Months ago I put a good new battery and 2 deep cycle batterys into my kombi. A smart relay controls them. The deep cycle are in series so 12v. I have driven the bus around Melbourne for months and even had an overnight stop where I used all systems. No apparent problems. Now my wife and I are driving up to Darwin and after the first night all batterys were drained to the point where there was just enough to almost turn the motor over, next night down quite a bit but was able to start. The odd thing is were were on 230v from campsites both times. Nothing on the 12v was on. And how could the smart realy allow both to drain unless it was the main one was draining and the relay was alowing the aux to top up the main?????? We are off to the Flinders and beyond so this is a problem. I have disconected all aux 12v but not the aux batterys themselves. Help? We are in Swanhill today and Mildura tommorow. Regards
Philip
This may help. I don't know.
hmmm.... do you have anything on you rmain circuit that runs all the time? eg stereo etc. If you do, pull its fuse.
Next, disconnect the +ve battery terminal. now put a test lamp in between the +ve terminal clamp and the +ve battery post. If it lights, there's current being drawn.
Now pull the fuses one by one seeing if the test light goes out. IF it does, you have isolated the problem to a degree. you can work from there.
Could you explain the smart relay to me? it sounds like the problem lies there to me maybe. I have a simple relay in my van. Not much can go wrong with it, but it's not optimal.
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
Sounds like it is pulling 3 or 4 amps all the time to do that, if you havent already got one, buy a multimeter & put it on the 10amp setting & test out the drain from the postive lead terminal on each battery
that is where I would start
soryy to hear you having this trouble
Please, I need drivers side window regulator (winder mechanism) for my '54
Deep cycles... series... that would give 24V?
I have no qik fix suggestions, but if you can spare a day, maybe consider a simple switch to control the aux batteries... Connect the batts after vehicle start-up in the morning, drive all day, then isolate them from the vehicle start battery when you set up camp in the arvo.
have heard too may bad things abouyt 'smart' relays systems from the 4WD world
Also, I am not 100 percent sure, but you will need a 100A+ alternator to charge two deepcycles. They need a lot of current, for a long time, to charge... 30A VW won't do that
nn[ Edited on 11-8-2005 by VWCOOL ]nn[ Edited on 11-8-2005 by VWCOOL ]
Pay your debts, CxxT
I had a boat battery in my 4WD when I went around Australia and used it overnight to keep the fridge going when not plugged into 240v. Maybe disconnect what you've got, and go shopping for a large boat battery without any aux setup.
if i were you I would start with what general failure said. seems very funny that it was working ok then now isnt. my first suspicion is that non aux battery wiring may check out OK and you may be left with a not so smart relay as the culprit.
vwcool, i presume he has 2 by 6v batteries. 6v deep cycle batteries are apparently more effieicnt.
When I set up I will have a single 12v deep cycle, 70 to 100ah for a small freeza on a manual isolated/switched lead/cable from the main battery for recharge.
KISS principal for me.
Are you sure nothing 12v was on? The lights and stereo in my kombi work off the 12v. Depending on how much they draw and how long you used them they could be the problem.
The original wiring setup in my kombi used the main battery for everything. Have you changed the wiring to run things off the auxiliary batteries.
I assume that your fridge is wired to only draw 12v when the ignition is on?
I've been thinking about this a little more. Both aux and main batteries are drained after a trip?
Are they all drained straight after you pull up for the night, or only if left sitting overnight?
This is merely conjecture, but if both primary and secondary batteries are down after a trip could it be a charging system problem like the alternator?
Another suggestion. After you pull up, check the voltage of the system. Both batteries.
Now physically sever the link between the two batteries. Unplug the +ve wire or something between them. Just keep both batteries connected to their respective circuits though.
in the morning check the voltages of both batteries again. because they have been physically isolated from each other but not the systems which they supply, this will help you find whether it's a battery, the relay, or one of the circuits.
Oh sorry, after you do all that, completely disconnect both batteries, check voltage. Leave overnight, check again. That bit will tell you if it's a battery.
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
HI,
In a Mitsubishi L300 Van,
I used to run two 12volt batteries in parallel [naturally]
they were connected via a simple relay - so that when the ignition was turned on....
Both batteries were connected.....
and Disconnected when the ignition was turned off.....
So, the battery to start the engine is isolated and will always start the engine....
Its not a perfect system but works well if the auxiliary battery isn't drained too much ---- and the batteries are about the same capacity.....
Your setup has been designed with the SMART Relay system in mind.... IMHO....
Isolate the Main engine battery overnight... ie..
take off one of the leads.... so at least Your engine can be started in the morning....
Maybe its the mis-match between the 2 x 6 volt deep cyle batteries and the standard engine battery...
and the SMART relay cannot work out when to charge what battery.....????
If the engine battery is charged [during the day] Maybe the SMART relay is turning the power off the deep cycle batteries too.....
Best of Luck...... when all else fails...
Lee Noonan -- 68AutoBug
http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
Im with 68, the SMART thingo maybe too smart for its own good. I would manually isolate (remove a lead) the best battery each night so you can go in the morning. Do you vave a multimeter with you to test charging? If so check the charging on each battery. If you have 240v campsite use a charger to top up.
Luck
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I use the same simple relay setup as you 68. I agree, it's not perfect, but it works. It also has an additional feature.
If your primary battery is deadish for whatever reason, you can just turn on the ignition for a few minutes and the aux battery gives the main enough of a topup to get the van started.
If at first you don't succeed. Build, build again.
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based LCA pop-top camper. Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.
Its been just touched on by a couple of posts but im inclined to thoroughly check out you alternator to ensure it hasnt fried a phase or two.
It may be supplying enough juice to run the car and give a cold start or two but may not be enough there to charge the batteries.
Smart relays are not rocket science, they simply disconnect the aux batteries (and their load) from the running battery when the running system voltage drops below a threshold to prevent the running battery from flattening. They cannot allow for an alternator that is not producing full output and voltage.
This threshold voltage is fairly low, enough to give a couple of reliable cold starts, so if the system is only seeing reduced voltage from the alternator, all the batteries will be running fairly discharged despite how much running you do to begin with.
You need to determine if you alternator output and voltage is sufficient for the job of running the car AND charging the aux batteries.
I suggest before you start pulling fuses, wires and other chicanery to visit and auto-elect who will do a simple output/voltage load test on the alternator.
Rule out the very heart of the system before picking around the edges of it.
Good luck with it.
l8tr
E
L8tr
E
Im not a complete idiot, quite a few parts are missing....
