Thread: Begging for electricity

My D4 can be parked up for a month or more at a time and found that even with the DBS the cranking battery can get quite low. I put a switch in the isolator for two reasons; one to reduce the quiescent battery drain; and two leave me with a charged second battery so I can jump start myself if needed.
The switch just goes in the ground wire for the isolator.

Andy - I suggest you leave your bonnet closed and monitor the battery voltage from pins 3 & 4 on the 12S (white) tow socket. (3 is ground and 4 is permanent power from your battery).

Note there will be a minor voltage drop at the socket - compared to what is at the terminals, due to the ~4m of cable run.

Cheers,
Rob

Originally Posted by jonesy63

Andy - I suggest you leave your bonnet closed and monitor the battery voltage from pins 3 & 4 on the 12S (white) tow socket. (3 is ground and 4 is permanent power from your battery).

I bought a Ctek to 12S converter plug from the Disco UK site, it lets me leave the car locked in my complex and the charger locked in the car.

Originally Posted by JamesH

I bought a Ctek to 12S converter plug from the Disco UK site, it lets me leave the car locked in my complex and the charger locked in the car.

I made one - 12S plug from UK and put an Anderson plug on the end instead of Ctek comfort connector. I then made Anderson to Ctek adapter for charging when locked. I also changed my solar panels over to Anderson - so I plug that in to charge direct to main battery when camping.

Hi rufusking and that is a brilliant bit of work.

Hi Silenceisgolden, as of two years ago, only the standard SC80 draws that sort of current.

The new SC80-CB and all SC80-LR have been made with low current drawing relays and actually draw less than 200ma.

The USI-160 draw about 140ma.

The USI-160, the DT90 and the ABG-25 all have the TIME-OUT feature which demonically reduces the amount of battery consumption for vehicle not used regularly and the SC80-CB and SC80 will have this feature added in the not to distant future.

If anyone is not using their vehicles regularly, then a small current capacity switch can be fitted in the earth wire coming from the SC80 and this can be used to turn the SC80 off when the vehicle is not going to be used for some period of time.

As Jonesy said, lock it up, close bonnet and test using the 12S at the rear.

How about just hooking up a 5W solar trickle charger for $20?

Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi rufusking and that is a brilliant bit of work.

Hi Silenceisgolden, as of two years ago, only the standard SC80 draws that sort of current.

The new SC80-CB and all SC80-LR have been made with low current drawing relays and actually draw less than 200ma.

The USI-160 draw about 140ma.

The USI-160, the DT90 and the ABG-25 all have the TIME-OUT feature which demonically reduces the amount of battery consumption for vehicle not used regularly and the SC80-CB and SC80 will have this feature added in the not to distant future.

If anyone is not using their vehicles regularly, then a small current capacity switch can be fitted in the earth wire coming from the SC80 and this can be used to turn the SC80 off when the vehicle is not going to be used for some period of time.

I think I now have the reason I kept having low battery levels in the D2.Makes sense as the issue started after fitting the DBS the battery system.The D2 also had long rests between use,more than the D4 at the moment.D2 averaged 10000km per year whilst I owned it,D4 just turned 8000km in almost 7 months.

Tim,my controler isnt a SC80 on the D4,its the USI 160.Is the switch on the earth return still reccomended???

Tested the batteries at 6am today,12.77V.and at 5.45pm 12.77v.Initial drop off probably due to the charger just being disconnected and batteries balancing.
Andrew