wieczor25

iTrader: (8)

Hi all
I've bought a solar power battery charger for my car, and i would like to wire it in permanently.
Now, my chargers manual says it must be unplugged whilst the car is running, so I'm thinking i could use a relay to switch the charger off, when the car starts.
Here's the "but" - how do you connect the relay so its got a closed circuit when the car is switched off, and open circuit with the car on ?
My car got a amp and subwoofer in the boot, so my plan is to use the wiring from the amp to charge battery, and a "remote" lead from the amp to activate the relay.
Would that work ?
which type of relay would i need
relay http://www.maplin.co.uk/40a-spno-and...ve-relay-37526

charger http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powere...charger-223251

Infected by sti

iTrader: (6)

If you use the ignition switch, it has a live when switched off and it goes dead when switched on if its what I'm imagining you want to do bud.

wieczor25

iTrader: (8)

lol, don't confuse me Craig
I need someone to tell me how to wire up the relay, its got 4 pins:
30
87
85
86
I sort of know how to connect it up to close circuit when the ignition is on, but i need it to work other way round, so that it will disconnect the charger when i start the car if that makes sense

Infected by sti

iTrader: (6)

Take the live feed from the switched live on the ignition switch, when the car is switched off with the key out the terminal becomes live, as soon as you put the key in to ignition and turn on, the power shuts off, so if you get a multimeter and check the terminals on the back of the ignition switch it will show up which one it is, people use the same mod to put fake flashing LEDs off an alarm, when the car is switched off they light up and flash but as soon as the keys go in to ignition it powers down, so if you only need to find 1 wire that needs to switch between lives then use the ignition switch bud, it should do the job nicely, its only there to trigger the charger so to speak so is not going to be drawing massive amounts of current.

Are you having problems with the battery then? It was relatively new when I had the car from Simon, believe it was under a year old ( would have to check that with him ) or are you purely doing it for precaution? You do know you can set the Clifford up to start the car when it gets below a certain voltage thresh hold? Not everybody like the idea but its an option

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Best way is to ditch that relay, which is a standard on/off, and swap it for a changeover relay.

You can then wire it to be closed when the ignition is OFF, opening and stopping the circuit when ignition is OFF.

The 5-blade changeover on this page will do that job: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.e...ays/relays.php

Wired up so that:
85 to ign live,
86 to earth
30 to charger
87a to circuit you want charge to go into,
87 left unused.

wieczor25

iTrader: (8)

@Craig
Where is the ignition switch ?? , yes, i got a problem with battery going flat if i leave it for two nights , sometimes even after one night. there is a 0.24A drain on the battery, i think its the trackers fault, but don't have time to look for it at the moment.


@Alcazar
thank you for your input , i understand most of you said, other than 87a pin.
the way i see it:

85 - remote (wake up) cable from amp
86 - earth ( - )
30 - positive cable from the charger
87a - straight to battery ( + )
87 - empty

Is that correct ? also, what to do with a negative cable from the charger ? am i right thinking it should go straight to negative ( - ) on the battery ?

I should've paid more attention at the English lessons

wieczor25

iTrader: (8)

would this relay work ?
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_255229

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Yes, that's fine, relay earth only needs a body earth, it USES very little current.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Yes.

Infected by sti

iTrader: (6)

That's odd with the battery i can honesty say I never had a problem with it, I know Simon did but that's when it had a new battery, I even went on holidays for a week and it still started so perhaps its this colder weather killing it, check through the receipts bud to see if there is one there for the battery as it may be under warranty so worth a look

With the ignition switch its under the cowlings, it is directly on the rear of the ignition barel where the key goes in, when the key turns it engages what ever pin is in that position to match the key, it has a wiring loom coming from it with a plug on the end of it, i had a quick google and found this image if it helps

wieczor25

iTrader: (8)

@Alcazar, thanks for confirming, I've just ordered the relay.

@Craig, thanks for the diagram, I'll try using my relay first,to save routing the cables trough the car, and if that doesn't work, I'll do it your way
I think I got the receipt for the battery, I've been doing school runs only for few days so i guess it didn't help either
Will report back on Wednesday.


Thank you both for helping out !!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Let us know any outcome.

What's your mother tongue then, if not English?

wieczor25

iTrader: (8)

Polish

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Ah.
Had a very good mate at uni name of Czapiewski. He used to love spelling it fast for coppers when we were stopped. they never bothered writing it down, LOL

wieczor25

iTrader: (8)

Bit of an update:

I've been trying to find the cause of the drain today.
I started by connecting my amp meter in line ,and pulling the fuses under the bonnet.
When i pulled the Clock/Room(15A) fuse the drain disappeared !!

I made sure no lights are on, and i pulled out the bulb from the boot but that didn't solve the problem.
What else should i check ?

Car got a Clifford 950 alarm with intellistart and proximity sensors

Clifford LED is flashing with the fuse(Clock/Room) OUT

Sometimes in the past the alarm would sound 3 chirps -which indicate either low battery, or open boot/bonnet

Tracker disconnected

Subwoofer disconnected