Devon fridge relay to leisure?

[clinning]

Is your wiring the same as above?

[Flyingchunk]

Yes looks identical

[clinning]

Good good. Will revert back to that then didn't think it looked right.

[clinning]

Finnally got my relay today, but the numbers are different to that of the original. can anyone help me fathom out what number is for what? could have a rough guess but dont wanna chance it.

http://www.thetoolboxshop.com/0-727-23- ... -2162.html

Thank you

[clinning]

hello, have wired up the relay as below;

1-alt light (green wire)
2-main batt (thin red)
3-earth (black)
4-fridge (yellow)
8-leisure (thick red)

disconnected leisure + terminal and tested for volts there, what reading should i get as was not much?

also my 12v wire from battery to small fuse box near relay comes from the original wiring round the back of cupboards, but this has not got a 12v reading, should it have when engine is on or off?

marc

[clinning]

fixed it, made the error of assuming. and "assumed" red wire was (+) feed. where as its yellow. swapped em round and all good. getting 13.8 v to leisure now.

time for tea and medals.

[ghost123uk]

Glad it's working Marc, but just checking =

2-main batt (thin red)

How thin is that wire? From what you say it is the main feed wire from the main battery, to both the leisure and the fridge, so it needs to be quite hefty. I would say a bare minimum of 40 Amp capable, with a suitable fuse near the battery terminal.

[clinning]

It's the yellow wire I recently discovered to be the live feed. Kept the original cable from battery to relay. So maybe a should uprate this wire now? This because L battery will be drawing more current through the system? Will do that tomorrow thanks.

[clinning]

Ps it is already fused so hopefully safe for now...

[ghost123uk]

It's the yellow wire I recently discovered to be the live feed. Kept the original cable from battery to relay. So maybe a should uprate this wire now? This because L battery will be drawing more current through the system?

Yes, if the leisure battery is a bit flat (remember, never let it get below ~11.5 Volts it damages them) and then you start the engine, as soon as the relay kicks in you could be seeing 30 or 40 amps going into the leisure battery. OK, this soon drops down, but you still need cable that can cope.

[rivage5]

Hi There - been a member over a year but this is my first ever post. I have usually found what I need from the WIKI or previous informative posts. I am trying to figure out my what's wrong with my split charge system. Our T25 is a 1982 Devon 2.0 Aircooled auto, and when bought, the leisure batery fuse had been taken out. The split charge relay is the Blue Lucas - 5 spade connecter type. All the wiring looks as in the images above and is presumably Circa 1982. Curently, without the engine running and a new 35A fuse in the in line feed to the leisure battery, the interior lights work, as does the sink pump.

With the fuse in place - as soon as I start the vehicle up - big glow and a flash from the 35A fuse and the pop.....

I have a had a look inside the relay and all looks clean and intact.

Question is ....where to start to look for the problem? I wonder if the fridge is the cause? and presumably I could disconnect it - fridge is also 32 years old.

Thoughts please?

kind regards

[ghost123uk]

Hi There - been a member over a year but this is my first ever post. I have usually found what I need from the WIKI or previous informative posts. I am trying to figure out my what's wrong with my split charge system. Our T25 is a 1982 Devon 2.0 Aircooled auto, and when bought, the leisure batery fuse had been taken out. The split charge relay is the Blue Lucas - 5 spade connecter type. All the wiring looks as in the images above and is presumably Circa 1982. Curently, without the engine running and a new 35A fuse in the in line feed to the leisure battery, the interior lights work, as does the sink pump.

With the fuse in place - as soon as I start the vehicle up - big glow and a flash from the 35A fuse and the pop.....

I have a had a look inside the relay and all looks clean and intact.

Question is ....where to start to look for the problem? I wonder if the fridge is the cause? and presumably I could disconnect it - fridge is also 32 years old.

Thoughts please?

kind regards

Hi there

Firstly, ya should have started a new thread really, it gets confusing when folk are trying to answer 2 queries (or more) in one thread

But to your problem. It won't be the relay. A fully working fridge pulls about 8 Amps, so it shouldn't be that, BUT, the fridge could have a short so simply pull the connector on the relay that feeds the fridge and try again. That will tell.

Next, if you have a healthy alternator AND a somewhat run down leisure battery, you could see more than 35 Amps flowing into the leisure battery. So, get your multimeter out and measure two things.

Firstly, let us know the voltage on the leisure battery after it has been left standing for a day (don't charge it up first).

Secondly, with no fuse in place, fire up the engine and after about 10 minutes running, let us know the voltage on your main battery ( it should be around 13.6 to 14 Volts with the engine still running)

"We" can then go from there.

[rivage5]

Hi Mr Ghost - thank you for your reply, I will do as you suggest in the morning. Hoping to get away for a break / VW festival this weekend, so it would be good to get something sorted. - The leisure battery was charged up nearly 12months ago and left disconnected. (without the fuse in and disconected from the main battery it reads 12v on the meter).

I will report back with my findings after disconnecting the fridge / volt reading on the main battery after warm up.

regards

[ghost123uk]

I am guessing that it is actually working fine, it's just that on start up, with the leisure battery in a somewhat depleted state, the flow of current into it from the alternator is exceeding 35 Amps. This is normal as the 12 Volts indicates the leisure battery is far from fully charged now. The initial current, just for a minute or so can be high, but it rapidly tails off to a more normal level. Try a 50 Amp fuse. Ideally the cable and relay then would need to be rated at over 50 Amps, but as I say, that high current flow is only for a short period of time, so a bit lesser cable should be OK. Suggest trying it and, assuming a 50 Amp fuse doesn't blow, for the first couple of minutes check the cable and relay are not getting warm. If they don't, then all is well.

[rivage5]

Hi Mr Ghost - a quick update :-

leisure batery ( disconected and not charged since last year ) reads 12.45 V

Starter battery (fully warmed up) reads 13.85 V - with engine running ( and with fuse out of leisure circuit).

Couldn't get a 50a fuse this morning, but with fridge wire disconnected from the relay, tried again after the engine had been running a while....35a fuse went pop...

I'll track down some 50a fuses and continue later. Setting off to Camper & Bus show at Eastnor Castle now via an overnight stop in Buxton.

Thanks once again for your help and advice.