Electrics in T25 Leisure Drive

[gingerbike]

Hi,

I currently have loan of a 1983 T25 Leisure Drive conversion, with a view to purchasing, and am confused over the electrics - wonder if anyone can shed some light?

The van has a zig unit (CP400) which allows the interior lights, water pump and igniter for gas hob to operate. This works fine when switched to 'van'. What does this mean? Is it running off the engine battery or off a leisure battery. If the latter, then where would it be sited as I can't find it! When I switch the zig to 'car' however, nothing works.

When I hook the van up to the mains, there is power to 3 sockets behind the driver seat, but nothing from the zig unit when switched to 'car'. (I assumed this should work as it's like powering a caravan from a car supply.)
Also, the fridge (electrolux) is a 3-way, but does nothing whatever I do.

Any comments gratefully received.

Jon.

[Mr Bean]

Hi,

I currently have loan of a 1983 T25 Leisure Drive conversion, with a view to purchasing, and am confused over the electrics - wonder if anyone can shed some light?

Jon.

I aquired my 1988 Leisuredrive high top for renovation. To be fair it had been badly neglected. However: I would describe myself as a competant electrician (C cert albeit 13th edition) and electronics dabbler but I couldn't fathom out the design intent in respect of the Zig. During the rebuild I replaced it with a system of my own desigh and would suggest that yours probably needs a major rewire anyway. Lots of circuit help here or on the Self Build Motor Caravanners forum.
Good luck anyway
Ken

[kevtherev]

Hi,

I currently have loan of a 1983 T25 Leisure Drive conversion, with a view to purchasing, and am confused over the electrics - wonder if anyone can shed some light?

The van has a zig unit (CP400) which allows the interior lights, water pump and igniter for gas hob to operate. This works fine when switched to 'van'. What does this mean? Is it running off the engine battery or off a leisure battery. If the latter, then where would it be sited as I can't find it! When I switch the zig to 'car' however, nothing works.

that is correct it is running from a leisure battery... under the passenger seat or some times in the engine bay on the left hand side

When I hook the van up to the mains, there is power to 3 sockets behind the driver seat, but nothing from the zig unit when switched to 'car'. (I assumed this should work as it's like powering a caravan from a car supply.)
Also, the fridge (electrolux) is a 3-way, but does nothing whatever I do.

Any comments gratefully received.

Jon.

ok the "zig" is a battery charger
the fridge on 12v will only work when the engine is running
on hook up it runs on 230v
and on gas it needs 12v if it has an igniter... otherwise it only needs gas (switched on)
there are various instructions in the downloads section as to fridges

in all cases the fridge is silent

[Mocki]

the switch will only work on one position, its a standard control panel designed for a caravan, so dont worry about that.

You will find that if you pull fuse 3 in the main fusebox, in the glove box, that the interior lights wont work, as standard Leisure drive dont wire the interior lighting off the leisure battery, but from the main van inyterior light ring, unless it was asked for as a optional extra.

The fridge, as Kev said will only work on 12v when the engine is running, and even then you wont see an instant coolness, it will take at least an hour to see any change in temp.

On gas it will need the seperate gas tap turning on , and it maybe in the bottom of the cupboard next to the fridge, or in the top of the gas bottle locker at the back, nearest the wardrobe, and the gas switch on the fridge moving to 3 and then you push the knob in whilst operating the ignition(be it electronic or peizo) and hold the gas button in for a further 5 seconds after it has lit for it to continue to be alight.

Mains is possibly needing the fridge trip in the circuit breaker to switched on, and then the fridge switched to main for it to work, again it will take a while for any drop in temp to happen, and the fridge and there fore the van must be level or danm close to level, especially on gas.

[gingerbike]

thanks all for your comments...
I will go and have another look at it all and get let you know if I have any success.

Cheers

[cumbriankeith]

Not all Zig units are battery chargers, Kev.
The basic units like the CP400 (which is what is fitted in my own Leisuredrive) are just a fuse/distribution panel. Mine was wired to the leisure battery but had no wiring at all connected to the "car" side of the panel so it did exactly the same as described above. It's not that hard to run a decent gauge wire from the engine battery so you have the option of running things off it if you run the LB down but then you don't want to do it too much or you won't start the engine....

Jon - If it's wired like mine then the 12v is completely separate from the mains circuit. I've added a smart charging setup so that when hooked up to mains the LB doesn't get flattened when parked up for days.

[gingerbike]

Thanks Keith.
I've had a damned good look for the leisure battery (including in the engine bay), and guess what, there doesn't seem to be one!
This means it must be running lights, pump etc off the engine battery which seems crazy to me. If I do decide to buy this thing then a leisure batt is a must.
Got the fridge to light off gas at last, time will tell if it actually gets cold...

[cumbriankeith]

Jon - be patient with the fridge - it can take a few hours to get chilly in there. Ours works well and will make ice off any of its 3 power sources (as well as keep the bacon and beer right!). Some say theirs is weak on 12 volts - maybe it depends on the type and age of the model - I dunno more than that. I fitted ours in the obvious place under the stove - and later learned that it was an option from LD.

Fitting a Leisure batt would not be hard for you - getting the right height battery for under the passenger seat, a fuse, relay and some wiring to the Zig is fiddly but doable.

But if all you are running is a couple of striplights and the pump for a few days before moving on and therefore charging the engine battery, rather than a big stereo or heating for hours on end for several days in the winter, then your setup will do the job fine.

[Mocki]

if yours is only on the main battery, you only have to run a feed from the leisure battery ( when you get it) to the other connection on the car/van switch, and its sorted........ easy life!

just run twice the thickness wire they did when they did the conversion, and your sorted.......

the split charge is simple and you dont need to change the fridge on 12v, as they should be powered off the main battery and never the leisure battery anyway

[Valsowners]

I've read this thread with interest and worry.

Our Val is a 1982 leisuredrive fitted with a CP400 Zig unit, I'd been led to beleive that to charge up the leisure battery all I had to do is plug in the hook up cable and hey presto - is this not the case??

We have only been away in Val on a couple of occasions when we haven't had hook up, we now have 2 show's coming up - will we suddenly find the battery has run out of juice?!?!?

When we are on hook up we flip the switch to "Van" and the lights work, I always assumed the hook up power fed through the battery to power the lights and charge up the battery - is this not the case??

I'm so confused now, Help

[Mocki]

the cp400 is only a control panel, but that dont mean you havent got a charger in there........ investigate...... the simle way is hook the van up, and then disconnect the leisure battery.

[Valsowners]

I could be going daft but what would it prove? If I disconnect and the lights don't work it would mean the battery is disconnected - how does this show if there's a charger?. If the lights still work it would mean there's some bizarre double circuitry type stuff going on.

If there is a charger what would it look like? - there is nothing near the battery - could be hidden behind the cupboard I suppose

home DIY is one thing but messing with the van scares me!!!

[cumbriankeith]

To check it's being charged when you are hooked up to the mains is straightforward but needs a voltmeter - the simple multimeter type such as from Maplins for £5 to £10 is fine and is useful for all sorts of stuff on vans and at home.
A battery at rest and in good condition and charged up will be 12.7volts - let it stabilise for 24 hours after use or charging to get an accurate reading.
If a charger is at work on your van battery then it should raise the voltage across the terminals to more like 13.8 - 14.5 volts. So hook it up and measure across the Leisure battery to get the answer.
Doing the same reading when the engine is running will tell you if it is charging from the alternator.