[P®oPole™]

Hi fellas,

After knocking out 12 town houses, about four hours later, I packed away my van as you do. Went to start my van........... and nothing was happning, it was just making painfull sounding clicking noises.

Called the RAC out, I was back on road withing an hour.

Im confused as to why my battery would go dead especially when my supplier told me that my pump takes hardly any power and its fine to be wired to the battery.

The RAC guy told me that I shouldnt leave my pump on taking juice from the battery he said the engine should be left on? WTF

ProPole

[ray l]

I was told every thing would be ok with system rigged to battery.

Got caught with a flat battery, invested in a booster battery and then rigged a
split battery charge set-up

I found that when filling at home solenoid would cause a drain on battery
 before you even start work, then if your not driving far.

The split charger has definately helped and kept me working.

Ray l

[mark6765]

Just got my vivaro knicked last week leaving the engine running.
Not sure if the insureance will pay out.
All my wfp equipment definately isnt coverd with my fully comp insureance.
Wish i had fitted a split charge relay to a leasure battery.
I will never leave engine running again.
It will take months to sort everything out and get back to work properly.
Im working out the back of my frontera estate with a shurflo backpak and barrels of water at the moment. which obviously isnt ideal.

Please dont be as daft as me and think it cant happen to you.

If you leave your engine running, someone will take your van, and you might not be coverd.

[newpy]

Split relay charge is what i've got, does the job. I give mine an extra charge on the weekends to be sure and i get through the week ok.

[P @ F]

Its all to do with the batteries , if i am right , leisure are deep cycle and vehicle are short sharp burst .

 Rich P @ F
 
 Its ok to do if you get caught out with a flat leisure , but i would not do it all the time .

Also you might want to have your van battery checked out , it could be on the way out , and remember , the cold doesnt do them much good either .

[P®oPole™]

Thanks for the reply Ray,

The RAC guy told me about this extra battery set up, he said sumthing about wiring that to my battery and having it charge me second one.

Funny thing is mate, I have been getting a little trouble in the mornings latley just a little slower at starting up, and this moring I was only working down the road (2mins drive) it makes sense that this happend today.

does the fill swithch or fill process take power from the batter in the night then?




Thanks for your reply Mark,

sorry to hear of your misfortune am glad you told me that because I may of been tempted, definatley wont do that now thats for sure.

How much will this split charger cost?




Cheers Rich,

Gonna get it tested first thing tommorow.

ProPole

[pjulk]

I don't think van batteries are suitable for WFP.
You need a leisure battery as you will ruin your van one.

What you need is to get a leisure battery and a split charge relay and you can then forget about it.

The leisure battery will charge as you are driving and the WFP system will only draw power from your leisure battery so you will not have any problems starting your van.

Paul

[P®oPole™]

Thanks Paul and newpy,

How much do these split charge lesuire set ups cost, can someone with little knowledge set it up?

ProPole

[P @ F]

Here is one , got it from MAPLINS last year £6 , and its still in the drawer  :

[P®oPole™]

Hi Rich,

Is that the split relay, do I split it from my van battery to the lesuire? is it simple to do?

Many Thanks
ProPole

[Pj]

Get yourself an 85amp leisure battery from a caravan accessories supplier for about £40 - £50.  Get a split relay supplied and fitted by local auto electrics for about the same, £40 - £50.
End of worries.

[P @ F]

That my friend is the split relay , and as for fitting it easily , i dont know too much about electrics , hence why its still in the drawer !

This could be a great thread if any of you out there have fitted the same one , it did come with a fitting guide , but i did not find it very clear .

 Rich P @ F

[Davie T]

PJ is correct.
We use 2 leisure batteries linked to each other and charged via split relay.  Touching wood, never a problem nor do we need to charge from mains.
DIY waterfed pole forum have wiring diagrams if you are up to DIY

[P®oPole™]

Cheers Fellas,

Might do what pj says then,

Thanks to everyone that posted, much apprcieated

ProPole

[Jeff Brimble]

I just got the Beatles " Love "album (its great)and yesterday flooded the town with music at 78 decibels. 3 hours later, 1 flat battery. Cheap jump start wires failed, one call out to the garage.
It was so good to listen too I am doing it all again, but switching the engine on now and then.
You need a lesuire battery as a back up.

[P @ F]

HAHAHAHA , That will teach you for listening to love albums . 

[Ian_Giles]

Car batteries are not designed to be used as constant drain.

You really do need a proper leisure battery.

They do still wear out though

I'm on my second and I'm having to get a new one, so that'll be my third

But I do have it blasting flat out all the time (the pump that is, I like a high flowrate) and if I have a really busy day then it now begins to fade near the the end of 650 litres.

If it is fading then it means I have ran it down too far, the one thing you should not do with a leisure battery is run it down, and NEVER run it flat.

They are designed to give a constant voltage for long periods of time, if the power is fading in them, then you have taken it too far as it is no longer able to maintain that constant voltage.
If you keep doing it then you will rapidly shorten your battery life.

I've made the mistake of not having a split charge relay fitted, apparently you should still charge up the battery regularly unless you are doing substantial milage.
But I'll bet it is the difference between a battery lasting you 15 months and one lasting you 2 or 3 years

If you want one fitted, check out any local tow bar fitter, they are doing it all the time for caravans and so on and it isn't that expensive to get it done.

Unless you are a dab hand at messing with your van electrics of course

Ian

[jeff1]

If you really need the ins and out of a split charge relay have a look at this link.

Its to big a topic to copy and paste here with a diagram of how a split charge relay is installed.

http://www.w.com/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=23&highlight=split+charge+relay

[stuart@skypole]

an 85amp hour battery as most leisure batteries are will sufice a pole pump runs around 7amps this will flaten a car or van battery in a day,

a second battery with a split relay charge will solve the problem, the dearer the relay the better.

a spliting diod would be better

but either will do they charge the second battery after the first is charged but you must ensure your vehicle battery is at its optimum, or the realy wont charge the second battery,

short trips will also not allow the second battery to charge

rgds
stuart

[advanced]

i had same problem
 get a  varistream  the pump does not have to work as hard  , uses less juice