plug in the electric hook up at home?

[powelly]

Found out this weekend that my 12v system isnt charging off the electrical hookup it was suggested that the fault is the relay near the leisure battery however my first thought is how can I actually test this without a hook up.

So can I buy or make an adaptor so I can plug the hookup into the mains at home if so what's it called and where do I get one?

[mal0r]

Powelly, you can. I have one. I can also get my hands on one if you need it.

[mal0r]

They sell them in the caravan shop across the road from our house, they just plug into your normal home socket and host an end that you plug your hook-up into. Dunno if they have a special name. Can't remember the cost, but was probably a tenner or fifteen sovs, something like that.

[powelly]

aha caravan shops, really need to find a local one, but I have found what I need online.

http://www.towsure.com/product/538-Main ... _Household

cheers!

[Mocki]

depending on the conversion, you may well find ( when you have a hook up adaptor) that you dont have a battery charger, just a control panel.......
if this is the case just go get a small charger and hard wire it to the leisure battery, and whenever you hook up it will charge......zig chargers are only trickle chargers anyway......

[noss vanagon]

You just need a normal 3pin plug ,length of cable and a 16 amp trailing socket from city electric or similar

[powelly]

depending on the conversion, you may well find ( when you have a hook up adaptor) that you dont have a battery charger, just a control panel.......
if this is the case just go get a small charger and hard wire it to the leisure battery, and whenever you hook up it will charge......zig chargers are only trickle chargers anyway......

I don't even have a control panel!

[campervanman]

What's on your electrical hookup then?

[powelly]

What's on your electrical hookup then?

I beginning to wonder myself, i had asumed that the 12v charged on hookup as the first night we stayed in the van we didn't flatten the battery, however I cant find anything that looks like a zig unit and in the cupboard where the hookup is there is an rcd on the 230v a 12v fusebox and a 12v junction box.

Im now suspecting it never charged in the first place so think I may have to go down the trickle charger route, if I hard-wire i a trickle charge as suggested is it likely to put in as much as i take out, ie a couple of 12v lights and a dvd player on.

[Mocki]

yep, it will keep up.........
as long as you dont take the pi$$ and run halogen lights and big drain amps.......

[lisa2705]

you can get the bit from argos for about £7 (look in the camping bit)

[1664]

Why bother with a Zig or a charger at all? The leisure battery will charge every time you are driving your hairdryer ( ). You only really need to charge your leisure battery if you don't move for a week or so. I only use a hook up if I'm running low on gas and scared to use the propex.

[powelly]

but it only seems to last a couple of hours with 2 small lights and a DVD player on, does that sound tight or am i leaking electricity somewhere?

[Mocki]

depends on the capacity of your battery........

split charging will never fully charge a battery in the way that a mains charger will......

for the sake of a tenner, get a charger, running batterys flat dont do them no good at all

[keytouch]

ok here's a scenario

all the items being used run on 12v off the leisure battery

Trickle charger hard wired into leisure battery, would this top up the battery whilst devices are taking current from the leisure battery.... or would i need some kind of mains to 12v transformer with a relay to power the devices from mains source whilst the leisure battery was being charged by the trickle charger?

This made sense as I was writing it, hopefully it makes sense to others