Zig Delete

[rollercoaster]

Dont know why I have lived with it so long,
but due to the interior refit its time to remove it.
What did it do anyway?
I wonder if theres a simple wiring diagram,
or an explanatory something or other somewhere,
that will help me modernise?

[Mocki]

Is it a full one , with mains , or just a control panel ?
They are horrible things , the mains part , is a nasty unsmoothed transformer with no over current or over voltage protection

[rollercoaster]

Just three switches and fuses really.
I suspected that it charged the battery,
or at least gave alternative 12v when plugged to 240,
but I dont think so now.
It would be great to do away with it.
Even better to charge the battery when mains connected,
and perhaps even get some solar and a compressor fridge.

[Mocki]

I made my own control panel when I swapped over to led lights in my previous leisuredrive camper , because all the existing lights had switches in them , and the control panel had just one main lights switch that switched them all off or on in one go

I installed a new fuse board under the seat where the leisure battery lived , and separated all the circuits off from there
Fridge ignition
Water pump
Lights
Heating
12vPower outlets

As for charging from main hook up, I bought a charger maintainer "intelligent " mains charger , and hard wired it to the leisure battery and the mains , so as soon as you hooked up, the battery was charging.

I didn’t have solar on that van ....

But when I did the current van , I did the same with a couple of improvements.

[ash1293]

Just three switches and fuses really.

Sounds like the one in my leisuredrive. Its not really a zig 'unit' at all, just a power distribution board.

If it is the same as mine it has no connection to mains hook up, and no charging facility. Mine was wired directly to leisure battery with distribution via fuse and switches to lights, grill ignition, water pump, maybe something else I can't quite recall.
As I'm keeping a simple setup I've kept the panel but rewired where needed when I upgraded smart split charging set up.

[rollercoaster]

I bought a charger maintainer "intelligent " mains charger , and hard wired it to the leisure battery and the mains

Yes I would like to do that,
searched for what you described just to see what comes up,
theres a lot..
at present using a small c-tech that was cheap at Lidls, and I guess its intelligent,
it seems to be able to tell that the current batteries are defunct.
Could wire that in but maybe it would be better to get something more powerful,
that way if I was running some hungry 12v stuff the mains could keep it topped up.
Could also charge quicker if I wanted to, though that wont be often if at all.

Think otherwise your ideas are mostly in place, leisure batteries under seat,
fuse box with them, various outlets to wire up.

The Victron Energy Digital Battery Protect planned install, and any other clever tricks,
could do with a general wiring diagram.

Also something that helps me is a powerful 12v outlet, usually for trailer/caravan.

[ash1293]

I bought a charger maintainer "intelligent " mains charger , and hard wired it to the leisure battery and the mains

at present using a small c-tech that was cheap at Lidls,

The little intelligent chargers from lidl get quite a good write up, I bought one to keep in the van and later bought a second sealed new one as was too cheap to pass on at a car boot sale.
On rewiring the van I have a single 240v next to mains unit behind drives seat and a more accessible double with usb in the rear. The little charger can be tucked away quite easily when on site if there is a need to top up the battery.

Only downside I see to the lidl one is that when disconnected it defaults, so each time you connect/power on, you would have to press the button to select 12v to start charging.

[Mocki]

When I originally built the camper I have now I used a Stanley pro intelligent charger for the leisure battery , that would charge at up to 10amps and I had a switch to swap it over so I could charge the van battery if need be .


However a three or so years ago , after realising since I fitted the solar the only time I ever plugged the camper in to hook up for the last 5 years had been when it’s parked up in the garage and occasionally at my mothers over Christmas , I refitted and had a rethink I changed to two of these
POTEK 2A/4A Intelligent 7-Steps Charging Smart/Portable Battery Charger and Maintainer With Double color LCD Display for 6V/12V Lead-acid/Gel/AGM Batteries https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073WVFSQC/ ... WEbHJGX5M1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One for each battery , they don’t have to keep up with anything , as the battery is fully charged when I plug in. They don’t reset like the cheapo ones, they are both hard wired to the mains and the batteries , if I plug the hook up in the back they are charging , I don’t have to do anything , so I can’t forget anything !