Leisure battery confusion

[phil19gti]

I'm after a bit of assistance if anyone can help regarding the leisure battery in our recently acquired 1985 van. We're off to Glastonbury soon where there will be no electrical hook-up. I tested the wall plugs last night and they didn't work. We've only ever used them via hook-up before, but I was expecting to use them as I thought the leisure battery would power them, but it didn't.

Is this normal, as I'm not exactly sure what the leisure battery does?

Sorry for sounding so naive and thanks in advance.

[R0B]

the wall plugs will only work whilst your on a hook up.as for what the leisure battery powers depends on whats wired up to it.on mine its the eberspacher heater and radio.

[phil19gti]

the wall plugs will only work whilst your on a hook up.as for what the leisure battery powers depends on whats wired up to it.on mine its the eberspacher heater and radio.

Thanks for that, I didn't realise that. I thought the battery would power the wall plugs.

Our leisure battery powers the water pump and the fridge I believe.

If the leisure battery is plugged in and charging, is it taking it's charge from the main van battery?

[R0B]

this may help with explaining the split charge system..https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... it_charger

If the leisure battery is plugged in and charging, is it taking it's charge from the main van battery?

[horns]

You can get a device called an inverter which will convert 12v DC to 240v AC and allow you to plug in mains-powered devices - but unless you buy a large and expensive one, you won't be able to run anything that needs a lot of power, like a hairdryer or a heater. Your leisure battery won't last long running that sort of kit, either.

[phil19gti]

this may help with explaining the split charge system..https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ca ... it_charger

If the leisure battery is plugged in and charging, is it taking it's charge from the main van battery?

If my van is not running/ignition off, the relay indicates it is charging. Is this right?

[R0B]

it should only be charging with the engine running.one battery should not be charging the other if thats what you mean...

[phil19gti]

it should only be charging with the engine running.one battery should not be charging the other if thats what you mean...

That's what it seems to do when it's all connected in. I think it's been wired in so it needs to be disconnected when the van isn't running, and then it charges when it's running.

When the leisure battery is flat, does the power then come from the main battery?

[horns]

It shouldn't - the whole point of a leisure battery is that you don't run down your starter battery and leave yourself stranded.

[andisnewsyncro]

If I was you I'd start again Sounds like you might have inherited a bit of a bodge.

Alternator charges both batteries when running, when you stop there should be a relay to disconnect the starter battery so your leisure battery does all the work for your lights, sink pump etc via a separate fuse box from the leisure battery, without any chance of it draining your starter battery; so you can get home again. It could be that you've got it wired correctly but the relay has failed so it's not isolating the starter battery? (It's a good idea to wire the radio to leisure too)

The wiki page Rob linked to describes it well, but Is there a caravan service centre nearby or someone on here not far from you, if you don't feel confident in checking it over yourself?

[chuckle-bus-tom]

Does your Zig unit have a switch to change the charging method from 'onsite' to 'touring'? That could be the problem with the relay.

[phil19gti]

I was going to suggest asking if anyone in the Manchester/Cheshire area who's hot on wiring could pop and have a look?

I'll take a few photos tonight and post them up and try and explain it a bit more.

I've not noticed a switch but I'll have a look.

[phil19gti]

I've had another look and taken some photos, hopefully this will help me explain it a bit better.

I've basically got my starter battery with a positive and negative cable running towards the leisure battery:



Then at the leisure battery I've got this:




The positive and negative from the starter battery both have spades on near the leisure battery. There is a positive and negative fed into the bottom of the relay (Yellow ICP - is this the relay?) from the leisure battery. Then out of the top of the relay there are two wires (I'm guessing + and -). If I connect the spade connectors up to complete the circuit (starter batter - relay - leisure battery) the indicator on the relay lights up under "Charge".

Strange thing is, whichever way I connect these wires up, the charge light comes on. Even if I just connect the two negative spades.

I'm confused - can someone help me please?

[horns]

That looks bodgetastic - I'd take it to someone who knows about auto electrics if I were you...

[phil19gti]

My stickers probably make it look worse than it is. I just labelled everything up so I could identify which wire was what. From the leisure battery is the fridge, sink and cigarette lighter.