Vanbuild Series - Part 7: How to Install a Split Charge Relay

[@Mark-xx8go]

Hi, you seem to know electrical knowledge; myself however...nuff said. I have a T5 with a leisure battery supposed to be running the fridge and some lights...relatively new battery, basic lead acid leisure battery. I just found that the battery is not charging, (realised when the fridge compressor wouldnt kick in, and the 80A fuse to the battery has blown. Would you know the most likely cause from such meagre info? The wrong battery, wrong fuse, wrong size wiring? Suffice to say, not a homebuild. Thanks for any advice. (Leisure battery currently on external charge)

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Hmm, hard to tell going off that information mate. I presume you mean the fuse between the battery and fridge is what has blown? Presuming you're fridge is 12v, then an 80amp use blowing means the fridge has tried to pull more than 960 watts. I don't have a fridge but this seems extremely high to me. A household fridge freezer uses around 150 watts. Do you know the wattage of the fridge? My assumption would be an issue with the fridge. If the wires were too small they would have likely burnt out before the fuse did. Worth checking all connections look secure, no burn marks or frayed wires, then trying again with another fuse. But stay with it and make sure you have fire prevention at hand as well as a means of disconnecting the power quickly. Feel free to send me photos on Instagram.

[@DamnedNative6]

Hey man. First off, thanks for the informative video. What size wire did you use with the wiring of the split charger, 16mm across the board?

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

You're very welcome! Aye, these kits typically come with 16mm2 cable rated for 110amps and then 100amp fuses to protect those cables. Some of the cheaper kits come with 10mm2 but I think that's ok so long as the length is only a meter or so. With the 5m kit it should be 16mm2 or larger. Hope that helps?

[@DamnedNative6]

@@TheWoodlandNomad That's awesome help. Thanks heaps!

[@benjamindavidscargill5633]

I’ve got this same SCR and I can’t see how/where I might have wired it up wrong, but for some reason I’m having an issue wherein it drains the power from my starter battery and leaves me needing a jump start - no good when you’re driving around in the sticks. It’s happened 2-3 times and I dare not connect it now. What could I be doing wrong?

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Hmm, so long as you have the correct battery connected to correct terminals of the SCR it shouldn't engage unless the engine is running. Sens battery terminal is to be connected to the engine battery. And the negative wire is sufficiently grounded. Have you checked to see if the light comes on then you wire it up? It should only be on when engine is running. It's possible it's a faulty sensor of course? There's not much you can wire wrong on these.

[@dogmandoug1715]

Thanks for the tutorial Brother, very well Done as usual. Top lad ✊🏻

[@sidofmidd]

Great video m8 thanks

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Thank you! Hope you found it useful 👍

[@grapewater123]

Can i use a split charge relay directly to the teminals of an inverter? Because i want my inverter only to switch on when the van is running. So i can plug in and charge my battery pack though ac when driving

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Are you on about not having any battery besides the vans starter battery? I've not heard of anyone doing this but the split charge relay is simply a switch that engaged after a certain voltage is reached, so it would certainly supply power to the inverter only when the van is running. I presume you don't want to use the switch on the inverter/install a breaker because you're worried you'll leave it on by mistake? I don't see why this wouldn't work tbh but there could be something I haven't thought of, like how steady the voltage from the alternator might be. You might find the invertor keeps turning on and off because of voltage dips. Plus it'd depend on what amps the battery pack was needing. How big is the battery pack?

[@grapewater123]

@@TheWoodlandNomad Sorry I meant straight off the vehicles normal battery, to the split charger to the inverter. I have a power station that I want to automatically charge by AC when the car is running. I don't have a leisure battery just a power station that I will eventually link to solar as well

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

@grapewater123 and that power station can't be charged by 12v I take it?

[@billjohnson3284]

It can but you have purchase an additional power supply which is the same price as a decent inverter so I figure its better to have the inverter which can be of a greater use.

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

@billjohnson3284 makes sense! I wouldn't take my word for it as it's not something I've done but I can't see any problem with that idea, so long as its all fused as is should be. Van starts > alternator charges van battery > van battery voltage then closes the split charge > current runs to the invertor > invertor charges power station. Van stops and it opens the split charge and prevents it draining your van battery.

[@Lobo-Lobo]

Bro, you're Epic for the tutorial. I didn't catch EVERYTHING you were saying but copied the diagram and parts needed 👍👍👍

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Amazing, so glad you've found it useful mate! Always here if you have any questions 🙏

[@vivienhall1468]

Great video. One question. When the terminals arrive for the last cables to be fitted to the bus bar does the black cable go to the black bus bar and the red cable to the red bus bar?

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Yes, absolutely. All negative cables to the black bar and all positive to the red bus bar. Then each bus bar connected to the correct terminals of the batteries 😁

[@GaryMallissa]

Hey, great to see you back. Great tutorial there 👍 Look forward to your upcoming videos and adventures. 😊 🚐

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Thank you mate, really appreciate you watching and commenting 🙏 I look forward to sharing it 😁

[@petermartintv]

ohh mate, i was so sorry to hear about you and Lisa, but, y'know, life goes on and we need do our best to make it exceptional! I watched the episode where Lisa talks about 'childhood trauma' and my heart went straight out to her. My wife suffered in the same way. So, all last summer she was in therapy in London and all her sessions were filmed and are here on YT. If you're still in touch with Lisa, or if she reads the comments (Hi Lisa!) please, please ask her to have a look at them, I'm sure she'll get something from them. Search 'Hayley in therapy' I'm genuinely not trying to 'plug' another channel, but trying to help anyone who's suffering and deserves some healing. Well done for progressing with the build, it's gonna be a good one!

