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32KEV

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Having concerns on a 40amp centaur battery charger, I purchased this charger second hand to put in my vehicle, it is a 2008 model and I was told it was in working order, hooked it up and it doe's everything right, the thing I am concerned about is from when the charger is turned on and through to float mode, the two cooling fans continue running never stop even on 4 degree nights.

I took the load off the batteries so the charger would not start charging, but the fans still kept going, can anyone shed some light on this for me please.

 

32 KEV

 

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On 9/27/2017 at 2:26 PM, 32KEV said:

second hand to put in my vehicle

Hi 'Kev'

You say you put this in your vehicle.....I presume you mean van ???

You say you purchased this unit second hand....is it faulty?

My van is a 2007 ATV and Im on my third charger, 1st Centaur 2nd Zantrax (both were 40 amp) I have just upgraded to a 60amp Enerdrive....it is FANTASTIC!!!

So quiet, compared to the original two.....the originals were that noisey I would turn the power OFF (at the circuit breaker)  at night as the charger was only inches away from my head making it hard to sleep.

My understanding with fan operation is, the higher the load, the more heat is created, and fans will come on. Ambient temp of 4 degrees.....would have some bearing on fan op, buit I suspect original owner of your 'new' charger gave it the flick because it was annoying him also.

I would suggest a trip to a competent solar electrician.

Sorry I cant be of more help.....please let us know how you get on!

Cheers

Tony H.

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Kev,

We, like Tony, have a 2007 ATV  and am still on the original Centaur 40A charger. The fans should be thermeonically controlled but they are not, as soon as they are connected to power on come the fans. As Tony points out when the charger is mounted on the headboard of your bed the fan noise becomes intrusive. It does not bother my better half, she sleeps through it. The solution I came up with was to install two small switches on the side of the unit which switch the fans individually. I find that when on power for an hour or so I only need to pull 5 to 6 Amps from the charger and I can switch off the fans for the night. I always vent the boot with a chock which keeps the boot lid open 10 cm. It is that or disconnect from power for the night which also works well. I have 3 X 120 AHr batteries.

 

A danger on the above is that one could forget the fans and cook the charger when a full charge is required down the road. I am in the habit of always checking the switches as I connect to mains.

 

At the same time I installed two more small computer fans on the boot vents to blow hot air out. I have only used them a few times.

 

Grahame 

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Hi Grahame and Tony

 

We've had a 2004 ATV (our first caravan) for two years now so we're still novices.

 

Do you mind if I ask a related question?

 

I only occasionally switch my van to 240V, even when we're connected to 240V. 

 

The fridge detects and uses 240V when it's connected and, as far as I can tell, there's nothing else running on 12V that causes any significant battery drain/voltage drop that the solar panels don't replenish (unless we're in shade).

 

If we're in a shade, I'll switch the van to 240V to switch on the battery charger and keep everything topped up.

 

Am I doing something wrong? Should I always switch the van to 240V when we're connected to 240V?

 

In regard to charger fan noise, I think our charger is a CTEC unit but I'll check that for you tomorrow. Our charger is very quiet and I can only hear fan noise when I open and stick my head in the the drivers side wardrobe and listen very carefully.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

 

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Good Morning Mike

We have a 2007 Top Ender and when we got it new they told us that when travelling down the road always switch to 240 V then if you have left anything on like lights etc. they will be off and also the water pumps can not come on and pump your water out on to the road. The fridge runs only off 12 V and is wired direct to batteries and I think you will find a fuse under one of the battery box lids.

Happy Travels

Neville.

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Thank you all for your replies, it sounds like the fans run while the charger is on so I will have to live with that, yes I did put it in my vehicle to charge 2x 120ah AGM when on grid or gen power, happy travels.

 

32Kev

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