wiring a zig unit

[mark.bilsborough]

hi all ive just got my hands ona complete zig unit with built in charger and a fuse trip box your help and guidance to wire it up would be great


thanks mark

[Oldiebut goodie]

Missing info! You may well know what model - we don't!

[green thing]

Hello, I would also really appreciate some help wiring a zig unit, it`s a peter everard supercharger, model M CF5(pre zig I think). I`ve been doing up a`79 camper for nearly 3 yrs( I owe many thanks to a club member ewenmaclean for giving me a lot of help last summer, which i`ll do more appropriately when it`s finished), and we`re taking it to France next thursday. I think it functions as a battery charger but can anyone tell me how effective it would be. I`ve just bought an intelligent split charge relay and other necessary bits to connect it and i`m not sure now if it`s needed. The unit has a 12 point terminal block on the back (as does the cf8),I think 1 & 2 go to the starting battery, 3 & 4 go to the aux battery, 11 & 12 (which is spare on the cf8) is where the interior lights were wired in. Apart from that I`ve no idea, the wiring diagram which I made for myself when I disconnected it has since been used for mouse bedding and the labels on most of the wires have faded so badly they`re unreadable. Thanks.

[richlaz]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong... (I don't think anybody fully understand's the internals of a Zig!)

I'm not sure about the CF5, but with the slightly newer CF8/9 models, according to Zig's wiring diagrams, they don't need split charge relays...but... I think that if one of the switches on the Zig (the touring/on site switch) is left in the "touring" position, the two batteries are internally connected (to charge leisure when engine is running), so it is possible to drain your engine battery if switch is left on that position when stopped?

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to fit an intelligent relay between engine battery and the Zig... as the relay only requires 3 connections; the 12v input (from battery), 12v output (to Zig), and an Earth connection. This I believe would stop the engine battery being drained.

[green thing]

Apologies to the person who made the first post for sort of hijacking it and hope you find some of this relevant, but thanks for the info. My unit has the same layout on the fascia as the cf8 but has an extra wire on the back going to terminal 12. The switch which i think you referred to is the middle one. On mine it`s headed charger and has a car or mains position, i`ve left it in the mains position and it hasn`t flattened the batteries yet. Could anyone else enlighten me please (as i`m not very good with electrics), on whether or not i would foul anything up if i fit a separate split charger or whether i need to. Thanks

[richlaz]

I had a good "play" with my Zig a few days ago on the workbench with 12v power supply and mains... and poked the meter about...

I had the lid off my Zig too to have a peek inside (CF9)... there isn't actually a split charger relay inside.

Zig units rely on the user to flick a switch to charge the battery instead. The middle switch you're referring to (normally labelled "touring" and "on-site" on CF8/9 models) is how you initiate charging of the leisure battery from the engine battery. Therefore, every time you "go camping", you'd have to manually put the switch into the "touring" position while driving, then when you stopped, you'd have to manually switch back to on-site (otherwise it would be possible to drain your engine battery if you used too many power hungry 12v devices).

It definitely wouldn't be a problem fitting a split charge relay, as you're basically just fitting an isolator switch between the engine battery and the supply to the Zig (which would make it impossible to drain your engine battery when using 12v equipment in the back).


Hope this info helps

[BOXY]

This is an Autohomes diagram but the general layout might be useful?

[green thing]

Hello, sorry for being a bit slow to respond, been side tracked fitting an extra seat, cv joints and things. Thanks for replyling, the wiring diagram does help although i think it`s a bit more advanced than mine. Now then richlaz, thankyou for explaining in laymans terms, it`s helped me to understand how it works but what if I disconnect the starter battery from the zig, would that allow the leisure battery to be charged from the zig and split charger whist driving(without overcharging) and eliminate the risk of backfeeding the system. I`m fitting a 100AH leisure battery in the engine bay as I have a little more room than under the seat so even if I weren`t able to connect to a 240 supply overnight, using lights, watching a dvd on a laptop or listening to music etc. may or may not not flatten it but it would get a good charge during the daytime, wouldn`t it?

[richlaz]

what if I disconnect the starter battery from the zig, would that allow the leisure battery to be charged from the zig and split charger whist driving(without overcharging) and eliminate the risk of backfeeding the system

I've had it confirmed by a few people (on here and brick-yard) that the Zig only charges the leisure battery, not the starter battery (so there wouldn't be any issues with backfeeding through the split charge relay - although I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem if you had 12v going to the output of the relay, because it wouldn't energise anyway)

100Ah is a good sized battery so you shouldn't have any issues with low power items such as lights, laptop, radio etc for a few hours (google "Ah calculator" to work out how long appliances will last).

The mains charger within the Zig is only a slow trickle charge, your main source of charging the leisure battery will be through the alternator.

If the battery dies, you always have the option of starting the engine and having unlimited power! (until you run out of petrol )

E D I T: I'm going to be wiring in my Zig within a couple of weeks, and will fit an intelligent relay (because I can't be bothered running a cable from the alternator ) just to make sure I don't accidently kill my starter battery by leaving the switch in the wrong place!

If you were really anal, you could fit the relay inside the Zig unit, so it would look tidier with just a (fused) cable going to the input terminals

[green thing]

Thanks very much, I`ll go and wire it in straight away.