Club 80-90 Forums

Am a complete newbie to all this, but been using the forums for advice so thank you to all those who've been so generous. Am now in my 1990 Autosleeper Trident on the road for the summer... And hit my first snag.

Leisure battery appears not to be charging or there's a problem with the split relay system (?) Or a fuse gone or a short...?

Had a new battery fitted when buying her month ago. 12v lights all worked fine for first few nights (also hooked up) then one evening noticed the lights visibly dim. Switched them off and assumed leisure battery would get charged up on next journey. Just used the light that is powered by hook-up. But battery light on Zig MC-2000 still showing low and 12v lights still burning at reduced power.

Am I doing something silly? Like should the 12v and pump switch be turned to off when I'm driving? Or does that not matter? Is there anything obvious I can check myself?

Battery shows normal (green light) when engine is running. As I understand it, the charging should be happening as a matter of course and no switch for me to flick.

Basically I need someone who has a clue to take a look. I'm in Wales (Hay on Wye) and travelling up to Mold at the weekend, before Holyhead and across to Dublin on Monday. Like to get it sorted before Ireland and wild camping. Anyone have any recommendations of people \ mechanics I could see? Free to travel anywhere really.

Many thanks,

SilentDelight

From your Alternator there should be TWO thick red wires...yes?
one of these goes to your battery under the drivers seat
The other will go to a relay, mine is in the engine bay yours ...who knows
it is triggered by a wire from the alternator.

this relay controls the charge to the leisure battery.

if the earth is no good or the trigger wire has corroded..then nothing will happen

To add to what Kev has said....I think you also need to look at a mains leisure charger if that Zig unit hasn't got one built in (which seems a bit unusual but then I'm not familiar with standard equipment on that conversion).
The mains hookup really needs to be charging the leisure whilst connected.

As a temporary fix you could carry a car battery charger with you and connect it whilst on hookup.

Even when working well you cannot expect the split charge circuit to do ALL the re-charging work as it would take a substantial journey (5 hours plus) to put a useful charge back into a big leisure battery.

Martin