neither - look for an Antares split charger on ebay, last few I won were less than £20 delivered - as fitted to ambulances/fire appliances etc - properly designed and no unreliable relays to worry about
Auto Split Charge - Antares
Auto Split Charge - Antares
sirwingalot
Active Member
Wow. That genius! I'll be having one of them then! How come everyone doesn't use these? so much simpler than other systems. Cheers Sean.
Or durite solid state split charger which is voltage sensitive so you dont even need to cut into your ignition feed.
Relays are not good as in some circumstances where there is no diode power can be pulled from the second battery causing a overload of the charge wire.
This happened on a boughton dodge 4x4 ex electricity board truck I once had when the primary battery flattened
Relays are not good as in some circumstances where there is no diode power can be pulled from the second battery causing a overload of the charge wire.
This happened on a boughton dodge 4x4 ex electricity board truck I once had when the primary battery flattened
Jongould
New Member
Just use a decent 110 amp relay inline between the two battery positive terminals, put the relay feed to the alternator output and theres your split charge system sorted, I have used this setup in all my vehicles from boy racer big sound systems, Camper vans and off roaders and as yet I have never had one fail on me. Simplicity is best my friend, dont bother with auto switching crap an all that rubbish...
probably because they cost a few 100 to buy from new, so it's generally out of budget range for the likes of us - however they are bullet proof, so there's plenty that get pulled out of end of life emergency vehicles etc
why don't fire appliances/ambulances use your simple relay system ?
uncle albert
New Member
Probably cos taxpayer paying for it
gazdav
New Member
Could not find a second hand one so I have started looking at the x-charge are they any good?
just an over priced relay
keep an on out on ebay, well worth the wait for something you really can fit and forget
uncle albert
New Member
Gov. depts never do the simple wayif only it was that simple
Jongould
New Member
Because they have a massive amount of money spent into the design and research of the electrical systems, the electrics on these vehicles are dependant on a stable voltage supply for much of the medical equipment, they also have alot higher demands and use larger batteries which need to have a better split charge system fitted in order to maintain all the batteries at a peak charge.
A landrover is no where near as finicky as either of those two platforms and really doesnt need such a system fitted, im not saying it wouldnt work and im not saying it doesn't have advantages but the beauty of the split charge system is its simplicity, it takes minutes to wire up and if anything was to ever pack up you can get a relay from pretty much anywhere, you can even pinch one off another (unneeded) system on the vehicle if you was totally stuck.
it's nothing to do with voltage stability - the battery and regulators effectively clamp the voltage
spending £20 on a proper system is a no brainer in my world
Jongould
New Member
You sure? When an emergency vehicle is running all its electrics the draw is massive, the supply to the batterys must be able to keep up with that draw, when the draw isnt there they musnt overcharge. On a standard 12V system you will actually be running 13.5-14V all the time, going down to 11.5V when the battery is low or when you have alot of draw. The systems fitted to emergency vehicles dont like such voltage differences...
Anyway, as I said im not saying it wont work in the slightest but what happens when it goes wrong (and if you tell me they dont then you really dont understand them, I worked at Ford Commercials and done alot of ambulances, they are lucky to go a month without problems!). A relay system is just a simple solution that doesn't overcomplicate, it works reliably and is easy to maintain/repair.
Jongould
New Member
oh I understand them just fine
So you will understand the reliable electronics are quite rare. As I have said im not saying your wrong, noyt in the slightest, I agree the systems are good and great VFM but in my opinion and experience a relay cant be beaten for reliability and simplicity
very very far from it, a MOSFET over a finite life relay for me
the MTBF for a properly installed, properly designed solid state system will be x times that of a product using electro magnetic components
BMS is a very good example where solid state relays are now the much preferred option to standard enclosed relays or breakers
a landrover may not really warrant the complexity of such systems, but if you can fit one for the same price as a cheapo relay based system why not ?
Relays are a band aid solution,what is more simple than a epoxy sealed waterproof solid state system.
I use the durite split charger system and have done for 5 years plus ,with not one failure.
I use the durite split charger system and have done for 5 years plus ,with not one failure.
wiltshire landyman
I’m back
x eng is just an over priced relay
i have the new tmaxx system with battery monitor and it works very well,you also have the option to link both batterys when winching..it gets my vote
i have the new tmaxx system with battery monitor and it works very well,you also have the option to link both batterys when winching..it gets my vote
