Club 80-90 Forums

hi,
i am about to start refurbing van i have recently pucahased and thought i had the electrics sussed, untill i read this post.
you mentioned using the hook up to charge the leisure battery.
in my mind i was going to have the 2 systems seperate ( battery and hook up) although i have never done this before so i might have it wrong.
i am planning on using a diode split charge.
how do i incorporate the hookup to charge my battery. or do i just use a bettery charger?
hope you can help.
thanks
chris

yep, you could do it that way. i have a zig unit doing all my 12v distribution and charging. you can pick em up nice and cheap and it is wiring by numbers. have a look in the wiki.

its far better in the long run to buy a quality battery charger rather than use a "Zig" imo

I have a "intellgent" charger that i can switch between the leisure battery and the main battery from the control panel.That way i can charger either when hooked up away or at home.

I also have no 240v lighting , only 12v - couldnt see the point of having two lots of lights scattered about when one will do. When i park up and hook up i have a relay that switches everything that would run off the leisure battery onto a 30amp PSU which runs off the mains, so everything 12v becomes hooked up. This allows my leisure battery to be charged by the charger with nothing being taken out.



also, if you dont want to cut a big hole in your bodywork, this is a alternative

love where that hook up is. very clever indeed.

Mocki wrote:its far better in the long run to buy a quality battery charger rather than use a "Zig" imo

I have a "intellgent" charger that i can switch between the leisure battery and the main battery from the control panel.That way i can charger either when hooked up away or at home.

I also have no 240v lighting , only 12v - couldnt see the point of having two lots of lights scattered about when one will do. When i park up and hook up i have a relay that switches everything that would run off the leisure battery onto a 30amp PSU which runs off the mains, so everything 12v becomes hooked up. This allows my leisure battery to be charged by the charger with nothing being taken out.



also, if you dont want to cut a big hole in your bodywork, this is a alternative

100% agree.

I have purchased a 'inteligent' trickle charger that I will be fitting when I start the interior rebuld very soon. I am planning to run a 'fused spur' to a socket hidden away in my 'electrical area' (12V fuse board area, where the charger and also the controller for solar panels will be).

I admit, I thought about putting the 'hook up' on the 'inspection flap' like you and a few others have done, but I decided that for me it was better 'out of the way' when hooked up

thanks for the help.
think I will keep it simple for now and build from there
cheers

elvisinthekitchen wrote:thanks for the help.
think I will keep it simple for now and build from there
cheers

Just what I am doing. Leave as much flex in between sockets if you plan to alter in the future

1664 wrote:Yes, although the usual way would be to run the hook up cable to the consumer unit and then run a single out to the motorcaravan structure but so as long as it's done it's not critical how.

The Regulations when these vans were first around didn't specify anything, but the new ones do.....

72BUG wrote:Surely it's more practical to use normal twin and earth.

and that's not allowed any more either

I'm now confused slightly, by 'normal twin and earth' are we talking normal 3 core flex (L,E,N in one flex) or L,N in one with a seperate earth, or the crazy grey lighting stuff with different sized cores?

I have the same L,E,N 'artic flex' that my hookup cable is made of going from the hookup socket to the consumer unit that is immediately adjacent, I then run an additional earthing wire from the earth rail in the consumer unit to the van bodywork immediately behind the unit. Do I additionally have to earth the chassis directly to the earth pin of the hookup socket on my van to meet these regs or does the earth rail of my consumer unit count as the 'main earthing point'?

The 'normal twin & earth' is the flat grey cable with two insulated cores (Brown & Blue) and the slightly smaller central bare earth core that's used to wire domestic installations (mostly). The reason it is not 'allowed' any more is because the copper cores are solid and not stranded and it is unsuitable for use in environments that are subject to long term vibration as it can cause metal fatigue at stress points and lead to hot spots. You do get vibration in houses but hardly on a par with a camper or motorhome. Using the same flex as the hook up to wire your socket is fine. The main earthing terminal is the earth bar in the consumer unit - if the van structure is bonded to that then it's enough.
If you have any doubts about what you're doing, get an electrician to look at it when you're done. A new installation should be fully tested and have a certificate issued stricktly speaking anyway so you'd need a sparkie for that.

Having said all of that, my van was wired in 1990 before any of these regulations came into force and has twin and earth cable, single pole circuit breakers and no earth to the vehicle structure.

1664 wrote: Having said all of that, my van was wired in 1990 before any of these regulations came into force and has twin and earth cable, single pole circuit breakers and no earth to the vehicle structure.

Same here, but I did mine about a fortnight ago.

flex is probably cheaper the t&e at the moment as well.

Woof wrote:

1664 wrote:Yes, although the usual way would be to run the hook up cable to the consumer unit and then run a single out to the motorcaravan structure but so as long as it's done it's not critical how.

The Regulations when these vans were first around didn't specify anything, but the new ones do.....

72BUG wrote:Surely it's more practical to use normal twin and earth.

and that's not allowed any more either

I'm now confused slightly, by 'normal twin and earth' are we talking normal 3 core flex (L,E,N in one flex) or L,N in one with a seperate earth, or the crazy grey lighting stuff with different sized cores?

I have the same L,E,N 'artic flex' that my hookup cable is made of going from the hookup socket to the consumer unit that is immediately adjacent, I then run an additional earthing wire from the earth rail in the consumer unit to the van bodywork immediately behind the unit. Do I additionally have to earth the chassis directly to the earth pin of the hookup socket on my van to meet these regs or does the earth rail of my consumer unit count as the 'main earthing point'?

you are welcome to bring it to me when you are done and i will check it for you. i promise to do it properly after the clanger earlier in the thread. i could test it on my charging socket as i have all the readings for that already.