dc - dc ctek D250s Dual
Submitted: Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 11:26
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kerbarb9
I had a D250s Dual put into my Landcruiser to charge an auxiliary battery and also to increase the charge into my caravan. I also bought a camper trailer that had a ctek dc-dc charger in it. Before collecting the trailer I checked that having the car ctek charger which also supplied charge to the trailer charger was not going to cause a problem. I was told it was absolutely fine. I now have noticed that the Ctek in the car is receiving charge from the alternator but is not supplying charge back to the trailer. Can anyone with knowledge of these systems tell me,
1. Was my
information correct that the 2 dc-dc chargers could work in unison to each other.
2. Is there a built in fuse in the d250s dual that I can
check because I can not see it.
3. If the D250s is showing the light for the alternator operating and no charge is being given off, does this mean the charge is now useless.
Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 13:24
Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 13:24
Two together will not work.
You need to separate the chargers so that only one is in each circuit.
With two chargers in the same circuit, the voltage output of the first charger will drop below the 13.1v minimum input voltage required once the battery connected to it has neared a full charge and therefore the second charger would not receive the minimum voltage of 13.1v to open the built-in isolator.
I installed a D250S in my camper van to provide a multi-stage charging process to the two 100Ah batteries in the van.
I subsequently added another D250S to my auxiliary battery in the vehicle to provide a better charging process to this battery. I wasn't happy with the VSR previously controlling this circuit. The battery was not receiving a 100% charge rate.
The way I have wired it up is to have one cable running from the starting battery to
the tub area of my dual cab and terminating with an Anderson connector.
From this I run two circuits.
One to the D250S connected to the auxiliary battery in
the tub.
A second circuit by way of a "patch lead" runs out the back of my tailgate and connects to the camper van's input cable. The other end terminates at the second D250S in the van.
In essence, I have two "separate" circuits, each with its own dc-dc charger to maintain the charging process of the battery bank connected to each and fed from the primary starting battery which in turn is isolated from each remote battery bank by the dc chargers.
Each charger receives its input from the starting battery, once a voltage exceeding 13.1v is detected and provides a multi-stage charging process to the batteries connected to it.
Another option is to use a Smartpass in conjunction with a dc charger but because you already have two D250S chargers, just ensure each is separated from each other and all will be
well.
AnswerID:
607580
Follow Up By: AlbyNSW - Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 19:02
Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 19:02
Agree with Bill
There is nothing wrong with having the two but one cannot feed the other, they must be wired up individually
FollowupID:
877284
Follow Up By: gbc - Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 22:37
Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 22:37
Incorrect. My system happily has the projecta dc charger in the trailer slaving off the battery in the car which is maintained by a ctec 250. The reality is they both monitor voltage over time before coming on line rather than appearing to behave like a vsr which would cut in and out. The end result being the ctec will engage and charge the single battery in the ute and the projecta will come on line some time later (couple of minutes usually) once it is happy that it can be fed from the ute battery. The trailer is a 3 battery 300+ A.H. system. Both also have separate solar systems feeding them. The projecta won't back charge the car, but the ctec will back charge the start battery off the panel whenever the deep cycler is full. Still got the original ford
ranger battery after 100 000km to prove it works too - they are notorious for not going too
well.
FollowupID:
877293
Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 23:42
Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 23:42
gbc,
You have a different setup in that you have one D250S and one Projecta dc charger.
I am not familiar with the Projecta but it must be a "dumb" unit that does not sense a minimum input voltage or have an isolator in the circuit between it and the Ctek upstream.
I would also question the ability for the Ctek, which I assume you have connected to the car's auxiliary battery to back charge the starter.
Ctek produce a Smartpass unit which when coupled to a D250S will allow what you say is happening in your case.
I find this hard to believe. My D250S is connected to an auxiliary battery in the rear of my vehicle and it will not provide a reverse charge back to the starter battery. You are in fact saying there is no need for Ctek to produce another device to enable back charging to the primary battery???
Sorry mate, I don't believe you.
FollowupID:
877295
Follow Up By: gbc - Monday, Jan 16, 2017 at 06:23
Monday, Jan 16, 2017 at 06:23
You're just showing ignorance now. You didn't read the manual that came with your machine yet you feel free to call me out?
Ctec manual
And as for 'the projecta must be a dumb unit?' Are you kidding me? You are dispensing advice on a guess and not even an educated one.
FollowupID:
877299
Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Monday, Jan 16, 2017 at 08:22
Monday, Jan 16, 2017 at 08:22
Ah! My apologies,
I re-read your statement and now understand you were referring to solar input from the vehicle mounted Ctek. I concede.
FollowupID:
877302
Reply By: Frank P (NSW) - Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 15:13
Sunday, Jan 15, 2017 at 15:13
The D250S is a charger, not a power supply, so the one in the car will not run the one in the trailer.
If I read Sand Man's post correctly, I have a system like him. Two circuits, one to power the system in the canopy and a separate one to power the trailer system via an Anderson on the towbar.
Schematic attached for info.
It looks complicated but it's not.
The aux battery is in the canopy in my ute.
The red and black busses are heavy so I can winch off both batteries or start off the aux if required.
When the crank battery comes up after engine start the Redarc VS12 module activates the 300A solenoid. This effectively switches on the heavy duty bus back to the canopy. It also switches on a feed to the Anderson on the towbar, which in turn powers a dc-dc charger in the trailer. That Anderson is not live when the engine is off and the vehicle unattended - something I prefer.
Back in the canopy the Ranox dc-dc charger gets powered up and looks after the aux battery.
When the bus is live (engine running) the relay in the canopy powers the fridge and a spare socket from the alternator system. When the engine is off the relay powers the fridge from the aux battery. I did it that way because I prefer the Ranox to be charging an unloaded battery (ie, not being influenced by an intermittent load as the fridge cycles. Not 100% necessary, but I did it because I could.)
The other stuff is self-explanatory - solar reg, a couple of cigar and Merit power outlets and an Anderson power outlet.
Cheers
Aux power system
AnswerID:
607584
Reply By: HKB Electronics - Monday, Jan 16, 2017 at 08:49
Monday, Jan 16, 2017 at 08:49
Ignoring the fact as to if it will work or not why would you want to?
The first charger can supply a maximum of 20A to the in car aux, if the batteries in the trailer are down the trailer charger will try to pull 20A + to charge the trailer batteries, ie you will get no charge to the in car battery till the current draw from the trailers DCDC drops below 20A.
Very inefficient setup, about the only advantage of doing it this way is that you will limit the draw from the cars alternator to around 30A or less if there is a need to.
AnswerID:
607614