA of 720.

The Numax can be charged the same way as a starter battery would be. Our split charge relays and voltage sensing relays simply join both batteries together.

The difference is with an alternator that is designed to work with a van with regenerative braking. Those alternators push out a higher voltage.

Our batteries will only accept a specific charge. I have a 90amp alternator in my van but the battery is usually only charged at 7 to 8 amps after a full days work. The fuller the battery the higher the resistance and so the lower the charge it will accept.

[Spruce]

Cheers Don and Spruce ,
Don my battery was bought in September and is very well maintained , it does not have a CCA but does have an MCA of 960 , the model number is XV24MF ( 86Ah )

Come  to think of it , it has let me down 3 times , all of them when the hazards have been used , the first time was in a different place than the second two , on this occasion the dash was telling me all manner of stuff , air bag failure , check fuel filter amongst them , the first thing i did was to pull the fuel filter out which was a mare in itself , that when i clicked that it was a power problem with all the warnings going off , i ended up putting the Numax in and starting with that , then putting the van battery back in with the van running , i had done a lot of solid work that day previously so i know the battery is good for it .

My main concern is ..... should the Numax be charged at the rate that my vans alternator charges a standard battery , will it be too much of a boost to handle ?

Hazards were the straw that broke my battery's back both times. They seem to take a excessive amount of current for some reason.

I also meant to add but forgot. Never swap batteries over with the engine running. You could end up with extensive damage to the van's electronics.

[P @ F]

My van doesnt have regen brakes but it is stop start if that makes any difference ?
But as i said on another thread the other day , although the van is stop stop ( that i dont use ) , the van only had a standard battery in it when i bought it , but only realised when i had the first flat battery situation .

So do you think it is a goer to try it out , i will add that my most pump draw is a max of 15 amp per day tops and that once i have driven the same 10 miles to my chosen area every day , once the van is there it is not started very many times a day due to being compact work and the fact that i dont do much 

[Spruce]

My van doesnt have regen brakes but it is stop start if that makes any difference ?
But as i said on another thread the other day , although the van is stop stop ( that i dont use ) , the van only had a standard battery in it when i bought it , but only realised when i had the first flat battery situation .

So do you think it is a goer to try it out , i will add that my most pump draw is a max of 15 amp per day tops and that once i have driven the same 10 miles to my chosen area every day , once the van is there it is not started very many times a day due to being compact work and the fact that i dont do much 

I would go for it. As Don says, you need to make sure that you always have sufficient charge in your leisure battery so you won't be let down at the end of the day. You won't be able to completely monitor the current usage from your battery with your gauges, but you will be able to get a permanent voltage reading which translates into state of charge/discharge.
.

[P @ F]

That is my fear , nothing worse than a flat battery !
I do have the MPPT that will give slight indication through the fact that i could be in bulk or float , float would be a winner but bulk could mean any state of charge !

What i could try is like i propose , but carry the original van battery in my pump box as backup and just make sure that it is fully charged should i need to use it , this would give me a chance to monitor how the Numax is performing without the risk of getting caught out , as we know summer should be a breeze , but the winter is the test .

I thought about this as so many people in the past have just wired to van battery and relied solely on that as source of pump and starting power .

[Spruce]

I wonder how useful something like this could be.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Heavy-Duty-68800-mAh-Portable-Car-Emergency-Charger-Jump-Starter-USB-Power-Bank/19010154424?iid=222331892106&_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49129%26meid%3D2b7f763643d54adaa1cc8e9504f9461a%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D222717499247&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

[Spruce]

That is my fear , nothing worse than a flat battery !
I do have the MPPT that will give slight indication through the fact that i could be in bulk or float , float would be a winner but bulk could mean any state of charge !

What i could try is like i propose , but carry the original van battery in my pump box as backup and just make sure that it is fully charged should i need to use it , this would give me a chance to monitor how the Numax is performing without the risk of getting caught out , as we know summer should be a breeze , but the winter is the test .

I thought about this as so many people in the past have just wired to van battery and relied solely on that as source of pump and starting power .

Those gauges will give you a battery voltage. If its 12.8/12.9v after 4 hours the battery is fully charged. If its 12.5v then its 75% charged and if its 12.3v its 50% charged. If you don't let the battery drop below 12.5v first thing in the morning then it will be enough for the days work but will need a boost when you get home.

[P @ F]

That is what i want to avoid , taking the battery out at all , my thinking was boosting my solar with the input of the alternator .
My thoughts are that providing the van starts to get home then it will have a 15 minute charge down the motorway and then a 15 minute charge back up it in the morning .

