Split charge not man enough

[bradders89]

I have a durite 140amp split charge relay in my van.
All that run off my leisure battery is my stereo with a sub and amp and a couple of led lights. I only have my stereo on while driving and for some reason my leisure battery keeps going flat. The split charge is wire correctly and I've wired it using a man enough cable for the job. Why is the relay not charging the battery? My van is a daily driver and I drive around 12 miles a day to work and back so it should be getting enough charge.

What relays are people using and what are the running off there leisure battery. Getting rather sick of having to keep charging the battery.

[bigherb]

The relay is more than adequate. If the the battery keeps going flat then something is wrong. Is the relay working? Is something draining the battery when parked?
You need to give us some voltages with the engine running from the starter and leisure batteries to start with.

[bradders89]

The only drain would be the permanent live to the stereo. It charges at 13.3 volts I think. Pretty sure I have a 70 amp alterntor (Subaru engine) I know the relay work as it led light comes on and you can hear the relay clickin on and of when I start up or switch off. Could it be possible that when my stereo is on its usin more power that the relay is puttin back into the battery?

[bigherb]

Probably if you are only charging at 13.3V. You need a minimum of 13.8V to fully charge the battery. Ideally you need 14.2V for quicker charging.

[nicq]

What is the charge voltage on the van bat.
Where are you reading 13.2 you should be reading it on the bat terminals.
If it keeps going flat get it load checked at a bat centre it could be a duff cell in the bat.

[bradders89]

Can't seem to find any with a output more than 13.3 volts. Could the battery be buggered with running so low quite a few times. Low as in won't power two led strip lights.

[bigherb]

I think you are confusing the relay switch on voltage with the vehicle operating voltage which is controlled by the alternator voltage regulator which should be above 13.8V. You need to measure the voltages at the batteries.

[California Dreamin]

Trouble is: with everything connected it will be hard to determine what is pulling your charge voltage so low. My advice would be to first disconnect the leisure battery and check the charge voltage at your starter battery (with engine running @ 1500rpm). Then with the leisure battery still disconnected, check the voltage coming out the relay that 'would be' going to the leisure battery. Now do the same checks with the leisure battery connected.
My guess would be that the leisure battery has a bad cell.

You should be seeing 13.9-14.2 volts at your starter battery and the same coming out of the relay to the leisure, if this drops to the reported 13.3 volts once the leisure is reconnected then this battery is likely foobar. Or at least, remove and try to recover this battery with a decent SMART charger.

Martin

[Stefvan]

Bradders89 I think you have a Durite voltage sensing relay, rather than a traditional one triggered by the alternator, right ? Since I have a the same relay, which works fine, my tuppence is.. the 13.3V you are talking about is the trigger on the relay to turn on the red light on and start voltage flowing to the leisure, so it sounds like you are getting that as the red light is going on and the relay is functioning properly. Test everything with a voltmeter as Martin suggests, (especially the levels on the leisure once the engine is running, you should have 13.5-14.2 volts ?) otherwise it does sound like a dodgy leisure battery.

Stefvan

[bradders89]

Yes it is a voltage sensitive relay. It just tested the voltages with engine running and the main battery is reading 13.5 volts and the leisure battery is reading 13.3 volts. I've charged the battery with a smart charger numerous times on the slowest charge over two days. The battery has been run right down to nothing as I said to where it can't power a few LEDs and a couple year ago I tried jump starting a car from it which I've heard is really bad to do from a leisure battery. So could it be I've nackered the battery so it won't hold a decent charge anymore?

[nicq]

If its been run down to nothing it will be caput.
Disconnect it and check the starter bat with the engine running.
If you leave it connected it will pull down the alternator output and give you low readings.

[California Dreamin]

Yes it is a voltage sensitive relay. It just tested the voltages with engine running and the main battery is reading 13.5 volts and the leisure battery is reading 13.3 volts. I've charged the battery with a smart charger numerous times on the slowest charge over two days. The battery has been run right down to nothing as I said to where it can't power a few LEDs and a couple year ago I tried jump starting a car from it which I've heard is really bad to do from a leisure battery. So could it be I've nackered the battery so it won't hold a decent charge anymore?

A 0.2 volt drop between the main and leisure batteries is nothing unusual but the check you need to do is volts at the starter battery with the leisure battery disconnected.
13.5 volts at the starter battery is low, so is this due to the leisure battery pulling the volts down? do the check...

Martin

[bradders89]

I checked the voltage going into my main battery with the split charger unplugged and it was 14 volts. So there must be enough chart going into the leisure battery. Can only be a fooked battery then I'm guessing?

[CovKid]

Very likely. Take it off the vehicle, charge it again, disconnect then wait four hours and see how much the voltage across it has dropped. Should give you some idea.

[California Dreamin]

I checked the voltage going into my main battery with the split charger unplugged and it was 14 volts. So there must be enough chart going into the leisure battery. Can only be a fooked battery then I'm guessing?

So 14 volts without the leisure connected and 13.5 volts with...certainly points towards a duff leisure battery.

Martin