12-24V DUAL BATTERY CONTROLLER

NOTE:
Before starting any assembly.
please make sure that you
understand these instructions

monostable is included so that

the auxiliary battery is not
isolated unless the combined
battery voltage is still below
13.5V after this period. We have
INTRODUCTION
tested this unit in a vehicle with
This kit simply switches an
a discharged auxiliary battery
auxiliary battery across the
(around 10V).the peak current
main battery when the main
at the point when the auxiliary
battery voltage exceeds say
battery was connected was
13.5V in a 12V system or 27V
around 15A. The battery voltage
in a 24V system.
quickly rose to over 13.5V, at
which point the charging current
When this auxiliary battery is
of the auxiliary battery reduced
first connected across the main to around 5A. The voltage of a
battery, the combined paralleled charged car battery that is at
battery voltage can drop to a
normal ambient temperature
lower figure for a short period of and has not been used for
time. To prevent possible
some time is around 12.6V. The
chattering of the relay during
alternator charges the battery
this time, a 30 second
when the vehicle is running and

the battery voltage rises to

around 14V. Without the LED
connected the stand-by current
of this unit is around 50uA.
Adding the indicator LED
increases the average stand-by
current to 500uA. A high current
(80A) single coil latching relay
is used for switching between
the batteries. A latching relay
only consumes power when it is
being pulsed on or off, as
internally magnets are used to
keep the contacts in the
selected state with no power
applied to the coil.
HOW IT WORKS
For the following explanation
assume that the 12V link is in
place, for use in a 12V system

At the heart of the circuit is IC2

(L4949) which is described as
being a monolithic integrated
5.0V voltage regulator with a
very low dropout voltage and
additional functions such as
power-on reset and input
voltage sense. In this circuit
only the voltage sensing
comparator and the 5V
regulator sections of this IC are
used. Pin 2 is the input pin for
the battery sensor section of the
IC. When the voltage at this pin
falls to 1.24V the open collector
output pin 7 is pulled internally
to ground. When the voltage at
Pin 7 rises to 1.34V the internal
transistor at the output (Pin7) is
turned off. With the 12V link in
place and with the switch on
voltage is 13.2V with the
potentiometer in the maximum
anticlockwise position, and
15.2V when in the maximum
clock-wise position. The
transistor will turn on when the
voltage drops to around 0.5V
less than these figures. For the
following assume that the main
battery voltage has been low for
a few hours: When the battery
voltage is low, the transistor in
IC1 whose open collector
output is connected to pin 7 is
switched on, so the output at
pin7 is at logic "0". IC2:A, IC2D,
C6,R9, D3 and D2 form a
monostable. The trigger input
for this monostable is at input of
the inverter gate IC2:A an the
output is at Pin 11 of IC2:D. The
input is by pulled to "0" by R8
and the output is at "0" since
the input to the inverter IC2:D is
pulled high by R9. Note that
capacitor C6 is discharged
since both of its sides are at "1"
If either or both of the inputs of
NOR gate IC2B are at "1" its
output would be at "0". Since
both of its inputs are at "0" its
output would be at "1", the

output at IC2:C is at "0" and the

output of IC3:A is at "1". IC3:B,
R10, R11, D5, D6, and C7
make up a simple low duty
cycle oscillator. This oscillator
flashes LED L1 at about 4Hz
via isolation diode D4. Since the
input to this oscillator gate pin 5
is at "1" the oscillator is enabled
L1 would flash indicating that
the battery voltage is low. Note
that capacitor C8 is discharged
since both of its sides are held
at logic "1", similarly C9 is
charged since the output of
IC2:C is at "0". For the following
assume that the battery voltage
is high. When the battery
voltage is high, the transistor in
IC1 whose open collector
output is connected to pin 7 is
turned off, so the output at pin7
is pulled to logic "1" by resistor
R7. The input of the monostable
is pulled to a "1" via D1, and the
output of IC2:A goes low. The
input of IC2:D is also pulled low
by the discharged capacitor C6
and the output of IC2:D is at
logic "1". The input to the monostable would be kept at logic "1"
via the isolating diode D2 even
if the battery voltage goes low.
C6 and R7 determine the length
of time that this would happen
for: Around 30 seconds. Either
or both of the inputs of IC2:B
are at "1" and its output is at
"0", The output of IC2:C is at
"1", and the output of gate
IC3:A is at "0". LED L1 would
light continuously deriving its
current through R12 and the
forward biassed diode D7: This
indicates that the auxiliary
battery is being charged. At the
transition when the battery
voltage goes high The output of
IC3:A goes low. Since C8 was
discharged the inputs of IC3:C
go low and its output goes
high. MOSFET Q2 is turned on
for a time determined by R13

