Westfalia original BBB charger

[Nelpy]

Hi folks,

I have a 1983 Westafalia still with the original battery charger (which I believe is known as a BBB) - under the back seat. I've seen a few posts here and there on the forum which mention this but I could do with some info from anyone who has one of these.

Basically, how hot is this thing meant to get? When plugged into electric hookup it kicks in and starts buzzing - which I know it's meant to -  and gets hot - which I've heard it's meant to as well, but the heat that this thing is putting out is alarming. It's extremely hot to the point that you can hardly touch it and I can smell the plastic from it. Also the wires coming from it are pretty warm too. From what I've read people seem not to be too concerned about the heat from these, but considering we have to sleep over it I need to know how hot is too hot!
Does anyone have experience of these old chargers - is this normal? I know many people replace these with newer ones which I plan to do but I just want to figure out if this is even safe to use in the meantime.

Thanks.

 

[Jeff J]

Don't know anything about your particular charger but if you are concerned about heat & smell from any electrical appliance then it should not be used until fully tested. It may be it just needs to be in a better vented place but don't use it if you have the slightest doubt about it.

[Robsey]

I have to agree -
if you have ANY concerns that either your van or your loved ones are going to end up being toast, then the logical answer is to turn it off and isolate it from any form of electrical feed.

Wiring on a 39 year old van is going to be well past it's best.
If you have limited ability to check over the electrics, get a qualified auto-spark to check it for you.

At best, it may just need fresh wires and a good clean out,
at worst it could be a ticking time bomb.

[Nelpy]

Thanks for your input guys. I won't be taking any chances with it. I've used it for two years without any problem and really just wanted to compare with other people who have the same original charger - as I know they are prone to put out a bit of heat when in use, but generally they cool down again. I'm wondering if the problem is with the lesiure battery, as I don't think it's charging to full capacity and maybe the charger is working overtime.

I guess its a big topic but does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative or can you point me to any resources? If anyone reading this has swapped the original Westfalia "Buzzing Black Box" charger for a newer one, I'd be interested to know your setup, and how hard/easy it is as a DIY job (when it comes to electrics I wouldn't be messing about unless it was very simple). 

The setup I have seems pretty basic. Electric hookup into charger - two outputs from charger, one to starter/lesiure batteries, one to underseat heater. All I'd be wanting to do is keep it as it is, but replace the charger and have the same outputs.

Thanks again.

 

[Jeff J]

https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/battery-ch ... r-van.html I would suggest you  perhaps get an expert to install it for you.

[Nelpy]

Thanks for the link Jeff. I've noticed that this is what alot of people replace it with. I found that the lesiure battery was very low and will probably need replaced. After charging it fully with a seperate charger the onboard charger is now running normally again. I guess it just isn't up to charging a very low battery. I'll have it replaced with the Victron just to be safe.

Thanks again.

[Jeff J]

In your original post you did not say it was carrying out a charge cycle just connected to electric hook up. If that is the case then personally I would not trust it even if it has now started working normally. I see the B/W charger is relatively expensive & I have a much cheaper one in mine (less than half that price). If you find someone who knows what they are doing & can look at & work out what you need I am fairly sure they will come up with a smart charger properly rated that will suit your requirements.