Westy Split Charging

[Dubstar]

I did the connect the radio to the leisure battery thing last week. Nothing, other than the disconnected Eber was connected to the leisure battery so I 've never really checked it before but now it's not charging the leisure battery. I did nothing other than run a wire to a spare on the fuse box and then connect the radio to it. I've checked and I can't see any wires hanging off or fuses blown, so that leaves - where does the power to charge the leisure battery come from? The alternator, the other battery or the BBB (buzzin' black box)? A couple of months ago when it was running I could flick the water level/battery switch and the top LED would light up, but now nothing changes whether it's running or not. Any other ideas welcome. It's a 1981 Westy and there are no leisure fuses on it, either behind the drivers seat or in the back in any of the cupboards.

[Dubstar]

Anybody?

[Cafnod]

Hi
I could not say without seeing it not being knowledgable in these. Have you tried putting a meter on the leisure battery while the engine is running?
do you have a 12vdc consumer unit, like a zig or similar? It may charge through that, or a battery charger rather than alternator, to keep the two 12vdc systems completely isolated.
If it is alternator charged its probably a split charge system, which is with a relay or diodes in vehicles, or an isolating switch, but these are mainly found in marine installations although I have built a couple of campers using these.

[Dubstar]

Not tried a multimeter yet but I'll do it this weekend. As it's a Westy with a swivel base on the seat you have to take the seat out to get at the battery. There isn't a zig an zag unit - dem girls - as such. When the van's running it opens a relay to charge up the leisure battery and when it stops running the relay closes so the main battery doesn't get drained by anything running off the leisure battery. It's just trying to find the live feed in or where it comes from to see if any wires have bron or come off their connector. It could also be the relay which I may change this weekend too.