Starter battery trickle charging question

Snapster

Snapster

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I have a Poweroad Infinity sub zero leisure battery and lead acid starter battery
I also have a 100w solar panel with Victron 75/15 smart solar controller
With this set up, the starter battery will not be charged unless the engine is running. Or on hook up (which we rarely ever do)
So, I have a question, which solution would be better.
1. Change the Victron controller to one with dual output ( probably a Votronic unit)
2. Buy and fit an Ablemail AMT12-2 and keep the Victron controller.
The Votronic is available here in France, but I can’t find the Ablemail for sale locally, but, if that’s the better solution I’ll source one somehow.
 
I just have the votronic 250 from solar, but my mains charger works the leis batts, but I have a dash switch and a 200ah relay so all can be connected up.
 
If you have a Lithium Battery, then the only trickle charger/battery maintainer that works properly is the AMT as far as I am aware. The Battery Master and Sterling options are not suitable and the Votronic unit is not only not approppriate for Lithium but is a very expensive way to buy a diode and resistor in a plastic box.

This is the Votronic boxed and unboxed ....
voltronic.png


If you want to buy an Ablemail AMT, I can send to France, but there might be VAT and handling to pay (hasn't happened on anything I have sent to the Irish Republic of greater value, but the French might be akward with British post?
 
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Thanks w bus, i had an old diode box but I seen the light & ditched it when you posted on battery charging a few years back. (y)
 
SquirrellCook said:
Surly the load connection on the mppt can be used to hold the start battery up?
Click to expand...
it is potentially possible, but you cannot control or limit the current. It is a shame that Victron have not added a "battery maintainer" setting on the MPPTs with the Load connections - I am sure it would be simple enough if they wanted to.
 
Thanks all, I did enquire about the Votronic battery master but was told it wasn’t suitable for a lithium battery. I’m still considering the Votronic 250. Wildebus, I’ve had things shipped over from the U.K. before, it’s the carrier that charges ridiculous prices, but it might be worth thinking about as the charges shouldn’t be too high.
 
Snapster said:
Thanks all, I did enquire about the Votronic battery master but was told it wasn’t suitable for a lithium battery. I’m still considering the Votronic 250. Wildebus, I’ve had things shipped over from the U.K. before, it’s the carrier that charges ridiculous prices, but it might be worth thinking about as the charges shouldn’t be too high.
Click to expand...
Thats what i have, very good it is too.
vetronic.png
 
Snapster said:
Thanks all, I did enquire about the Votronic battery master but was told it wasn’t suitable for a lithium battery. I’m still considering the Votronic 250. Wildebus, I’ve had things shipped over from the U.K. before, it’s the carrier that charges ridiculous prices, but it might be worth thinking about as the charges shouldn’t be too high.
Click to expand...
Royal Mail to the EU for a Small Parcel is £7.45 (https://send.royalmail.com/send/youritem?country=FRA&weight=300&weightUnit=G)
I can't rememher the exact numbers but VAT and Handling is on a sliding scale and under £100 is around £10 if charged? I don't know as it is paid by the recipient when accepting the package.
For sure it was easier pre-Brexit as many companies just no longer ship. I have only sent a couple of things as it is a bit of a pain having to find the right codes for the customs declaration (I think a battery charger is the same technical code as a Nuclear Power Station, which is intriging :) )
 
trevskoda said:
I seen them on ebay in germany.
Click to expand...
the Votronic? it is a German Brand after all.

When I used to sell on eBay, I used to use the Global Shipping Program - where the seller covers the cost of sending to an address in the UK (which was an eBay shipping hub) and the seller paid as part of the item cost the international shipping and taxes. I wonder it that is still in place?
 
There are lots of sellers in the EU for Votronic, Amazon France seem to price them similar to good UK retailers.
 
Just after the new year we ordered some items from the UK that cost just over £100, after we had paid customs and handling to DPD, the total cost to us was over £145, which means the couriers handling charge was more than the EU vat.
Then again, we’ve ordered other things of a similar price delivered by other carriers and not paid any other charges.
Some carriers are making a lot of money out of this
 
Postal rates and documentation is still silly. How the rules are interpreted is still fluid. We just had to pay a courier £55 for import paperwork from Spain. You'd think that would be included in the £500 bill for Carriage. Still a big chunk of VAT to come. I'm sure in a couple of years it will settle down again.
 
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