Solar and regen charging ?!
- Thread starter Floor Fit
- Start date
It clearly isn't a factory installed battery as it is appears to be an Xplorer 110 AGM. I don't know where the vent pipe has been attached because this battery has no vent point! The other point to be made here is that those CBE gas detectors are a bit iffy.
I have found that even a temperature gradient can cause an alarm on them. Imagine a scenario, warm air around the front area of the cab. Cold air at the back of the van (denser), braking causes colder air to move forwards, alarm goes off.
The amount of gas (if any) being released during regen would not be enough to cause any kind of problem, I wouldn't worry about it.
I have found that even a temperature gradient can cause an alarm on them. Imagine a scenario, warm air around the front area of the cab. Cold air at the back of the van (denser), braking causes colder air to move forwards, alarm goes off.
The amount of gas (if any) being released during regen would not be enough to cause any kind of problem, I wouldn't worry about it.
Very possible.
I'd rather investigate than ignore a gas alarm.. If they were not fit for purpose then they would not be fitted by converters etc... The OEM kit CLEARLY lists on the parts guide a vent tube, and this is with the factory fitted AGM.. But that's resurrecting an old thread and argument.. Not needed, as the OP is a pretty savvy chap by his posts, just caught out by the bcm relay, like a lot of people..
I've given my take on things and reasons, and not about to get into an unnecessary pissing contest again. The advice still stands, fit a DC to DC charger in place of the bcm controlled setup...
I've given my take on things and reasons, and not about to get into an unnecessary pissing contest again. The advice still stands, fit a DC to DC charger in place of the bcm controlled setup...
One way to prove or disprove this, would be to hook the gas detector into a separate 12volt battery, not connected to the vehicle, leaving everything else as is.. And take it for a run.. But I'd still fit a DC to DC smart charge system in place of the bcm relay affair.. But that's just me..
The Aux charging wiring is factory fit but as Martyn has pointed out the battery is an Xplorer 110 AGM, i did pull a cap off from one side ( one on each side ) and put the vent hose in .. must not be doing anything, the battery didn't say it needed to be vented i just did it anyway. The gas alarm is one of 2 - this one being the low level one, both are connected to the same battery so both having the same power fluctuation, the alarm has gone off one other time when i had the mains charger and solar on ( forgot it was on 
)
This is a new system as i only finished the van 2 weeks ago and this is the only glitch, it is tbh my first dealings with a smart charge alternator, so my understanding was that its overcharging ? My battery ( aux only ) is always over 80% even with the fridge left on permanently . I will say that the CBE gas detectors are ultra sensitive, if i spray a wif of deodorant spray in the morning they go mad even if im in the awning (with the door open)
)This is a new system as i only finished the van 2 weeks ago and this is the only glitch, it is tbh my first dealings with a smart charge alternator, so my understanding was that its overcharging ? My battery ( aux only ) is always over 80% even with the fridge left on permanently . I will say that the CBE gas detectors are ultra sensitive, if i spray a wif of deodorant spray in the morning they go mad even if im in the awning (with the door open)
Gah, I wish I hadn't read this thread! I was all set to go and buy an mppt regulator for my solar panel install (with factory AGM leisure battery).
Ideally, I'd want a DC-DC charger with mppt input but it's problematic as the Ring unit won't fit under the passenger seat (and it doesn't trickle charge the vehicle battery like I want) and the CTEK unit can't handle the voltage from a large solar panel.
Ideally, I'd want a DC-DC charger with mppt input but it's problematic as the Ring unit won't fit under the passenger seat (and it doesn't trickle charge the vehicle battery like I want) and the CTEK unit can't handle the voltage from a large solar panel.
I know .. sadly the Ring unit is too big for my set up .. when do you have the EL1230 back in stock @travelvolts ?
Actually, I could have this situation with the actual starter battery. I was planning to have my solar panel trickle charge the vehicle battery in addition to charging the leisure battery.
Given this, we could be starting most journeys with the vehicle battery at 100%. Is there any danger of the alternator then harming the starter battery as the voltage rises under regenerative braking?
Given this, we could be starting most journeys with the vehicle battery at 100%. Is there any danger of the alternator then harming the starter battery as the voltage rises under regenerative braking?
My system charges the starter battery but only after the Aux battery is brimmed, and only a very small amount , it generally stays at 12.6v where as the aux is 13.2 , I've not had it over charge yet . The problem is the solar is constant, i would switch it off but i dont think they like having switches on the supply side .
It is not advisable to charge the vehicle battery in this way (why would you need to?). This battery is monitored by the engine ECU and if you charge it by other methods than the alternator you could end up with the vehicle overcharging it.
Ah, thanks for the info, that's rather annoying. So does this mean that the MPPT controllers (and CTEK D250SA) with trickle charge for the starter battery are just a bad idea? I don't think these units in isolation would harm the battery - the whole point of them is to appropriately charge batteries and they wouldn't be charging whilst the alternator is actually active. Of course, the vehicle would still be starting journeys at close to 100% charge but it seems a bit strange that the vehicle alternator will blindly harm the vehicle battery without any kind of measurement but given how dumb the VW split charge system is, I wouldn't be entirely surprised! Presumably you get the same effect if you (for some reason!) mains charged your vehicle battery every night?
I wanted to trickle charge the vehicle battery simply to prevent any nasty surprises when we've been camping in the same place for a week. Soft closing doors, entry lights, kids messing around with the radio, air suspension levelling, will all conspire to slowly run the vehicle battery down and I wanted to be safe.
So does the canbus recognize the aux battery as being separate ... i was under the impression it charges it at the same rate as the starter regardless of remaining capacity ??
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That is correct
Wednesday
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