Fitting a leisure battery

Post by **Jonni** » 17 Jun 2006, 16:29

Hi,

I going to fit a leisure battery to my '86 autosleeper. It isn't wired up for one. I take all I'll need is a relay/split charger thingy, like JK sell for £19.95 and an earth strap for the battery. I thought an 85 amp batt? How does the slit chargeer/relay thingy work? I assume it allows the leisure battery to charge when the engine is running via the alternator and that when the ignition is off, all the internal electrics will run off the leisure rather than the main battery.

Am I right?

Jonni

Post by **Horney** » 17 Jun 2006, 16:34

Spot on but you need to make sure that all the stuff in the back of the van is wired to run off the leisure battery and not the van battery.

I'm going to be doing this shortly myself and will also be fitting a switch for the head unit so you can switch which power source it runs off. THe leisure battery will then run the Headunit and strip lights in the back and a couple of sockets for a 12v TV, mobile charger etc.

Nick

Post by **Jonni** » 17 Jun 2006, 17:18

Thanks Nick, but what do I need to buy/do to ensure theat the internals are running off the leisure and not the main battery? Could you explain a bit more as I haven't got a clue what I'm doing!

Website · Post by **dbroada** » 17 Jun 2006, 17:36

I'm sure this is covered on the wiki but if not check the links page of my web site for skorpio or goatboy for fitting instructions.

Basically the relay (one from a breakers are much cheaper than the JK ones) is activated by the alternator charging light. This closes the relay and joins the +ve terminals of the batteries.

You will need a relay, some good wire, 2 fuses (one either end of the battery sharing lead) and a further fuse box to distribute your LB volts.

Post by **Hacksawbob** » 17 Jun 2006, 21:49

fitting a split charger

Leisure_batteries_that_fit

Post by **Jonni** » 17 Jun 2006, 23:51

Thanks for the links. I haven't had a goof look around the site yet. Will do now.

Many thanks

Jonni

Post by **"WEAZLECHIN"** » 20 Jun 2006, 07:13

thats a good diagram...... dont spend £20 on a relay, no, no,no they are £2.50 in most motor factors, i got one off ebay for £2, 5 pole for my westy, when i took the original off i noticed it was only 30a, and the new one £2, was 45a. even better.