Club 80-90 Forums

Hi guy's
Question for the T25/T3 Massive...

Just taken my drivers seat out on my Westie to charge up the leisure battery ready for camping this weekend (sunny weather at last - yippee)
I've got a big ole split-charge relay in place so it gets topped up when driving ect but battery indicator suggests it could do with a charge. It took a thwack a few weekends ago due to me running my RM 182A fridge on 12v while driving to keep my beer and food cool on our way to our last camp trip.
Anyway....my question is this....did I actually need to disconnect the battery to charge or could I have just connected to the vehicle battery and let the relay switch over when the vehicle battery reaches it's capacity ??
It's a bit of a faf keep taking out the driver's seat to charge the leisure battery.....beit only now and yhen, but still a pain in the perverbial.
Your thoughts please.

Turk

A couple of observations, firstly whilst i am not familiar with westy wiring , the fridge should not be connected to the leisure battery at all for 12v cooling , it should be connected to the main battery via a alternator triggered relay so it can only run when the engine is running , second point yes you can charge the leisure battery without disconnecting it with a mains charger , but i thought westy had a BBB under the bed that charged the leisure battery when on hook up anyway .
Dont get sucked in by the urban myth that the split charge relay charges one battery then the other, it does not , it just joins the two batteries together as soon as the trigger voltage is reached if its a so called VSR , or as soon as the alternator sends the trigger to the alternator if its a traditional split charge .

Mocki wrote: ↑17 Jul 2024, 19:44 A couple of observations, firstly whilst i am not familiar with westy wiring , the fridge should not be connected to the leisure battery at all for 12v cooling , it should be connected to the main battery via a alternator triggered relay so it can only run when the engine is running , second point yes you can charge the leisure battery without disconnecting it with a mains charger , but i thought westy had a BBB under the bed that charged the leisure battery when on hook up anyway .
Dont get sucked in by the urban myth that the split charge relay charges one battery then the other, it does not , it just joins the two batteries together as soon as the trigger voltage is reached if its a so called VSR , or as soon as the alternator sends the trigger to the alternator if its a traditional split charge .

Hey Mocki,

Mine is an American Westfalia....if that makes any difference.
It's been mentioned before that the fridge shouldn't cool off the leisure battery on 12v....there is a relay under the driver seat (LHD) right next to the leisure battery so as everything else with the fridge runs off the leisure battery and the submersible water pump for the sink too I just assumed that as the battery was quite low it must have been the fridge on 12v.

So...urban myth about split charge relay...
What's the point in your opinion in having one if it doesn't charge the leisure battery when driving? (If I've got that correct ??)

Also there's no charging gear under the bed..doesn't look like there ever was....didn't have the Westfalia heater either, but she was originally an air-cooled petrol.....many, many moons ago.

Any advice for easier charging is gratefully received.

Turk

No you are misunderstanding me , the split charge does charge the leisure battery , the myth is it charges the main battery and then when it is charged switches over and charges the leisure battery , which simply isnt true , it switches on as soon as the engine is running and joins the two batteries together and they are charged as one big battery

Unless that is , you spend a lot on a Battery to battery microprocessor charger

Mocki wrote: ↑18 Jul 2024, 06:34 No you are misunderstanding me , the split charge does charge the leisure battery , the myth is it charges the main battery and then when it is charged switches over and charges the leisure battery , which simply isnt true , it switches on as soon as the engine is running and joins the two batteries together and they are charged as one big battery

Unless that is , you spend a lot on a Battery to battery microprocessor charger

Ahhhh
Cheers Steve, got it now.

Turk

Jumping on this post as a newbie sorry!!

So with a split charger both batteries will be charged by the alternator....heres the bit...when driving?!.....but......can I connect a mains powered battery charger to the main (start) battery and will that then charge both? (I would be using a smart one like a victron).

Thanks in advance for the help.

Terry