[mark little]

Hi I have a 2004 v10
Will it be a problem with the electric system if I run a charge cable from my rear battery to the battery's in my caravan though a ctek smart charger.

 

[hedditch]

That will work perfectly. The CTek will ensure the Caravan Battery gets at least 13.5 volts to allow charging, and it has a voltage dependent switch which will shut it off when the alternator stop charging. This is exactly what I have put in my Caravan and have never had a flat starting battery (single battery system). The only advice is to ensure you have a properly rated fuse or circuit breaker on your positive line from the battery to prevent a fire.

Are you running the CTek in the caravan rather than in the car, as they work best when they are closest to the target battery.

Stuart...

 

[Black Grouse]

That will work perfectly. The CTek will ensure the Caravan Battery gets at least 13.5 volts to allow charging, and it has a voltage dependent switch which will shut it off when the alternator stop charging. This is exactly what I have put in my Caravan and have never had a flat starting battery (single battery system). The only advice is to ensure you have a properly rated fuse or circuit breaker on your positive line from the battery to prevent a fire.

Are you running the CTek in the caravan rather than in the car, as they work best when they are closest to the target battery.

Stuart...

Which model # of CTEK are you referring to - I have a mains CTEK charger which is brilliant but under tow have to rely on alternator voltage to charge the caravan battery and absorption fridge - and learnt years ago to over-specify the wiring to minimise voltage drop - if there's a CTEK that'll operate 12v-12v nominals, that sounds a much better way.

 

[JimJ]

Ideally it should be a Ctek D250S Dual which is a DC-DC charger that takes input from the alternator or solar panels.

 

[mark little]

Thank you all I'll go ahead and wire it up with a ctec D250S with a circuit breaker 15 a

 

[hedditch]

Which model # of CTEK are you referring to - I have a mains CTEK charger which is brilliant but under tow have to rely on alternator voltage to charge the caravan battery and absorption fridge - and learnt years ago to over-specify the wiring to minimise voltage drop - if there's a CTEK that'll operate 12v-12v nominals, that sounds a much better way.

As already stated it is the D250S

http://www.ctek.com/au/en/chargers/D250S DUAL

Stuart..

 

[hedditch]

Thank you all I'll go ahead and wire it up with a ctec D250S with a circuit breaker 15 a

Mark, check the current draw on the D250S, as I originally had a 15 amp fuse and kept blowing them, and had to move up to 30 Amp. Mind you my cable is rated at 80 amp so it isn't an issue. I think 15 amp may be a little light for remote battery charging.

Stuart...

 

[mark little]

Thanks Hedditch I well up it to 30 amp , I have 2x 500 AH battery's no panels yet but will later on. My van runs 2 fridgers well fridge and sep freezer that run though a inverter. At this time I don't intened on doing a lot of free camping so will mainly be plunged in to 240.

 

[mark little]

Thanks Stuart I will up it to 30amps and cable too . I will be charging 2x 500ah batterys that run though a inverter that runs 2 fridgers lights and about it. Don't plan a lot of free camping and don't have any panels yet. Later date.

 

[mark little]

Pfff sorry did not think I sent the first one

 

[seafarer28]

S**t, 2x500aH batteries........you might need to connect to the Snowy Hydro System

 

[Black Grouse]

As already stated it is the D250S

D250S DUAL

Stuart..

Thanks - have looked at the price in UKP, I give this a miss!

 

[mark little]

Ha ha might go to the snowys for a holiday though��
Yer a bit pricy here around $300-350 oz for d250s.

 

[mark little]

Hey seafarer you being a touareg mechanic how about 4 weeks so far for a alternator swap on my v10 and still not back , saying alternator not available any more and now its a replacement with $600 worth of mounting brakets. Grrrrrrrr

 

[mark little]

My mistake the van battery's are not 500 ah there 100 ah sorry.

 

[seafarer28]

Hey seafarer you being a touareg mechanic how about 4 weeks so far for a alternator swap on my v10 and still not back , saying alternator not available any more and now its a replacement with $600 worth of mounting brakets. Grrrrrrrr

Hey mark,

The "Touareg Mechanic" is a title that the Club Touareg administration award by some criteria that no one seems to knows, probably something to do with length of time on Ct and number of posts.......nothing to do with being a mechanic in actual terms so will leave your statement about the alternator swap to someone knowledgeable with V10's to answer.

Re my tongue in cheek comment about your 2x 500Ah batteries was my attempt to draw attention to the amount of power required to keep them charged, I see you subsequently changed the battery capacities to 2x100Ah which is closer to the norm.

If you are thinking of going to solar charging my thoughts are that you don't go to the expense of adding solar panels to the roof of your van as they will not give you most bang for your buck as normally you would park your van under some shade so the roof panels will not be very efficient nor will generate optimum power because of being in partial shade and the panels will not be ideally aligned with the sun.

My suggestion is that you invest in a couple of 120w or 160w high efficiency (19+%) folding panels with an appropriate MPPT controller which should bring in around 10+Ah each which would be enough to charge your batteries and will work better for you that roof mounted panels of the same size.

I have 3x125W panels on my van roof but still carry 2x80W and 1x120W portables to keep my 2x150Ah AGM batteries charged as my van is all 12V except for cooking.


TonyB

 

[noobytoogy]

Hey seafarer you being a touareg mechanic how about 4 weeks so far for a alternator swap on my v10 and still not back , saying alternator not available any more and now its a replacement with $600 worth of mounting brakets. Grrrrrrrr

Can't you get your existing generator reconditioned?

[And no, I am not a Guru!!]

 

[compu_85]

I'd have to look at the parts catalog again, but I recall there being a Hitachi and Bosch alternator, and that the Hitachi is discontinued with no direct replacement.

-J

 

[mark little]

Tony B; i will take your info on board , you are right you do try to park under trees ...didn,t realy think of that.

Noobytoogy; yer well if i knew it would take this long i would of got it recoed , i was thinking do it once with new and not do it again.. well not for a long time.

Compu; i dont know what brand it is only that its water cooled. the car is in orange 230km from me so cant look but prob the Hitachi id say...

Any was was told today that it will be fixed TOMORROW Thursday but not holding my breath.

 

[mark little]

Hi if anyone is interested .. Payed $3,490 !!! on friday travelled 230km picked my car up drove it around the corner. put my foot down , engine flat as a tack in grunt and missing under load around 3 g..
So its back to them again 6 weeks for a ######## alternator what a joke . they just said OK its knock off time here's the keys of the lone car we will look at it again Monday . you won't have to come and get it we will deliver it for you. WHEN. Who knows.