Hi all, in the middle of France and the fuse on the split charge relay has blown twice. We are running the cheap blue option from cool air. We are only running the fridge off it, and the fuse for the fridge is fine. The fuse supplied with the kit is a 15 amp and was wondering if this is right? What should we do? It's not causing too much grief but I would like to have it sorted in my head ready to fix. PSg
sounds too small to me but unfamiliar with the relay you have. Mine isnt fused at all! Is the fuse on the feed to the battery (if so its too small) or on the output from the battery leading to your accessories.
Is the relay connected to the battery? or straight from source? If from source could be surging try from battery. An avereage fridge should only pull between 8 and 10 amps so its adiqutely fused. Is the cable the right thickness, could be a fault or split and shorting.
Is it on hookup with a charger or when you start the engine after the battery has run down? I suspect the latter as you would not normally have the charger running through the relay, if the battery gets low I can imagine that the battery will pull more than 15A when you start the engine and drive off depending on what amp hour rating the leisure battery is, probably 80Ah or more will draw more than 15A during initial charging then drop off to a lower charge.
This is the relay we have, http://www.coolairvw.co.uk/Item/NA/AC998TW40ALT/Split_Charge_Relay.html It is just set up to charge the leisure battery when the engine is running. It is a simple set up. We have a dues box for appliances, and this has adequate fuses in. They are unaffected. The main fuse in the relay blows, and therefore we cannot charge the leisure batt at all. Our battery is only a 40 Ah just in case we get stuck for a. It without electric really. Psg
Bigrich! What amp rating is your relay and wire? The item number including the letter/numbers 40A might suggest it is a 40A relay but cant say for sure. If it is 40A then the wire supplied with it should be rated for 40A and thus you could use up to a 40A fuse.
I used some 240 v blue cable to connect most of it up as the cables supplied were not stiff enough to get up my grommet. so hopefully I could use a 30 at least? P
This I think is the same http://www.justkampers.com/shop/dual-charging-kit-for-all-vw-models-j10520.html This says if the item is 15 amps draw from the battery then upgrade, but I am looking at the charging ampage not the draw so I guess I will have to ring big rich if he doesn't show his face on this thread magically. Psg
Sorry to say those kits are rubbish and not up to the job 15amp for a split charge it is going to blow with a flat battery you want bottom of the first table R30AF http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/relays/relays.php
^^ the man knows what he is talking about. I got one of those intelligent relay jobbys. More money but worth it. Those cheap ones are cheap for a reason.
Where have you picked up the signal for your relay, if its from the coil or anything that goes live with the ignition it will blow as the main batt will pull on the Aux batt to turn the starter if it is low, pick it up from the alternator feed to the gen light on your dash.so as to avoid the starting cycle.
I tried 10A fuses in mine yesterday (just for you Phil) and one blew. Put the 30A back and it's fine again. Most diagrams show 30A fuses, one near each battery and a 5A in the trigger from the blue wire.
I have the same blue relay. I found that when the battery wasn't charging properly that the fuse blew. I updated the fuse to a 20 and that blew too. Ended up being the alternator only throwing out 12.4 volts. T
I guess if I run the alternator cable through a fuse, then I will be able to isolate the problem a bit more, what amp fuse should I put on the alternator cable? Can't find any info on alternator voltages Nywhere for my bus. Cheers Good effort zed, I will take a closer look and maybe try a 20v fuse. P
