Failed charging unit...

Hi,
     I've lost a terminal from the charging splitter on my camper.  It's a '94 and the unit is pretty basic: just a diode pair with heatsink.
 There are better alternatives available now. Either drop-in replacements with Schottky diodes or FET based ones... or I could change to a split charge relay (vsr?).

Anyone any advice?  I'm thinking the Schottky ones look sensibly priced and will be an improvement on the old setup but would I notice the difference if I spent the extra for FETs? A voltage sensitive split charge relay looks like a decent alternative but I'd prefer to have a solid state one than electromechanical... Are they available?  Expensive?

Thanks!

Cheers,
             W.

I think the voltage sensing charge relais are cheaper, and they don't have the voltage drop-off.
And I think they will last quite long as well. I'm also using a relais.
I don't think you would find such a thing in solid state, it would also make it expensive, but I could be wrong.

Hi,
   Thanks for the advice, Hiace4wd. I'm keen to stick with a solid state unit, though, rather than introduce something electromechanical. Would be nice to improve on the old diode-pack, though.

While researching, and trying to find a price for a solid state split charge relay, I came across a FET based charge splitter on eBay for sensible money. It's one of these:

https://www.victronenergy.com/battery-isolators-and-combiners/argo-fet-battery-isolators

...and looks like it should do what I want.

Will feed back in a while, once it's in and working.

Cheers,
         W.

Ok that sounds good. I have a Victron Solar charger and I think the Victron products are really nice.

That solution is still not as cheap as a voltage detection charge relay, but I guess the price is reasonable for what you get. And almost no voltage loss so that's good.

I just bought a simple 200A relay for 10 euro that I need to hook up automatically (to alternator). I use it manually now, and it works quite well for such a cheap solution. But most of the time I don't use it, because I have a huge 175W solar panel. That always keeps the battery full (at least in holiday time) even though I have a fridge with small freezer on board.

Hi spanner do u have a ecu diagram for a 1996 hiace camper 1kzte it's a early one with a single 26 pin plug many thanks paul