What could i expect amp wise from an alterator in those times ?
I have checked on europarts and as usual multiple listings ranging from 75 to 120 amp alternators for my reg number !

[Spruce]

That is what i want to avoid , taking the battery out at all , my thinking was boosting my solar with the input of the alternator .
My thoughts are that providing the van starts to get home then it will have a 15 minute charge down the motorway and then a 15 minute charge back up it in the morning .

What could i expect amp wise from an alterator in those times ?
I have checked on europarts and as usual multiple listings ranging from 75 to 120 amp alternators for my reg number !

My amp meter across my leisure battery will show a charge of between 6 and 7 amps after a days work on the way home. That's not mega as 30 minutes of running time will mean an input of 3 to 3.5amps on the back and forth to work.

However, I have never seen the gauge on my Numax charger reading between 50 and 75% charged with my leisure battery - its always between 75% and 100% charged.  So my alternator is never going to do much charging as the fuller a battery gets the lower the charge it will accept.

After a really heavy commercial day with 2 pumps going full throttle I have seen the amp meter up at 15 amps, so the more discharged a battery is the more charge it will accept.

We keep hearing stories of windies who never bench charge their batteries. I have ask some of them to provide a voltage reading after 4 hours but no one has ever done this. I believe that these ones are running fairly discharged batteries and its the higher charge rate acceptance that keeps them going day to day. I doubt anyone doing this has a fully charged leisure battery.

I've often wondered if I should just stop bench charging my leisure battery for a few weeks and see what happens. The battery is 3 years old so has a finite life left anyway.

[P @ F]

Yeah , it would be simple for me to do it , but as my battery was only bought in September im a little bit against doing so in case it kills the battery , but then how will i ever know the answer if i dont , and now is the time to do the test if i am ever to do it , we have seen that solar is not enough alone , to my specs anyway ,
But , i could just be this simple step away now from being self sufficient in the power department !

Do you know , i think im going to try it anyway , i will have the backup starter should i need it , as long as i keep an eye on it , let it rest for 4/5 hours once home and  volt test it then i will get a pretty good idea of whats what .

[rosskesava]

Maybe the problem is you need a replacement starter motor.

[Spruce]

That's also a good suggestion Ross.

I'm not sure how far the Citroen/Peugeot starter motor weakness spread into the Fiat camp, but certainly the Bosch and Mitsubishi starter motors used on PSA 2.0 hdi diesel engines in the mid 2000's weren't the best for durability. Whilst the Bosch ones 'recovered' with new brushes, bushes and a good clean, they never seemed to perform as a new starter motor did. As for Mitsubishi that was a replacement starter as the chances were that the long bolts holding the motor together seized and they broke off when taking the unit apart.  Those faulty starters did take more current and as they turned the motor slower, it took longer to start the engine.

The thing is that a starter motor in good condition doesn't take that much current overall to start an engine. If P&F's starter spun the engine over when he used his leisure battery without any issues, then I would assume that its working fine. He has also switched off the annoying stop start option so the starter motor won't work as often.

I agree that the intial surge or inrush current taken from the battery the millisecond before the engine starts to rotate is around 300 amps but if a 2.0 liter diesel starts within a couple of seconds, then that current draw spread over an hour is only slightly more than our Shurflo water pumps draw in an hour.

So a battery on its last legs as far as capacity is concerned could well start an engine but fail due to the extra longer term power 4 main flasher bulbs and 2 side flasher bulbs would take, not leaving enough for the starter motor. Almost sure P&F's starter battery has to be replaced. This flasher issue is the proverbial 'writing on the wall.'

Of course one of the tests would be to ensure that the alternator is charging properly is by putting a voltmeter (multimeter) across the terminals with the engine running. That is the test 99.99% of garages do. An alternator that delivers voltage delivers amps as well. There is the remote possibility that the voltage is there but not the amps but I don't know of a case personally.

.

[Spruce]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTa6Zx8zYhY

I wonder how a capacitor bank instead of a leisure battery would work for us. These capacitors won't have a long term capacity but they recharge within seconds. That interests me.

[PHILIP HARDY]

I know its a very simplistic reply but im a pretty simple kinda guy,couldnt you just leave the van running when using the hazards (at least short term), to avoid a flat battery, (before I get the obvious) a crooklock !!!

[High-Tower]

Or buy a flashing beacon for the roof and run it off the leisure battery?

[p1w1]

I know its a very simplistic reply but im a pretty simple kinda guy,couldnt you just leave the van running when using the hazards (at least short term), to avoid a flat battery, (before I get the obvious) a crooklock !!!

