Club 80-90 Forums

Ok I have been assisting Jeffj with restore Autohomes Komet in bodywork seats and glass and have had the van for a few days to do some tinkering. Been pottering around with leisure battery connecting things up to see what works etc

I found that with the leisure battery connected and the main starting battery disconnected and the 12v switch set to position 1 all the van electrics worked, example I could turn the ign on, sidelights could turned on etc Now to me this is a big NO NO or is this normal? Or does it draw power from both sources? Only asking as I have never had anything with a Zig before. I use relays for split charge and 12v fridge.

I have downloaded the instructions for the Zig and I am currently digesting these. There does seem to have been some alterations done to the wiring around the relay area etc and this could be suspect.

Should I just do what I am thinking and wire it up as per the instructions and take things from there? Any help will be much appreciated.

Mark

There should be a switch on the Zig labelled something like 'Touring'/'Onsite' - if this is set to the 'Touring' position then it connects the Leisure Battery to the Main Battery - so if the Main battery has been removed then I suppose that the vehicle would draw power from the Leisure only (which could cause big problem if for example you tried to start the van - massive current draw from the starter through those not-so-thick wires!!).

Some folks have disconnected the connection from the Zig to the Main battery - not sure why it exists at all as it seems like a neat way to drain the main battery if the switch is set to the wrong position by accident. I think it's there to allow you to charge the Leisure from the Main when the engine is running - but a split charge relay does a much safer/better job of this (rather than relying on you remembering to switch the switch on/off when the engine is on/off!!)(Think that it also had a function if fitted to a caravan and someone is in the back while travelling and wants to use the vehicle power rather than the caravan battery power but ....... really its much safer to juct disconnect the wire to the Main battery!)

Not sure where this came from originally - but here's a schematic of the Zig internals ... should help.

It charges the leisure battery when you are on the move but you have to remember to switch it back manually and I always forgot so fitted a relay.

Thanks very much for the replies Fella's! Think the way to go is have split charge relay for the batteries and supply the Zig 12v just from the leisure battery.