ALL BRAIN AND NO DRAIN
A 4X4 WITH A FLAT BATTERY. Sounds familiar? There will be many of you who have faced this inevitability at some point or another.
Whether it’s your old trialler that you’ve dug out after the winter, or your daily drive that’s seen more cold starts than Aston Villa fans have seen goals going in at the wrong end, even the best truck’s batteries are not invincible. In particular, if you only use your truck every so often, leaving the battery to drain down in between times then asking it to come back to life after a savage jump start is never going to be good for its long-term plans.
Hence the Battery Brain. This small device has been developed by the company of the same name for an extensive range of vehicles. The idea is that it monitors your truck’s state of charge; you keep it plugged in and let it keep tabs on how the battery is faring.
If some drain or other pulls the battery’s charge down to the minimum required level it will need to start the vehicle (usually 11.8 volts), the Battery Brain steps in to disconnect it.
Of course, there’s no way of saving a battery that’s already been wrecked by time, a hard life and/or sheer neglect. But this clever bit of kit could certainly help see off the effects of two of those things. And if your RTV truck is the kind that sits quietly waiting to be taken out to play once a month, it could mean the difference between getting to scrutineering on time and missing the event that could have clinched you the championship.
There are a number of Battery Brains to choose from, including a choice of 12v and 24v options. They’re all there for you to check out at www.batterybrain.co.uk.
