no charge

[California Dreamin]

No mate...these figures are not normal at all, it would seem that you are just reading battery voltage. You should be getting around 14 volts..

Martin

[thebeach2008]

here are the pix, the blue wire without a terminal has a smaller round spade like the others , the 3 big are connected to the bigger nut and the little blue to the smaller nut, I have also taken a pic of the relay any ideas

[MidLifeCrisis]

Strange things going on there ?????

First off - the two thick red wires with the large round spades are the wires that carry the charge to the battery (via the Starter motor).

There is then usually just a 'blue' wire that connects to a smaller connector on the alternator - the purpose of this is to connect the alternator to the battery warning light in the dash. And that should be it .....

You seem to have an additional brown (is it brown?) wire with a large round spade and then another blue wire - both of which go to a relay ??? ....

So, questions ....



And more questions ....



Finally a quick test - with the wiring as it is in the photo, (starter battery connected normally), engine not running, key not in ignition - is there a voltage on either of the red cables (i.e. connect the positive of your meter to the red wire and the negative to the engine block (or a known good 'ground')?

[thebeach2008]

thank you so much I thought that it was me going mad,the blue wire without the spade on had a smaller round spade and was connected to the smaller terminal on the alternator (smaller ring spade) I need to refit that and I know for a fact that, with that off the ignition light next to the oil light stays on with it connected the light goes out when I start the ,van the other hidden blue wire goes into the loom, the brown that goes to the relay comes out of the loom as for the two coming out from the relay at the top they both seem to go into the van, I will check the reds tomorrow as you suggest if they are showing battery voltage I take it then that the connection between the batt and alternator are good, would you suggest that I leave the brown lead off(the one that currently connects with the reds)
im guessing that I should be able to loose the relay as there is no les battery set up as I want to install one when I time
thanks for your patience and help im very gratefull, if the van had a starter relay fitted im guessing that it would not be set up like that
I will run your test tomorrow just went to do it but its dark now cheers

[Oldiebut goodie]

Strange things going on there ?????

First off - the two thick red wires with the large round spades are the wires that carry the charge to the battery (via the Starter motor).

There is then usually just a 'blue' wire that connects to a smaller connector on the alternator - the purpose of this is to connect the alternator to the battery warning light in the dash. And that should be it .....

You seem to have an additional brown (is it brown?) wire with a large round spade and then another blue wire - both of which go to a relay ??? ....

"wire" to the right isn't a wire - it's either air or fuel, most probably air on a petrol?
White wire on relay should go to ground if it is the split charge relay. Check - if so then......
Blue wire to relay should be connected to exciter blue wire terminal at alternator.(check continuity from relay to end of blue wire as it looks as though it is spliced in rather than going direct)
Brown from/to relay to battery connection with the two thick reds at the alternator. Brown from the relay to leisure battery when fitted.

By the look of it.

[MidLifeCrisis]

I will check the reds tomorrow as you suggest if they are showing battery voltage I take it then that the connection between the batt and alternator are good

Yep - that would be the test that the alternator is 'able' to get power to the battery - given your problems I would expect this 'not to work'. You can then investigate where that wire(s) is/are broken.

would you suggest that I leave the brown lead off(the one that currently connects with the reds)
im guessing that I should be able to loose the relay as there is no les battery set up

The 'best guess' so far is that the blue wire that runs to the relay is probably spliced into the blue wire that connects to the alternator (the one that you have taken the small round spade off) - you could try to check this by investigating if those two 'blues' are spliced together?
This blue wire (when the alternator is generating power) could then be 'triggering' that relay, which in turn is connecting that brown cable to wherever the other cable (red? the one disappearing behind the air filter) goes to from the relay - but that's all a bit of a guess? Some investigation would probably help figure it out ..... ?
It's also possible that this relay is powering the fridge (maybe/if you have one), or something else that needs 12v when the engine is running? - so prob best to not just remove it until you figure out what it does/is meant to do??

[MidLifeCrisis]

"wire" to the right isn't a wire - it's either air or fuel, most probably air on a petrol?

Yeah - figured I'd messed that up just after I posted it - I think the thing I am pointing to is the vacuum hose leading off the air filter (the one that switches the hot intake air on/off).
Looks like the white wire out of the relay might be grounded out of view somewhere ..... maybe?!?

[thebeach2008]

just been to have a look,the white wire from the relay does connect to earth behind the relay, it looks like it goes into the van but as pointed out the other white looking wire is in fact connected to the air filter and is a tube, sorry bad photo by me made it look like the white wire on the relay, the brown goes into the van somewhere I will trace it tomorrow, my fridge is broken so I may just remove it, if that's where the wire goes to, my wife pointed out that the van came with a propex heater would that need a live feed to start it,
on the battery pos terminal attached to the main cable there is a red wire connected too is that needed or could that be the other end of the bigger brown that connects to the alternator thank you all for this help

[nevill3]

I thought the wire from the relay into the van could be going to a fridge too, or to a zig unit if he has one fitted that then went to a leisure battery. Wherever it goes I would trace it just in case there is a bare terminal on the other end that used to be connected to something.

The joys of owning a modified van are endless, some of the things I have found on my van have left me speechless. A thorough checking of the electrical wiring is a must for all new owners especially if extras have been added over the years.

In what way is the fridge broken? I thought mine was at first but found out on here that being level is very important and they only work on 12v when the engine is running and charging the battery/ies (your lack of a charging current could be why your fridge appears to not work)

[MidLifeCrisis]

Propex does need a live feed but that would come from the leisure battery (usually) and it would not make sense that the propex would only get power when the engine was running so prob not that.
The battery has a connection that goes to the ignition switch - so it might be that which you are seeing - does it look 'factory' or look added by a previous owner?

[thebeach2008]

the red on the battery connection look standard from the loom, the more I look at the photos I put up (I had to make them smaller to upload) the more it looks like the relay wires running to the main loom are wrapped in insulation tape, the previous owner told me that the fridge had stopped working so the idea that it needs a charging circuit to make it work may be why its stopped, I think I will remove the relay and wire once u have traced them back as I also like the idea of re wiring again myself, ive always used the kits you can buy for split charge only £20 and it also has a fridge connection on it, in the van I have found allsorts of dodgy wiring, light and sink were connected with a wire just pushed on the live bat terminal so I have dis connected it until I get around to sorting the internal wiring out, why do people do this I doesn't take long to do it correctly

[thebeach2008]

ive taken away the rely and connectors the blue was spliced.
I checked the two red wires as suggested I am getting the battery volts on the thicker of the two but not the other,should they both have battery voltage or would one not until the starter was operated, the brown wire is now disconnected as it was wired up to the relay and had seen better days, im stumped, im going to send the alternator back as I think it not fully working, with the blue wire now re connected the battery light goes out

[MidLifeCrisis]

Did you measure voltage at the alternator with the red wires connected and with the engine running?

[thebeach2008]

I will go and try that I got side tracked I manages to split a hose so had to repair that now im getting the water light flashing as I guess it needs bleeding

[thebeach2008]

well well I have 13.75 at the alt terminal where the 2 reds attach, do you think I could run a new cable from that terminal on the alternator direct to the battery + to see if that charges it, the alt was giving between 13.50 to 14+ volts so that is sound, I know I sound thick but my bat + terminal has the thick starter lead and the red that you say goes to the ignition, should it not have another from the alternator for charging I know that one red lead from the alt goes to the starter and the slightly thicker one im guessing to the battery, im confused becase the thicker red from the alt when I disconnected it gave battery volts