Battery Drain - Redarc Support

Submitted: Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 13:25
ThreadID: 96963 Views:2980 Replies:2 FollowUps:7
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Hi,
In relation to my last post, the battery drain is gone. My lecko found that the Redarc could have been the culprit as it was taking a while to turn off after stopping the truck.

Emailed Redarc, who RANG me an hour after the email was sent and walked me through the diagnosis, even waiting until I could get the bonnet open.

So, my Redarc is an older model and does take a bit longer to complete its shutdown but it is working properly.

What a really pleasant result from a casual enquiry. One of the country's better organisations and with great products.
I will certainly use them again.

Bill
Bill B

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Reply By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 13:31

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 13:31
Yes Bill, Redarc has good products with great after-sales service and technical assistance.

As with others, their battery isolators remain energised until the surface charge of the cranking battery has decayed to the dropout voltage. Nothing wrong with that.

Cheers
Allan

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AnswerID: 491239

Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 16:25

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 16:25
Gday Allan,
Problem with the older Redarcs were that it was a bit more than surface charge - they'd cut out when the cranking battery hit 12.5V. A few years ago, they were modified to cut out at 12.7 which is more sensible.
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FollowupID: 766725

Follow Up By: Honky - Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 16:53

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 16:53
How much power would the little red light use and internal switch use?

Honky
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FollowupID: 766731

Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 16:57

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 16:57
That internal switch is a solenoid and uses about 0.6A from memory.
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FollowupID: 766733

Follow Up By: Member - Leigh (Vic) - Friday, Jul 20, 2012 at 12:33

Friday, Jul 20, 2012 at 12:33
I have one of the older units that always seemed to stay engaged for about a half hour after switching the vehicle off. I solved this problem by putting a dash switch to the earth of the solenoid and so I can switch it on and off when I choose. When I turn off the vehicle I just flick the switch on-off-on and it's ready for when I start up again. Works fo me
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FollowupID: 766772

Reply By: Drew - Karratha - Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 20:26

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 20:26
I have a Redarc - think it is great - but beware - you can still end up with flat batterys...
I have a 100 series landcruiser with the factory 2 x starting batterys, and added a third, controlled by the Redarc, to run the fridge. The third dropped a cell, which caused the Redarc to continually switch on and off as the alternator ran... Over a couple of days the car took longer to start, until it wouldnt start at all. Turns out the battery with the dropped cell would try to equalise the other 2 as soon as the Redarc 'clicked on'- not allowing the 2 starting batterys to charge.... I replaced the 3rd battery, put all 3 on charge overnight, and now it is all good as new again
So, if you have a dual or triple battery set up and notice the controller constantly clicking on and off, check for a dropped cell - or if the car takes a couple of extra turns before it fires, do the same...
Drew
AnswerID: 491259

Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 22:28

Thursday, Jul 19, 2012 at 22:28
I assume you have a voltmeter on the dashboard - if this is so, did it not show when the alternator voltage was dragged down by the dud battery?
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Follow Up By: Drew - Karratha - Friday, Jul 20, 2012 at 12:04

Friday, Jul 20, 2012 at 12:04
I only noticed the voltmeter very slightly flicking up and down as the Redarc clicked in and out - that is what made me finally click as to what was happening... The whole thing happened over a couple of days - so I hadnt had my eye on the voltmeter...
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Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Friday, Jul 20, 2012 at 12:14

Friday, Jul 20, 2012 at 12:14
Thanks for the info Drew.
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