hard wiring a charger

[scottbott]

I am in the process of fitting a webasto heater under the rear seat of my van,I have fitted a lidl/aldi charger and want to wire it so it charges the batteries for the heater when on hookup,the rcd unit is very close to the charger and I was wondering about splicing into the mains cable coming out of the back of the rcd,any suggestions of the best way to do this so it looks nice and neat,not just choco blocks wrapped in insulating tape type of thing,I have had a look through the screwfix catalogue and cannot see anything,any ideas?,please,thanks

[scottbott]

just found things called wago connectors,anyone used them for automotive purposes,they look pretty good

[matt brighton]

Hi

I thought about doing the same thing a while ago but I was advised that running a charger through a battery thats connected to your alternator will damage the alternator.

If you have to pop the engine cover and disconnect the alternator it seems to defeat the object of hard wiring one in..

Electrics are not my strong point - perhaps someone else can confirm either way

All the best

Matt

[lloydy]

Most campers have a mains charger that works on hook up though?
Mine.. Mains hook up connected to garage RCD unit fitted under rear seat. Cable from there to a plug socket, mains charger plugged into plug socket.

[matt brighton]

Oh ok,

I think my note of caution may only apply to more modern electrics with sensitive ecu systems, or the use of older and more "aggressive" chargers with less stable supply to the system being charged.

The cetek, aldi,lidl type are designed to monitor the state of charge and adjust accordingly - so no fear of overcharging or frying the alternator diodes


Best

Matt

[itchyfeet]

Wago connectors with the orange levers are ace
Good for mains and very good quality

[bigherb]

and want to wire it so it charges the batteries for the heater when on hookup,the rcd unit is very close to the charger and I was wondering about splicing into the mains cable coming out of the back of the rcd,

Just cut the mains plug off and connect the charger to the 6A circuit breaker in the RCD unit.

[scottbott]

thans for the replies,was thinking about having a look into the back of the RCD and connecting to it