Battery cut out device

I think Engel and Waeco have one

I baught one from Derek Bester fro ARB. He advertises on this forum

Try Jaycar part No MS6120. Off the shelf part.

11.2v cutout. 10 amp rating though

cigerette socket connection, which I cut off mine to wire into the plug that feeds the connection to the fridge.

$19.95

Listed under batteries/battery tester on their web page catalogue.

Derek at ABR also sells something very similar.

Mine is from a solar dealer,11v6 cutout@20A. good unit,cant remember where i got it from but it was about 10 years ago.i will have a look at its brand tomorrow,google some solar dealers and see if you can locate one. cheers Paul

Barry,

Projecta make one. About $30 from Kmart, Repco, etc.

ODP500 Battery Discharge Protector

"I never leave home without it"

Bill.

ENGLE HAVE THEM IN TWO VOLTAGES,10.4 AND 11.4 VOLTS.I HAD MINE FITTED BY CENTRAL 4X4,PERTH. A RELAY IS FITTED INTO THE HARD WIRING LOOM,IT WILL SHUT DOWN POWER FROM 2nd BATTARY SO YOU STILL HAVE POWER IF MAIN BATT IS LOW.

I have one fitted in the wiring to my fridge and have always wondered if 11.2 volts left in the starter battery really is enough to start a car? has anyone actually tested one?

Kc

Simple disconnect systems are available.





As mentioned the battery will take time to recover and these devices will only reconnect the load when the battery reaches the cut in voltage of approx 12.5V.

When the disconnect takes place under load the battery should be at approx 30% based on an average load with a compressor fridge or some lighting.

There is a Redarc one in my Karavan to protect the batteries. Thing is that such things take about .6amp to keep the solenoid open. It wiill then close when the voltage drops. A bit to learn about with all those sorts of things and the way they work.

redarc smart solenoid

You mention the Jaycar kits. I've made up a bunch of these - mostly the older style one which uses a small 10A relay (I think you can still get the relay kits at DSE). The downside is that they use 30 milliamps of current continuously, so if your vehicle sits unused for say a week or two, you'll be running the battery down. So I only had it installed when the fridge was running. They also had a nice override switch, so you could restart it at less than 12.5V. The voltage cutout is variable, just by adjusting a variable resistor. The kit was easy to build, takes about an hour.

Jaycar now use a kit that uses transistors instead of the relay. This means it only uses about 8 milliamps. To vary the cutout, you have to install resistors of different values. If you raise the cutout voltage, you also raise the voltage at which it kicks back in. I made one up, which worked for a couple of years, but died recently.

My question is, why would you buy a kit for $30, when you can buy a nice one like Derek's for the same money.

There are a heap more out there now. I personally don't bother any more. I've increased my battery capacity, and I monitor voltage with a digital voltmeter to 2 decimal places. I'm in the habit of checking the voltmeter morning and night, and I don't let any of my batteries go below 12.0V. The voltage does swing around a bit (goes down when the fridge cycles), but once you get to know what the voltage means in your vehicle and with your accessories, then its a very useful monitor.

Sure,If you are confident enough, go ahead and get a kit. If not, buy a finished unit. Unless you are a fanatic and check your voltages every hour or so, I suggest a cutout system as an asset to your battery/van system. Bottom line. Can it hurt?