Replacement for zig charger... Any good? (1 Viewer)

mjltigger

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My zig charger is kaput and I wondered if this is any good to replace it..

Broken Link Removed

And.... Will the old switch panel be affected at all?
 

Jaws

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Not really as it seems to be ONLY a charger
You need something that has a 12v continuous output as well really
 

scotjimland

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maxi77

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yes.. excellent kit and if I had a boat it would be my choice.. when it can be mission critical, electrical kit has to be the best ...

but overkill in a motorhome .. shoreside is rarely more than a few steps .. ;)

Strangely you only use them in a boat when secure in a marina with shore power. The big reason they are popular is their charging routine maximises battery life, something I suspect most motorhome owners are quite keen on

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scotjimland

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Strangely you only use them in a boat when secure in a marina with shore power. The big reason they are popular is their charging routine maximises battery life, something I suspect most motorhome owners are quite keen on

I was thinking with the boat's generator .. and I'm sure they are keen on good battery life ..

I just think it's way over spec. for the run of the mill motorhomers needs.... the charger / power supply from Amperor is a good bit of kit without breaking the bank..

In a previous RV I fitted a second hand Victron Multi-plus charger / 1600 watt inverter.. lovely bit of kit.. but I wouldn't have bought if I had to pay full cost.. couldn't justify it..
 
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mjltigger

mjltigger

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@mjltigger The chager suggested by ScotJim is out of stock at present but the same company has the 25 Amp version on offer for just £10 more (£79.95). Looks good value (y)

that looks like a very good charger.. but overkill for a motorhome..

well spotted.. and a better buy

http://www.amperorassociates.co.uk/c-battery_chargers/BatteryC-3_25A.html

And thanks @Jaws

Thanks all. I think the 25amp is better for our needs anyway as we have diesel heating and a double bank of batteries.. Price certainly less than half what the replacement zig is available for and way less than the sterling so think that's the one..

All the buttons on our control panel are rockers and the PCB is similar to a watch so I assume there's no intelligence built in and it doesn't matter that the charger and controller are different is that right?
 
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mjltigger

mjltigger

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Try a read of this, duff batteries can cause charger failure, -: http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/battery-technology.php

Similar to the Amperor, Broken Link Removed as Jaws said, it has a 12v output so useful if battery fails and you have a 230v supply. One of these was fitted to my van by the dealer when the original Nordelectronica unit failed and works OK.

I think what has killed the charger us ikd age. At a guess it went in our van out of a scrap caravan.. It was also probably never meant to handle 200ah of battery and a deisel heater..

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pappajohn

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Beware the amperor.

If it should fail out of warrenty its a throw away item.

Amperor do not offer a repair service....i know, i tried them when mine went t!ts up a while ago.....but i bought it around 7 years ago so it cost less than a tenner a year..
 
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mjltigger

mjltigger

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Beware the amperor.

If it should fail out of warrenty its a throw away item.

Amperor do not offer a repair service....i know, i tried them when mine went t!ts up a while ago.....but i bought it around 7 years ago so it cost less than a tenner a year..

If it lasts that long it will probably outlast the van.. and at that price it has to be the best option out there.
 
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I think what has killed the charger us ikd age. At a guess it went in our van out of a scrap caravan.. It was also probably never meant to handle 200ah of battery and a deisel heater..
The link I gave suggests a 20 Amp charging current or 300 Watt charger. Diesel heaters need batteries in good condition. If you have 2 x 100 AH batteries charge them separately using a changeover switch. That gives you a separate battery for the diesel heater start up.

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mjltigger

mjltigger

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well I have bought the 25amp from the site @Jaws , @Flamenca & @ScotJim suggested so will update when it arrives and is fitted.. I may need to replace my batteries as well as they took a beating when the charger broke but with a bit of luck they will see us through the winter and I can review solar options next summer as well..

now just to negotiate with the neighbours to put the van on the drive for a week to give it a good charge..
 
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mjltigger

mjltigger

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@mjltigger The chager suggested by ScotJim is out of stock at present but the same company has the 25 Amp version on offer for just £10 more (£79.95). Looks good value (y)
as Jaws said..

something like this..

18 amp 3-Stage Battery Charger & Power Supply
http://www.amperorassociates.co.uk/c-battery_chargers/BatteryC-3_18A.html


I got this delivered a couple of days after my last post but only found time to fit it today.

I first tried to decipher the wiring in the consumer unit to remove the old wiring and connect the new straight in but it was very hard to get to and just so much spaghetti so instead I cut the old one off close to the unit and replaced it with a double socket. I then wired the new charger via a standard 13amp plug.. this isn't necessarily how it should be done but the advantage is that the extra socket will come in handy and is still protected by the consumer unit.

All working, connected in and everything powered up - very slightly worrying as I had a spare wire (old one was a zig unit which had 2 red, a black and a green connected to it. I put the two red ones to +ve and the black to negative terminal but couldn't trace the green one so left it.. ) anyway.. all working, even with full load (derv heater, chargers, lights and inverter although not pulling a big load from the inverter) I still managed to get some juice in the batteries.. now I just need to see how the batteries hold up after taking such a beating while the last charger was dying.. thanks again all for your help

On another note, think the van has been parked up for nearly 8 weeks and the engine started turn of the key.. can't be bad :)
 
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mjltigger

mjltigger

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just another question for anyone who knows the answer.. will thisa charger be damaged if I start the engine with the mains connected? Presumably it will just spot the charge coming in from the alternator and stop feeding power but is there a chance this might screw anything up?

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hilldweller

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Ah.. But how long will that be ;).

In theory no problem, solar and hook up charger happily co-exist all the time. Solar and alternator co-exist all the time you are driving.

But with any electrical equipment you can get a volt spike that kills it, this is more likely on a campsite in a thunder storm.

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mjltigger

mjltigger

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In theory no problem, solar and hook up charger happily co-exist all the time. Solar and alternator co-exist all the time you are driving.

But with any electrical equipment you can get a volt spike that kills it, this is more likely on a campsite in a thunder storm.
OK thanks.. I will prevent panic but continue to be careful.. I usually am since I ripped the cable out of the old van driving away with it still attached..

on another note, I managed to sort out my extension leads and reckon I can reach to the hook up point on pretty much all the awkward sites imaginable.. just the longer hose I need to source now...
 

Peter A Forbes

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We had a power supply fail while using the winch in the trailer and with the mains plugged in.

Might have been an isolated case, but we always turn the mains off now when we are loading the engine.

Peter
 

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