Stationary idling i believe is illegal and you can get fined for it i think.

[P @ F]

I know the most obvious answer is to buy a new van battery , but while i have this multi function Numax in top order its the best time to run the experiment , as you know i am messing with solar which has proved in the summer to be more than capable of stopping the need to bench charge , its the winter that needs help , and my alternator could well be that short fall .

The alternator is definately giving me the correct charging voltage , not sure of amps though .
 The battery itself is holding a charge and powering all it needs to as if new , its only when the hazards are used that i get the problem .
The starter is working as new , no sluggish starts , even with the cold we have had .

All ideas above about alternate hazard lighting and lesiure wiring i have thought of , i have even wondered if changing indicator bulbs  over to LED is a possible solution .

I will at some point need to get a van battery , if sold or traded anytime , so the purchase is coming anyway ( im not just tight ).

[P @ F]

One thing that does need sorting is the battery itself is posted the other way around , i have had to tilt the battery in order to reach on all of my non start moments ,

I assume these will be ok to elongate the wiring to posts ?

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/battery-chargers-jump-starters/halfords-negative-battery-cable-22cm-9?_br_psugg_q=battery+cables

[Spruce]

One thing that does need sorting is the battery itself is posted the other way around , i have had to tilt the battery in order to reach on all of my non start moments ,

I assume these will be ok to elongate the wiring to posts ?

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/battery-chargers-jump-starters/halfords-negative-battery-cable-22cm-9?_br_psugg_q=battery+cables

Provided you can make and insulate the join satisfactorily. 

[dazmond]

I don't see why u don't take your battery out every night to charge it. It only takes 2 mins plus u only work a 4 hr day. I've seen where u Park your van(it's a 20second walk to your front door). It would save all the hassle your getting at the moment.

[P @ F]

I don't see why u don't take your battery out every night to charge it. It only takes 2 mins plus u only work a 4 hr day. I've seen where u Park your van(it's a 20second walk to your front door). It would save all the hassle your getting at the moment.

Its because i cant always park that close , most days now im having to use 30m of layflat just to fill the tank .
Its also doing my head in to constantly carry the battery in and out every day , i only use 15amp a day tops , i could just do it 2 times a week , but seeing as i have gone so far with the solar , summer is covered winter is a shortfall , this could well be the top up i am looking for .
I have just wired the Numax as van bettery this afternoon and have been running a little experiment , im just waiting on the battery to rest so i can get some valid voltage results.

[P @ F]

Results are in !

First i thought i would see how the Numax coped as a van battery .

2 P.M. Fully charged and rested Numax fitted.
2P.M.  until  4P.M.  15 full start cycles carried out with no driving or idling.
5P.M. multimeter tested at 13.2 volts and charger showed 80% charged.
5.30 P.M.  10 mile drive  ( journey to work ) , removed and rested.
8 P.M. multimeter tested at 13.4 volts and charger showed 95% charged.

Then put onto trickle charger to time shortfall , by 8.30 P.M. battery full and into float mode.

So i now know that starting the van off this battery will not cause a flat battery over the day , i will have driving in between starts and i will also have the extra 10 mile alternator charge on the way home , aswell as any solar gathered during the day .

The only thing to add to the experiment now is the power use from the pump over the day .
Need some juicy wire and connectors in the morning to finish the job !

[P @ F]

Spruce , when i wire in tomorrow im a bit unsure as to how i can do it ?

Do i .....run a pos and neg from mppt to battery at front  and also a pos and neg from battery back to my pump ?  (2 x twin core).
 Or ..... run a pos and neg from mppt to battery at front  and branch off at rear to pump  ?  (1 x twin core). I am thinking that this wont be regulated from mppt to pump .

Or do i twin core to the battery from mppt and use the load out of mppt to  the pump for ease ?

[Spruce]

Spruce , when i wire in tomorrow im a bit unsure as to how i can do it ?

Do i .....run a pos and neg from mppt to battery at front  and also a pos and neg from battery back to my pump ?  (2 x twin core).
 Or ..... run a pos and neg from mppt to battery at front  and branch off at rear to pump  ?  (1 x twin core). I am thinking that this wont be regulated from mppt to pump .

Or do i twin core to the battery from mppt and use the load out of mppt to  the pump for ease ? This one.

