Split Charge Problem

Ive got a Durite VSR split charge system installed.

Starter battery - 3 years old, still reads 14.4 - only used for starter

Aux battery - 4 months old - currently reading 9v
Runs all my aux items, lights, heated seats, derv heater.

Never had an issue since the install 4 months. Noticed this morning my heated seat wasnt as warm as it should be, then this evening the derv heater wouldnt fire up showing a low battery fault.

Any suggestions on where to start?

So just gone out to check if anything was obviously wrong. Nothing jumped out, though I did notice the aux battery had gone up from 8.7v to 9.8v in the hour the landys been off (Red LED on the VSR relay also off). Started the landy and the volts on the aux battery began to drop! Fell to 9.1v over about 3 minutes.

Cant be wires up wrong as ive not had an issue with it for months, its been flawless.

Could the relay be faulty?

My old T-Max split charger was awesome then one day it just went pop.

Hence my twin alternator installation.

4 months tho! Twin alts wouldnt work for me, no space and need duration of poeer really

What's your voltage either side of the relay?

Cant check fully atm as i havnt got my voltmeter.

Was using the built in voltmeter for the starter - reads 14.4v when running and the voltmeter built into the derv heater which read 9.8v off and dropped to 9.1v when started.

Hi mate

Don’t know how useful this is to u have the T max on mine and fitted some battery monitors on each battery so could see exactly what they were doing with the engine on and off, viewed via Bluetooth on the iPad or iPhone, has a range of around 15 x feet

found it the most useful when driving as I wasn’t always getting the same readings when driving , was a pain having to use a multimeter all the time

the app is £9.99 or can get a single battery one for free

The BM2 battery monitors are around £20 which is attached to each battery

can also test he crank voltage etc

also installed a dual battery volt meter in the centre console

Do U have fuses on each battery , are they both ok, but indeed does sound like the relay but of course won’t know until you’ve tested them

Just bought one cheers. Should be able to keep a closer eye on the second battery. Ideally I need to fit another dash mounted voltmeter like you have. Just not sure how to wire it up so its off when the cars off.

Ive emailed the seller asking if the know what the issue could be..

Starter battery is standard. So if it has a fuse from factory then yes.

Aux battery has a fuse each side of the relay. Which I must be fine as all my aux items still work just not peak power!

For the time being ive connected my aux fuse box to the starter battery and disconnected the live and earth from the relay. Cant be without heated seats in these cold mornings!

Hi buddy @bankz5152

this is what I done, fitted a fuse box in my upper glove box so is all hidden away , this comes off my aux battery , so when the ign is turned off it kills the power to the aux fuse box and also to the extra gauge panel

so basically i wired in a trigger switched live for the relay to work only when ign was turned on

hope that helps , ignore the display bit in the pic, just replace that with fuse box, hope that makes sense

As always , happy to help where I can

Also as a side note this is my split charge system, I installed a fuse by each battery

Also just removed that exide pile of crap main battery , is only 3 x years old and has given me grief for ages , useless at keeping charge , would never buy exide again

so went down halfords and got a yuasa

https://www.yuasa.co.uk/batteries/a...r-high-performance-smf-batteries/ybx5019.html

@bankz5152

hi buddy , well would u know it, thought it a good idea to plug my CTEK so that the new battery is 100% fully charged , know they normally come fully charged but thought doing that I could see how many days it lasted until it needed recharging

the bloody aux battery isn’t charging

has come out in sympathy

Ps, know ur extremely knowledgeable but don’t forget if u ever need a hand please always feel free to give me a shout

I will do! Thanks for the help!

Currently suspecting a duff relay. Will investigate later!

Right so this is odd. At least to me...

engine off
Starter battery - 12.7v
Aux battery - 11.37v

Engine on
Starter - 14.4v
Aux - no change

Took the live from the VSR relay off reads 14.4v - connect it to the aux battery and it drops back to 11.3v.

bankz5152 said:

Right so this is odd. At least to me...

engine off
Starter battery - 12.7v
Aux battery - 11.37v

Engine on
Starter - 14.4v
Aux - no change

Took the live from the VSR relay off reads 14.4v - connect it to the aux battery and it drops back to 11.3v.

Click to expand...

hi mate

sounds like VSR isn’t switching over , alas don’t know what the Vdc is when it’s suppose to switch over

think I’ve got some details ref the VSR will see if I can find it for u

Just found this ref the VSR

does this sound about right

Switch on voltage 13.3vdc

Switch off voltage 12.8vdc

Plus is the VR sense ground ok, assume easy to test with a multimeter

have both the batteries been put on charge , alas could it be the Vdc is just below the switch over values ??

Is this how u wired it up plse , thks

Also found this ref the voltages

alas don’t know how much help it is

The VSR is switching over, I hear it click and the red led comes on. Then when the VSR live is disconnected from the aux battery it reads 14.4v which is correct. Soon as I reconnect the the VSR live to the aux battery it drops back to 11.6v.

Wired up as per the diagram except the VSR is earthed off the starter battery and both batteries negative terminals are connected and earthed to the chassis.

bankz5152 said:

The VSR is switching over, I hear it click and the red led comes on. Then when the VSR live is disconnected from the aux battery it reads 14.4v which is correct. Soon as I reconnect the the VSR live to the aux battery it drops back to 11.6v.

Wired up as per the diagram except the VSR is earthed off the starter battery and both batteries negative terminals are connected and earthed to the chassis.

Click to expand...

cheers

personally I would disconnect the aux battery and get it tested , have u tried putting a jump lead as a temp measure on the aux and starter batteries ground to ensure thats 100%

but indeed if the voltage is dropping like that I would at least start with the aux battery to ensure that’s in perfect working order

is there anything within the landy that’s possibly taking more power than it should from the aux battery

so if I’m read if it correctly the aux battery isn’t being charged correctly via the VSR and alternator or have a residual drain on the aux battery from items that runs off it

Know it’s long winded , just making sure ive understood it correctly

more than likely I’m making it worse, lol