Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all. This will seem like a stupid question to the techies on this forum, but how does my leisure battery charge up?

I've a 1989 Komet. There's no fancy switch box or anything inside. I guess the internal lights and 12V sockets work from the leisure battery. The fridge, too (when the rocker switch is in the battery position)? The radio? If there's some fancy circuitry that charges the leisure battery when the engine's running, I imagine that means it'll go flat if I don't move for a few days. Or can it charge from the EHU?

Yours, in ignorance & anticipation.

- TonyS -

If it hasn't got the standard ZIG with built in charger fitted then your leisure battery will only receive charge when your driving (thats assuming you have a split charge relay fitted!) If you have a 13A socket then you will have to charge the leisure battery using a stand alone battery charger. Would have thought that a '89' Komet would have had a ZIG as standard unless the charger is elsewhere in the van. Maybe a Komet owner will clarify if these were an optional extra.

I expect some more of the experts are camping somewhere this weekend but on my '85 Moonraker I have a Hella 4RA Relay mounted just behind the drivers seat near the battery with wires going to the leisure battery and I have always assumed that that was what permitted the leisure battery to charge once the main battery became fully charged. If not perhaps the experts will be able to tell me what it does ? It would be nice to know. How does one physically recognise a Zig Unit ? Does it have Zig printed on it ? All part of the learning curve

The fridge shouldn't operate off the battery. When driving the fridge should be powered by the alternator & when parked up by gas or 230 volt electrickery when on a camp site.

Zig CF series (and the one fitted by many UK conversions) have the logo marked on the front panel. Its just a distribution box with switches, fuses, battery condition monitor and a built in charger. The name Zig is often used to describe all distribution panels even those without chargers even though they are not made by ZIG, a bit like every one used to call a vacuum cleaner a 'hoover'.

getunder wrote: . . . I have a Hella 4RA Relay mounted just behind the drivers seat near the battery with wires going to the leisure battery and I have always assumed that that was what permitted the leisure battery to charge once the main battery became fully charged.

Yup, sounds like this is part of your split charging system. There's info about it in the Wiki:
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... it_charger" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tony

AngeloEvs wrote:The name Zig is often used to describe all distribution panels even those without chargers even though they are not made by ZIG, a bit like every one used to call a vacuum cleaner a 'hoover'.

Agreed. Here's a pic of the CF8 Zig unit:


Here's a pic of the control panel in our Autosleeper. It isn't a Zig unit and it doesn't charge the leisure battery (but the split charger does, when the engine is running):


Tony

TonyS99 wrote: . . . I guess the internal lights and 12V sockets work from the leisure battery . . . The radio? If there's some fancy circuitry that charges the leisure battery when the engine's running, I imagine that means it'll go flat if I don't move for a few days. Or can it charge from the EHU?

afaik, if fitted as standard (i.e. you or somebody else hasn't changed it) the radio is wired to the battery that starts the engine, so if you listen to the radio etc for a long time you might have trouble starting the van. It can be changed and wired to leisure battery, info here:
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... re_battery" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Again, I'm no electrical expert, but leisure battery only charges from EHU if you have a genuine Zig unit, or if a separate battery charger has been wired-in, which I think some people have done.

Tony

I've got an PMS unit supplied by EMC. It is supposed to charge the battery when on hookup but it doesn't seem to work. The voltage I read is the battery voltage. Will need to check the wiring.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I think I understand now.

I don't have a ZIG unit or any other sort of startrekky control panel, worse luck. I must have some sort of split charge relay, coz the leisure battery hasn't gone flat in 9 months & I haven't charged it separately.

Interesting to hear that the fridge operates directly from the alternator when the van's running. S'pose that means if I forget to reset the 3-way switch on the fridge, it won't drain my battery.

If I'm stopping a long time in one place, I'll need to charge the leisure battery, then. Maybe get one of those solar chargers from Maplins for the French trip in August.

Thaknks again, folks.

I wouldn't assume the fridge is connected straight from the alternator. I have seen plenty connected straight to the battery and the first time you forget to turn off the 12v you end up with a very flat battery within minutes. You need a separate split charge relay to run the fridge. Same principle as the relay for the battery. It only allows juice to be drawn when the engine is running.

slobbo wrote: I wouldn't assume the fridge is connected straight from the alternator. I have seen plenty connected straight to the battery and the first time you forget to turn off the 12v you end up with a very flat battery within minutes.

I used the words ''The fridge SHOULDN'T operate off the battery'' & ''When driving the fridge SHOULD be powered from the alternator ''. This is what one would expect from a professional camper converter such as Autohomes. If we were talking about a homebrew conversion then that would be a different matter altogether.