BatteryBrain

[john milner]

I came across something called Battery Brain which may be of use to anyone concerned by batteries going flat due to parasitic load. Never heard of such a thing before and not cheap but if they work could be useful to someone.

http://www.batterybrain.co.uk/

I won't be getting one as I use a master switch six months of the year and take the battery on and off during the other six.

[Jonathan Kay]

Hadn't heard of it.

Battery Brain sends out a pulse every two seconds to the car battery that senses the voltage level. When the level falls below what is needed to start the engine, the patented microprocessor activates its single moving part (a solenoid) and isolates the battery from the electrical circuit to preserve the charge you will need to start the engine.

Theory sounds OK. But the first sentence is a bit weird.

Jonathan

[JonL]

It sounds almost very good. However rather than activating it's single moving part once it has detected the battery voltage level falls below what is needed to start the engine, maybe it should activate its single moving part just before! 

[Jonathan Kay]

:-)

Jonathan

[Mark w]

I like the look of this 

​http://www.ctek.com/gb/en/chargers/CTX%20BATTERY%20SENSE

​sends you a message if the charge gets low .

[Jonathan Kay]

That one appears to have quite a narrow niche... you'd need to have it powered from the battery and be near enough to the vehicle for Bluetooth to work but not driving it or it would charge itself.

Jonathan (The 7 and the Vespa live on conditioning chargers all the time they're in the garage)

[Tony Whitley]

I fitted one on my car after a short killed my Odyssey battery.  I've had it for about a year during which time it tripped once (camping before a Cadwell track day), resulting in some headscratching until I remembered I had it, the car started fine after I reset it.

[OliverSedlacek]

An under voltage disconnect is a pretty simple circuit to design, so I've no idea what software would need patenting.

[Paul Deslandes]

In most cases it will be the only parasitic load and solely responsible for it tripping, making it essential once connected.............

[Jonathan Kay]

An under voltage disconnect is a pretty simple circuit to design, so I've no idea what software would need patenting.

It might be a bit more active than that. Perhaps that reference to a pulse is something like an applied load and measurement of the effect on the voltage. That might give a better prediction of unlikeliness to start than a passive measurement... but it will increase the rate of running the battery down...

In most cases it will be the only parasitic load and solely responsible for it tripping, making it essential once connected.............

Reminds me of the famous question of what happens if you plug a UPS into itself... who else has tried? :-) 

Jonathan

[OliverSedlacek]

It did occur to me that a voltage test under load might have some merit. A brief load of an amp or so once per hour wouldn't drain the battery much faster than usual, but it's sill no more than a student exercise to implement.

[Felixgogo]

I'm a big fan of the CTEK trickle chargers, I have 3 to keep my cars ready to go when I'm home. The CTEK sense interested me, but once I realized it was bluetooth I was out as my cars are rarely in Bluetooth range of my phone.. A wi-fi one would have been of interest.