Club 80-90 Forums

ghost123uk wrote:I am going to say I reckon it will be just fine.

I have been doing pretty much that with my "poor man's Sterling" set-up for a while now with no ill effects. I run my Stereo head unit, amp and a few other odds and ends off my leisure battery, which is charging from an intelligent charger (whilst driving).

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For those reading this who don't know, my leisure battery is charged via a 12A "smart" charger, which is powered by a 500W inverter, which is fed via the output from the split charge relay (which no longer feeds the leisure battery). This way my 2 batteries are never connected in parallel and my leisure is always kept "just right" (with the help of a Low Voltage Disconnect). I have been using this set-up for a few months now and I am very pleased with it's performance.

Any chance of a wiring diagram John? We went off to Austria last summer on just a 100A leisure under the passenger seat for the Waeco (right in the back, on two heat reflective blankets before you ask) some 6mm2 cables and a generic voltage sensitive split charge relay.
Needless to say, voltage drop problems after 24 hours, the compressor working overtime at night and resorting to a hookup whenever possible...
Battery survived but probably not what it was before we set off

Ian, I suppose I could do a diagram, but it's not really needed as it's dead simple.

The wire from the split charge relay that was connected to the leisure battery now feeds the input of the mains inverter (leave the inverter power switch "ON"). Therefore, when the engine fires up the inverter comes on. The "intelligent" charger is plugged into the inverter's mains socket and feeds the leisure battery. All accessory loads (lighting, stereo, Propex etc) are left wired as normal.

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I do have a simple (illuminated) switch so I can feed the inverter with 12V from the leisure battery, for those times when I wish to use the inverter in a conventional manner (laptop etc).

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Aside = when I put that switch ^^^ "ON", and if I left the charger plugged in, it would be getting fed from the leisure battery, but it would be charging it at the same time