 


Question. I can't remember how the load terminals work on your MPPT controller. Are they directly linked to the battery terminals? What I'm asking is if the panels are giving you 1 amp and your pump is drawing 3 amps, does the battery supply the deficit 2 amps via the load terminals? If so, then use the load terminals. If not then use the battery terminals at the MPPT controller end.
 If I remember you power your hose reel with a battery drill don't you?  If this is right, then you will be OK with say 20 amp cable from your Numax battery to the MPPT controller.

If your hose reel is powered by a fixed motor then you will need much more heavy duty cable. I would then use a junction box as I would imagine that the wiring would be too 'thick' for the MPPT terminals.

.

[P @ F]

Yes , its a tricky one this , with system as it was i had solar to mppt , then mppt to battery , all power draw was then taken direct from the battert via croc clips , the load was not used .
When i got the mppt i asked the question of if to use the load or not , i was told to go straight off battery due to the loads that i need to pull , pump would be fine on load but at times the drill can pull over 10 amp .

Im not sure about the defecit bit you mention , and i had not thought about going off the bat terminal of the mppt for pump and drill power .
I did not realise that power could go to and from the battery via the same cable !

I will be going to the solar place today to get any wire and connections that i need , i will test the water with them and see what they would do in my shoes.
But i will need 20 amp as you say to cover drill and pump if run off the same source .

[P @ F]

Another thing , i have just remembered that the mppt is 75volt 10amp rated , could this be the reason why direct battery draw was advised ?
A 6amp pump and 10amp drill could be too much , if thats how the rating work ?

[Spruce]

Another thing , i have just remembered that the mppt is 75volt 10amp rated , could this be the reason why direct battery draw was advised ?
A 6amp pump and 10amp drill could be too much , if thats how the rating work ?

I would join them up at the MPPT controller battery terminals or in a seperate junction box.  That way the MPPT controller isn't going to see a heavy load.

[P @ F]

Well that was pretty painless , went to shop this morning , was told that it was best to run with 2 x twin core  , direct to and from battery and to leave the load circuit out due to the amp pull i want .
Came away with 10m of 27amp wire and all bits for under £10 !

First i wanted to site the Numax , i had already got the extensions from Halfords yesterday but after a bit of rerouting of the van loom it went in with original wiring , then it was time to route the twin cores , i popped off the screen scuttle and right in front of me was a large grommit with pre moulded holes with blanking plugs , perferct size for wires , i pushed them through and they fell right into passenger footwell , then under inner sill cover and direct to where i wanted them 

One  to MPPT and the other to drill and pump  , now i dont have a pump box full of croc clips , all fused up lovely and even a big old space for the original van battery should i come a cropper on my learning curve !
Got home with a fully charged battery 

Mind you the story might be different tomorrow with the pump and drill having their share     

[P @ F]

Cant really explain what happened today !
Went out with a full battery , drove the 10 mile jaunt , had the pump running for almost an hour , then i made this vid .
Solar was non existant today due to cloud , only quarter of an amp came in prior to video , i had used 3+ amps , usually the system would have been in bulk mode , but it wasnt , it was still on float , i had not even driven far at all , maybe 50 m within the hour of work .
After the video i had another hour of solid pump running , so all in there would have been around 7 amps use , could not verify this as due to having very little solar the amp meters had shut down due to having no feed , which they normaly do !

So i drive the 10 mile home again by which time the sun has popped out and powered up the amp meters , i can still see that 7 amps has gone out but have no record of whats come in , but i do have  an  mppt contoller telling me that i am in float mode and fully charged !

So all i can assume is that i have used 7 amps and had maybe 1 amp of solar in , the other 6 amps that got replaced must have come from the van alternator  on the way home and maybe 1 mile of driving whilst at work between houses .
Im hoping that this is the case as if so  it looks like i have got it cracked .

What i need is a full day of work with the amp meters not switching themselves off to properly clarify , but i got home with a fully charged battery anyway , so whatever happened or how it happened who cares eh 

https://youtu.be/REcsggOOhMY

[P @ F]

Just been out to put my mind at rest by doing a voltage check on battery , i was thinking that maybe my being in float when i got home was due to having a surface charge left on battery .
It has been parked since 3 pm with solar switched off and is still showing 13.2 volt direct from battery .

Chaps this is some orgasmic stuff going on here     

[Spruce]

Just been out to put my mind at rest by doing a voltage check on battery , i was thinking that maybe my being in float when i got home was due to having a surface charge left on battery .
It has been parked since 3 pm with solar switched off and is still showing 13.2 volt direct from battery .

Chaps this is some orgasmic stuff going on here 

Its looking good. All you have to do is keep an eye on the rest battery voltage. Even if you are 1/2 charged in the morning, you should have enough for the rest of the day and then bench charge in the evening.

