Batterymaster (1 Viewer)

[Pugwash52]

Hi,
I have a PVC with two house batteries plus the usual vehicle battery under the cab floor (it's a Fiat Ducato). There is a 100w solar panel on the roof. The house batteries are charged from the solar and also when the van is plugged in to the mains but the vehicle battery is not. The vehicle battery is only charged by the alternator when the engine is running. The house batteries are also charged by the alternator.
The vehicle will be stored indoors through the winter so no solar and it won't be plugged in.
My question is, if the Batterymaster transfers energy from the house batteries to the vehicle battery when it detects a differential in the respective battery voltages and the house and vehicle batteries both discharge gradually over time, will the Battery master still be useful or will it simply let all three batteries decay together?
I can see how useful a Batterymaster is for a vehicle in fairly regular use but would it be useful in my situation.
Thanks for any advice.
Paul.

 

[David and Sally]

My take on this is that without any form of charge all three batteries will decay at roughly the same rate. In which case a BM won’t help. It will put a small trickle into the starter battery if the leisure batteries are slightly higher voltage. But, eventually they will both slowly discharge.

Real experts will be along soon

 

[Jev88]

Not sure what your concern is?
The battery master needs a differential to allow a small trickle of charge to the engine battery. It won't allow the reverse.
Easiest way to take surplus power and keep engine battery ready for next engine start.

 

[dunnah01]

I think the Battery Master has a minimum voltage cut-off which only allows the hab battery to go so low before it cuts out. Alas, this means your starter battery will keep dropping if you have no charger attached, although were talking weeks/months of no use rather than hours

 

[pappajohn]

If it's in a private garage or secure compound take the hab batteries home for the duration and the engine battery home for a days charge every couple of weeks.
Pain in the arse but you'll know your batteries are being looked after.

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[GMLS]

Might be of interest from one of the forum members

 

[Pugwash52]

If it's in a private garage or secure compound take the hab batteries home for the duration and the engine battery home for a days charge every couple of weeks.
Pain in the arse but you'll know your batteries are being looked after.

Thanks... I would if I could but the van is in England and I'm going home to NZ for a few months.

 

[Pugwash52]

My take on this is that without any form of charge all three batteries will decay at roughly the same rate. In which case a BM won’t help. It will put a small trickle into the starter battery if the leisure batteries are slightly higher voltage. But, eventually they will both slowly discharge.

Real experts will be along soon

I think you're right and this is my concern. Maybe I can get someone to plug it in occasionally to top up the house batteries then hopefully a Batterymaster would trickle some through to the vehicle battery. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

I think you're right and this is my concern. Maybe I can get someone to plug it in occasionally to top up the house batteries then hopefully a Batterymaster would trickle some through to the vehicle battery. Thank you for your reply.

If you have internet at home you could use a Tapo plug and allow charging whenever is suitable otherwise a normal programming timer switch would be sufficient

 

[eddie]

It will help, and extend quite significantly the length of time that you can leave the van and expect it to start, however, perpetual motion hasn’t been invented yet so eventually the quiescent drain on the engine battery will deplete the engine and supporting leisure batteries.

Alternatively don’t fit it and your engine battery will go flat anyway, much quicker as there is no solution short of disconnecting tall the batteries, or, leave the van on charge.

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[autorouter]

There is another consideration, that a battery left partially discharged for weeks will start to become sulfated. The lead sulfide goo that forms as a normal part of the charge/discharge process becomes crystallised, and can't be turned back into the lead/lead oxide plate materials by the normal charging process, so the battery permanently loses capacity. It is recommended to fully charge a lead-acid battery to 100% every 4 to 6 weeks to avoid permanent sulfation.

It would definitely be a good idea to connect hookup for 24 hours every month if that was possible. Or you could get a couple of proper trickle chargers and leave them connected for the whole time you are away if you are not sure about the van mains charger. A good trickle charger can be connected for months or years without problems.