Leisure Battery saver device

[ghost123uk]

Now I know that some leisure battery makers claim that deep discharging will not harm "their" battery, but common knowledge is that it does harm them.

So, I have bought a low voltage cut-off that disconnects the battery at a user pre determined voltage and re-connects it when whatever you use to re-charge your battery is switched on (engine, solar, Zig etc)

I was going to make one but when I saw they are only £20 and have some neat facilities that a home made one would not have, I just went ahead.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280856074765? ... 3D1&_rdc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

More info here =

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Low-Voltage-Batte ... rcuits.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

btw, not shown in the pic but it comes in a nice black plastic enclosure

[bigherb]

The only problem with those devices is the standby current used to power them 0.04A in this case which is flattening the battery even when nothing is switched on which brings in a new regime of having to disconnect the battery when left for a few weeks or keeping the battery charged from another source.

[ghost123uk]

The only problem with those devices is the standby current used to power them 0.04A in this case which is flattening the battery even when nothing is switched on which brings in a new regime of having to disconnect the battery when left for a few weeks or keeping the battery charged from another source.

Hey Herb, that is 40 milliamps or 40 thousandths of an amp, a torch battery would supply that for weeks = not worth thinking about.

[Thirstyman]

A really good idea IMHO, thought of making one myself but got stuck when I worried about my Eberspacher's cooling down fanned phase..... like we've nodded off, the van's warm, the battery cuts out before the heater timer finishes it's hour.
The Eberspacher could be wired in pre-cutout I suppose. Hope it works out for you - leisure batteries have become a consumable in my westy.... I do like my sounds & mood lighting into the wee small hours!

[ghost123uk]

A really good idea IMHO, thought of making one myself

Aye, I have a home made multi LED volt meter, 10 to 15 volts, red, then yellow at each end and green from 12.4 to 14.2 volts and I considered triggering a transistor from one of the LED feeds, then to a relay. Main trouble is, when the load is disconnected and the battery rests, the voltage rises slightly and the thing turns the load back on ! Then when I saw that "intelligent" unit for £20 it was a no-brainer

but got stuck when I worried about my Eberspacher's cooling down fanned phase..
The Eberspacher could be wired in pre-cutout I suppose.

Yep, that is standard procedure for mission critical stuff (like alarms and courtessy lights) when used on the main battery as some folks do. (you know, the 1965 Ferrari that only gets used 4 times a year )

leisure batteries have become a consumable in my westy....

Aye, this thing will pay for itself in no time !

I do like my sounds & mood lighting into the wee small hours!

Ditto !

[LeeME3]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Ghost are you still using this device and would you recommend it?

The only thing I can find that is similar is http://www.batterybrain.co.uk/proddetai ... 8TypeIV%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but I prefer £20 to £60 and 10.5V seems a bit high as a cut off for a leisure - I'd prefer to be able to set the voltage myself...

Thanks!

[Fudgy666]

I too am looking into getting a device to help maintain the life span of my leisure battery.

I think I got this link from Ghost on another thread, but I'm fairly sure it's the same product mentioned here:

http://www.reuk.co.uk/buy-REUK-PROGRAMM ... CT-LVD.htm

I did contact them a couple of weeks ago, but bad news I'm afraid :





"Hi - thanks for your email. Sorry for the inconvenience regarding the out of stock unit. We will not be purchasing any more of the blue boards which you saw pictured on that item listing due to their increased cost of manufacture and shipping, and the blue boxes have also become too expensive. However we are still hand-making these controllers on request.

As I assume you saw, we make a functionally identical LVD here: http://www.reuk.co.uk/buy-MINI-12V-PROG ... CT-LVD.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which is miniaturised, but without a relay so that you can add your own choice of relay to switch whatever you are switching. We can also make a boxed physically larger LVD (with button on the circuit board and non-transparent lid to the box) with a 10A relay, or with a 16A relay if you do not mind not being able to fit the lid on the box due to the height of the larger current switching relay.

Best regards
Neil
http://www.reuk.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"




Does anybody know what voltage is best to have set as your 'switch off' voltage, as there seems to be a few fixed voltage ones on fleabay

[ghost123uk]

Yes, I am still using my REUK one, the blue box version.

Shame they stopped making the blue box one, but the one without the relay would be fine, if not better because you can select a suitable relay and use better connections and gauge of wire to the relay

Re cut off voltage, I have mine set to 11.5 volts. Opinion seems to vary though This website has some info = LINK and more HERE (in a pdf file).

In all honesty, my cut off (at 11.5V) has hardly ever kicked in because I keep the battery(s) well charged and rarely camp over for more than 2 nights at a time, plus I use a top quality 110Ahr battery, it hardly ever gets as low as 11.5V even with the lights, stereo and a bit of laptop use sometimes. Oh, and the Propex in colder weather

[ghost123uk]

Aye, I think this is the latest REUK version requiring a simple separate relay = HERE Another good reason for using that one is you could easily fit a manual override switch to temporarily turn your electrics back on, say to watch the last 10 mins of that film you were in the middle of watching, or to get the lights on to make a cup of Cocoa (had to look that spelling up !) or find the brandy at bed time etc.

[LeeME3]

Interesting thoughts, I was thinking either 10.0v or 10.5v for the cut off...I'd have hoped that's still a very big margin of safety for a quality leisure battery that I pop onto a CTEK charger / conditioner every few weeks...

[Oldiebut goodie]

That's too low!

Here are a couple that I will be fitting - one is a starter battery cutoff the other is a leisure battery one (differing voltage cutoff levels). They have a 120A and 100A latching relay.

[Negativegravity]

I wired an older version of this in and it works really well:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Low-Voltage-D ... 3a884f5d7b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cuts out at 12.1v which I think is a bit better for the battery? Sounds an alarm/buzzer before it cuts off too.

[ghost123uk]

I wired an older version of this in and it works really well:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Low-Voltage-D ... 3a884f5d7b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cuts out at 12.1v which I think is a bit better for the battery? Sounds an alarm/buzzer before it cuts off too.

That looks good, you just have to be uber careful re the exposed terminals. I would be tempted to fit that into a suitable box.

[CovKid]

It does all seem to be over-egging the pudding though. You could just employ the passenger to work a bank of switches and guages - give them something to do on long journeys.

[Oldiebut goodie]

It's a bit beyond my dog that!