and C8: Around second.

During this time a current is
applied to the coil of the
latching relay RLY1 via R17 and
the contacts make. Similarly at
the transition when the battery
voltage goes low the output of
IC2:B goes low. Since C9 was
discharged the inputs of IC3:D
go low and its output goes
high. MOSFET Q3 is turned on
for a time determined by R14
and C9: Around second.
During this time a current is
applied to the coil of the
latching relay RLY1 via R16 &
the contacts break. It is also
interesting that this project
doubles up as a low voltage
drop-out for a 12 or 24V battery.
Simply by changing R1 and R4
to 91K instead of their existing
value of 120K the drop-out
voltage is adjustable between
10 and 11.7V. The drop-in
voltage is about 0.6V above
these figures.
CONSTRUCTION:
For low voltage cutout refer to
Silicon Chip DEC2006.
Firstly assemble and solder the
low laying components, the
resistors, trim-potentio-meters,
diodes, and the IC sockets.
Next assemble and solder the
transistors, capacitors and the
terminals. Watch out for the
correct orientation of the
transistors and the polarity of
the electrolytic capacitors:
These are printed on the PCB
overlay. Next assemble and
solder the two MOSFETS: Note
that the thicker line of the
MOSFET symbol, on the PCB
overlay, represents the metal
face of the MOSFET. Finally
assemble and solder the relay
to the PCB. The relay contacts
can be soldered to directly, after
cutting off the two short lengths
of wire that are welded to them.

Automotive wire capable of

carrying peak current in the
order of 20A should be used for
connecting the adapter to the
two batteries. The adapter
should be close to the main
battery. Finally 20A fuses
should be installed in the wires
connecting the adapter to both
the batteries positive terminals:
Close to the batteries positive
terminals. To protect it from dust
etc. the finished PCB should be
enclosed in a small box. The
complete unit should be
mounted in a well ventilated
place away from the motor and
the radiator.
NOTE
In some installations false triggers
may occur due to other items
connected ot he system such as

electric motors, fridge compressors

starting up. To reduce this C5 can be
replaced with a 100uf electrolytic
capacitor with the (-) connection of the
capacitor connected near the input
terminal block (CN1).

PARTS LIST
Hardware etc.
1X PCB coded K227
1X 12V 8A latching relay
1X Two Way PCB mount screw
terminal block
1X 8 pin IC socket
2X 14pin IC sockets
Semiconductors
1X L4949 IC
1X 4011 quad OR gate IC
1X 4093 quad NAND gate IC
2X N ch MOSFET
1X 2N5551 transistor
1X high intensity red LED
1X 15V 400mW zener diode
10X IN4148 diode

Capacitors
1X 22n polyester
1X 100uF 35V electrolytic
3X 100uF 16V electrolytic
4X 1uF 16V electrolytic
Resistors (0.25W 5%)
1X 1Kohm
1X 2K2ohm
1X 6K8ohm
1X 12Kohm
2X 22Kohm
2X 91Kohm (Only used for low
voltage cutout)
2X 100Kohm
2X 120Kohm
5X 470Kohm
2X 22ohm 1W
1X 1Mohm 1/4W
1X 2Kohm horizontal trimpot

NOTE:
If 2SK700 MOSFETs are
supplied note that the
correct orientation is
reversed to that shown.
The metal side of the
MOSFETs should face C8.

CHASIS

+
FUSE

FUSE

SECONDARY
BATTERY

PRIMARY
BATTERY