Club 80-90 Forums

Hope someone can help and point me in the right direction

I recently fitted a split charge relay to charge a Leisure battery (LB) in the engine bay
All seemed to work using a text lamp. I went out tonight and accidently left the parking light on. When the van started perfectly the battery light remained on. I stopped the engine and re started, this time it sounded flat and light remained on. I also noticed the fan was not working ( may be a seperate issue )

has anyone else had this problem?
Could the alternator be at the end of its life, or do I need to upgrade?
Any advice I would be grateful. Cheers Chris

Engine type might help

Its a 1.9 Pertrol. 1986 caravelle. Not sure of engine code. i will post when I go home later

Disconnect the leisure battery.
Fire the engine up.
Put a digital voltmeter on the battery terminals (set the meter to read DC volts).
Take a reading at a fast tickover.
Anything less that 13.6 volts means it is not charging. (should be around 14.0 volts)

Common cause of not charging = the voltage regulator / brush pack (around £12) on the back of the alternator or duff wiring from the alternator to the battery (the red wire about as thick as a pencil)

Next most common cause = a duff alternator itself = around £50 (Europarts are good - google them if ness, they have local branches.

Hi..

I just had the alternator changed on mine - it was reading less than 14 volts on fast tick over and if you turned everything on it was struggling to get 12.5V... If I remember correctly if the alternator is not charging at all the red battery light on the dash does not come on at all on the ignition key setting before firing up. If it stays on I think it is not charging enough or a wiring problem...cannot remember for sure.

My alternator was from 1997! Had been through two or so brush re-builds and prob. 3 voltage stabilizer packs at the back according to the Bosch man. The new one was a huge improvement on starting also - less turning over to start. And, when the engine starts all the dash lights get brighter (well less dull!) showing it is kicking out what it should.

Hope it's just a wiring problem and therefore cheaper to repair (other than the time searching......)

Tom.

Thanks all for you help.

I have checked out the wiring using a digital volt meter.
At the main battery ( MB) with engine turned off and on - 12v ( 11.8v)
Disconnected the leisure battery (LB), no change, the main battery still showing 12v

I took a reading off the alternator, with engine running, 14.8 volts coming out. Going into the split charge its 14.8 . Coming out going to the main battery its 11.8volts . Do I have a duff split charger? I tried a spare relay and still the same readings. I double checked the set up and everything is on the right place

What should the readings be coming out of the relay? I guess the LB is just a trickle charge but the MB should be more than 13volts to charge it back up quickly.
Any more info would be a help before I take it down the garage.
Yes the relay was an ebay-tastic purchase but feedback from other said they had no problems.
Chris

ndcxs16 wrote: I have checked out the wiring using a digital volt meter.
At the main battery ( MB) with engine turned off and on - 12v ( 11.8v)
Disconnected the leisure battery (LB), no change, the main battery still showing 12v

That's a bit low actually, it should be around 12.5 volts on a battery that is properly charged up (maybe yours is not charged right up because of the fault - have you charged it up with a home battery charger yet ?)

ndcxs16 wrote:I took a reading off the alternator, with engine running, 14.8 volts coming out. Going into the split charge its 14.8 . Coming out going to the main battery its 11.8volts . Do I have a duff split charger? I tried a spare relay and still the same readings. I double checked the set up and everything is on the right place

What should the readings be coming out of the relay?

Same as going in, i.e. around 14.summat volts.

ndcxs16 wrote:I guess the LB is just a trickle charge but the MB should be more than 13volts to charge it back up quickly.

No, the leisure gets the full charge voltage, same as the main battery, but only when the engine is running.
When it is not running, the split charge relay just separates the leisure battery from the main battery and the main van electrics.

Chances are the relay is not faulty, I bet you just have either a wire off somewhere or a blown fuse near the split charge relay thing.