Mactronics Battery Charger

[SamsBus2012]

Afternoon all.
I'm currently in the process of renewing the van interior and I'm currently looking at the electrics. The van has an old Mactronics 10/12 charger (assume 10/12 stands for 10A/12V???) which is connected to both the main and leisure batteries with a manual switch over. On stripping out, i discovered the connector block also had a connection marked "Dis" with no wires connected; any ideas? Before i put it all back together,I am contemplating doing away with the old set up (particularly as the manufacturer no longer exists and i can't find any manuals on line) and changing over to a modern CTek or similar to do the job. I believe it is possible to connect just to the main battery and let the split charge circuit top up the leisure... is this correct?
Your thoughts and guidance will be most welcome as ever.
Cheers
E D I T... PS the overuse of the word currently in the first sentence is not intended as a pun

[California Dreamin]

changing over to a modern CTek or similar to do the job. I believe it is possible to connect just to the main battery and let the split charge circuit top up the leisure... is this correct?
Your thoughts and guidance will be most welcome as ever.
Cheers

My thoughts....Ctek make great chargers but some models have to have the 'MODE' selected before they start charging..these you can't just turn on. So this means that when you connect your mains lead you will then have to scramble around under seat setting the mode you want before charging will take place....go for one that doesn't need manually setting.
Also..Leisure chargers generally need to be at least as powerful as the amps being drawn....typically 10 amps or more. This means buying one of Cteks more powerful units which are very expensive.

As a general rule the leisure charger is connected to the leisure battery to maintain a healthy charge when camping with a hookup.
The idea is that none of the camping electrics are connected to the 'starter battery' so this does not discharge and so doesn't need charging.
The split charge relay is fine but only charges the leisure battery with the engine running, so if you are parked up for several days camping you would regularly need to start the engine (much better to have the hookup/leisure charger keeping things fully charged).
This would be suitable model but there are a few others as well....I certainly wouldn't go less than 10 amps though:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Numax-12V-10A ... 1292187828" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Martin

[lloydy]

Mine and others ctek don't need the mode button pressed on power up, just plug in and it works. Maybe old ones did?

[marlinowner]

If you have an "intelligent" split charge relay which connects the vehicle and leisure batteries together above a preset voltage, then you could connect the charger to the vehicle battery and it would charge the leisure battery as well.

[lloydy]

yup, mine does that

[California Dreamin]

That would work....however, I'm not sure how a Ctek would see a healthy starter and heavily discharged leisure battery connected in parallel. But then guess eventually charge state between the two would eventually even out.

Martin

[lloydy]

That would work....however, I'm not sure how a Ctek would see a healthy starter and heavily discharged leisure battery connected in parallel.
Martin

Thats basically the problem when the alt is doing the job, leisures never really get fully charged.

[SamsBus2012]

Well thanks to all for the comments and WLC for the PM. Looking like the numax charger on price. To be honest, now Ive opened things up, the wiring is a bit of a mess so I'm going to start from scratch. The split charge is a cheapy 40A standard relay so I think I will invest in a more robust intelligent relay like this:

http://www.split-charge-relays.co.uk/co ... y-kit.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ghost123uk]

That would work....however, I'm not sure how a Ctek would see a healthy starter and heavily discharged leisure battery connected in parallel.
Martin

Thats basically the problem when the alt is doing the job, leisures never really get fully charged.

Which is where my "poor man's Sterling" charger system scores