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Hey Peter, thank you so much for your comment! It is sad but life does go on and if it wasn't meant to be then it was meant to provide lessons, and we had a great time along the way. I have passed that message on to Lisa and I am sure she will be very grateful and will look into it. Thank you for watching my vanbuild, I can't wait to reveal the final thing, it's pretty much done now, I just need to do the backlog of editing and get these videos out :p I hope you're well and happy, sending love to you both, Matty

[@PeakyBlinder]

You shoukd try drill tip screws with a 8mm head then use a star washer under your flat washer.

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Good tip, thank you. I really aught to get some star washers!

[@TofilWorldsRoads]

Do not use an open flame near batteries - it can explode

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

I did mention that 👍

[@asaandthemarchharepart2903]

Evening Matty. Hope you're feeling a lot better now. Roll on New Adventures in 2023. Brilliant video. Sadly I'm not good with electrics even with all the advice. Let someone else help. Hope you had a fabulous time with friends over Xmas. Had a wonderful time exploring your neck of the woods. Had a fabulous time visiting the places you sent me. D&G is awesome and can't wait to be back in the spring. Take Care Mate. Keep Loving the Adventure. Fabulous to Follow and Learn From 💚

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

I am feeling better now, thanks mate. Was ill for nine days in total :/ I can understand that, electrics aren't for everyone. So glad you loved Dumfries and Galloway! Hope to meet up next time, not sure where I will be of course haha! Stay safe mate 💚

[@asaandthemarchharepart2903]

@@TheWoodlandNomad Take Care Matty 💚

[@livingthedreambuildingthedream]

Absolutely amazing video I am doing a cheap build to start with so I have gone with the slit charger and will upgrade as and when needed.

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Thank you so much! They're great value for money for what they do, and if you can get your house batteries closer to the starter battery for shorter cables then even better ☺

[@andysutils]

Very well detailed video.

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Thank you mate, I hope you found it useful! 👍

[@Window-cleaning-london]

Hi just got my one fitted ans when the van is off the red light is staying on how do I fix this problem

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

First check it's definitely wired right, I.e you haven't got the van and leisure battery connections the wrong way around. Then check the voltage going into the split charge relay from your van's battery, it should be less than 13v when the van is off and therefore split charge shouldn't engage and red light should be off.

[@Rhysowen5418]

Good idea with the bus bars, will the positive be able to handle the current from a split charge?

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

So, you'll see in my next video that I'm changing things a little. In short, yes the bus bar would carry the split charge current, the total for the bar is 150amp, so as long as the entire system was under this amperage it'd be fine. However I changed to a battery to battery charger and I wired that straight to the batteries, I could have taken it to the bus bars but with the battery having so few connections and the cost of the heavy guage cables I took it to the batteries. Any more questions just ask, I'm not trained but I've learned as much as I can 👍

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

I can't recommend bus bars enough, that and a 12v multi fuse box wired from that 🙏

[@Rhysowen5418]

@@TheWoodlandNomad surely I could just wire the SCR straight to the battery, and the bus bars could house my 12v fuse panel, inverter etc

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Absolutely. The rule of thumb, so I've read, is to have less than 3 or 4 connections to any one battery terminal. So I'm using those connections for the high power devices (DC-DC charger and invertor). The bus bars will carry my fuse box, switch panel etc.

[@Rhysowen5418]

@@TheWoodlandNomad exactly what I was thinking 😁

[@CsPri3st]

no lead acid batterys dont explode

[@johnwilson6298]

You must be joking!!! When a battery is charging, hydrogen gas is evolved, which is highly explosive. This applies to wet cell types.

[@CsPri3st]

@@johnwilson6298 throw one in fire and see it wont explode

[@johnwilson6298]

I stand by my statement. In my career, i have witnessed 3 battery explosions. If you still don't believe me , Google the subject or check on YT

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

From what I've heard lead acid does but AGM batteries recommbine the gasses when charging instead of releasing so therefore shouldn't combust near a flame. Putting any battery on a fire will result in a bad time 😅

[@Rhysowen5418]

Class vid!

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Thank you Rhys!

[@SimonWatson-nx1kt]

Can you use a vsr to power auxillary lights etc?

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

They don't power anything as such, just allow the current through if a certain voltage is detected on in the input cable.

[@NoeleenGrima]

OH MY GOSH! That was freaking wild…… what a rollercoaster of emotions. This is how it went -> 😊😊😀😀😁😁😂😂🤣🤣🤔🤔🫢🫢😬😬😳😳😯😯😦😦😮😮😨😨🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@TheWoodlandNomad]

Haha thank you for the visual feedback, hope it wasn't too stressful to watch 😅 ♥