Your only way of keeping an eye on that battery charge level is with a  gauge showing voltage. You definitely must monitor it, at least through the winter. In summer the MPPT controller and solar panels will do the job for you.

I'm still a bit confused by the battery reading of 13.2v. My leisure battery has never shown more than 12.9v at rest.

.

[P @ F]

You could be right again     

An hour since last reading and its now jumping from 13.1 to 13.0 , must be nearly settled though , thats 6h45m !

[Spruce]

You could be right again     

An hour since last reading and its now jumping from 13.1 to 13.0 , must be nearly settled though , thats 6h45m !

Just out of interest; is the van parked under a street light or affected by a street light? If so, the solar panels could be picking up a fraction of voltage from the light although it won't translate to anything charge wise.

[P @ F]

Its near but not under a light , dont think its that , and it cant be as i isolate the panels via switch when dark , i dont need to as panels have blocking diodes , but the amp meters try to pull power all night as they have to be permanently connected , i could switch them too but im trying to make life easier not harder .
As Nath is having trouble i am too , i am starting to question the reliability of the readings given  pre and aft MPPT , since the rewire the after MPPT meter has been turning itself off causing it to reset all readings , which is of no use to me as i am needing to watch in and out ampage closely now , or go out to the van in the dark to get a settled voltage !

The meter that gives me amp draw from pump and drill is fine as its permanantly connected to battery power , and its very little drain , but once i have my end of day reading i pop the fuse to isolate which is no biggie .

So today i splashed out on the Victron VE Direct Bluetooth Dongle 
It is a cracking bit of kit , auto updates from Victron , streetlight mode , months of previous yield info , well loads of stuff that i wont even use , BUT most importantly the ability to switch on and off and check battery state from my armchair   

[CleanClear]

Just been out to put my mind at rest by doing a voltage check on battery , i was thinking that maybe my being in float when i got home was due to having a surface charge left on battery .
It has been parked since 3 pm with solar switched off and is still showing 13.2 volt direct from battery .

Chaps this is some orgasmic stuff going on here 

Although i enjoy seeing in pratice what your solar can do i do think you are chasing your own tail here. In the recent posts about voltage relays several guys have already said they have never had to bench charge their lesuire battery since they've had a charging relay fitted. Also plenty of guys run theor pump off their main battery already. What you've done is confirm that the new generation Lesuire batteries are up for the job....... as many already knew?

[CleanClear]

I'm still a bit confused by the battery reading of 13.2v. My leisure battery has never shown more than 12.9v at rest.

This battery shows this reading tonight, i took it off charge on Sunday. I've never had a battery show under 13v when charged (unless it was knackered)

 

Mind you, i do have a special charger for it, doesn't show when its on float or anything. Its 25 years old + , from Halfords. Not sure if you can get them anymore ?

[P @ F]

Well with any luck i have just done my last rainy/dark voltage check , which was a good result again !

I have only driven 10 miles tops today , started with a full battery , the pump/drill  has taken  out 11 amps , which is about 3 hours non stop pumping , or at least 4 hours on the job with standard houses , i parked the van up at 4 so has been a 4.5 hour rest .

Solar in not known as the meters played up again , but it was pants weather for sun , this could be the answer i have been looking for , so i am fully charged and still have a 10 mile journey to pull from the alternator in the morning before i start work again .

As long as the battery holds up i am on a winner here .

[P @ F]

I do see what you are saying Cleanclear  with regard to the solar , if i knew results from a MF battery with feed from my alternator would be so good i might not have bothered , BUT , many w/c's will be parked all day doing no milage at all and cleaning the Shard before they go home  , no  SCR /  B2B will help in this instance unless they idle the van for a bit .
I like to mess about with stuff and all the gear i have gotten has only just topped £300 , a small price to pay to be self sufficient ! 

[P @ F]

Oh and your old charger , what a bit of class that is , i had exactly the same one made by Lucas , only a 4 amper but i miss it lots .

The only reason it went in the bin was the wire got so brittle it snapped of where the wire goes into the charger from underneath.

[P @ F]

Just noticed yours is slightly different , my red and black went in on the base , thats why yours is still alive 

[CleanClear]

Wasn't a critiscim. Just acknowledging  that many folks are already doing this.  I've got my SVR, still not wired it in yet though!!

[CleanClear]

Just noticed yours is slightly different , my red and black went in on the base , thats why yours is still alive 

if you had it now you'd resolder new wires on :-)

[P @ F]

No ..........Because i dont need a charger anymore