[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?