Engine battery charging (1 Viewer)

Soaringman

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Jan 24, 2012
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Being a newbie just found out that connecting the ehu does not charge the engine battery :Sad:
Must be a reason but seems stupid to me.
I phoned the dealer and he said put a small solar panel on the dash connected to the cigarette lighter, but that only comes on with ignition.
Is there an easy/cheap way to charge whilst on ehu, or do I need to put it into the garage and get a gizmo fitted.
Thanks
Martin
 

haganap

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Dec 5, 2007
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I'm an oldbie MH number 9
Being a newbie just found out that connecting the ehu does not charge the engine battery :Sad:
Must be a reason but seems stupid to me.
I phoned the dealer and he said put a small solar panel on the dash connected to the cigarette lighter, but that only comes on with ignition.
Is there an easy/cheap way to charge whilst on ehu, or do I need to put it into the garage and get a gizmo fitted.
Thanks
Martin

Martin, if that is your van in the pic, I would be amazed if it does not charge the engine battery. Vans of lot lower spec and much older do both at the sae time. Are you sure you don't have a blown fuse somewhere?
 
Dec 6, 2011
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hi and welcome. :thumb:..
if thats your van in the Avatar i would be surprised if there is no method of supplying the engine battery when on EHU. however, a battery master from Vanbitz or the like will do the trick cost from around £30 - £80 depending on what type of unit you get. plus fitting if needed.

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jhorsf

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May 15, 2009
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Most just trickle a small current to the starter battery

I plug in an auto battery charger in the van and crock clip it to the starter battery in the winter when on home hook up
 
Nov 18, 2011
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Most just trickle a small current to the starter battery

I plug in an auto battery charger in the van and crock clip it to the starter battery in the winter when on home hook up

that's the answer i would give to that's Wat i do:thumb:

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Soaringman

Soaringman

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Jan 24, 2012
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Thanks for all of your replies, yes I am surprised that a 2010 N&B Arto does not charge the engine battery, but I spoke to James at Travelworld (service manager) and he said it doesn't :Doh:

I have spoken to Eddie at van blitz and they do have a solution at a price. I would need it installed, not that confident with that stuff:Sad:
Thanks
 
Dec 6, 2011
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Thanks for all of your replies, yes I am surprised that a 2010 N&B Arto does not charge the engine battery, but I spoke to James at Travelworld (service manager) and he said it doesn't :Doh:

I have spoken to Eddie at van blitz and they do have a solution at a price. I would need it installed, not that confident with that stuff:Sad:
Thanks

email N&B owners club nbowners@btinternet.com before parting with cash.... it must have a link in the panel.... after all its an N&B and a 2010:Eeek:
 

Don Quixote

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Jul 29, 2012
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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
If it is a 2010 model I cannot believe that it does not have an up to date system that charges both. Before going down the road of buying something else I would do as others have stated and check on the make/model forum and I would take it to a get MH garage and ask them to check out the charging system as it could be something simple like a failed fuse or the charging system is not connect to the Veh battery?

I have looked at mine just now having been parked up now since 22nd Dec and Leisure batts are 95% charged ( using TV lights etc right now ) and Veh Barrera is 85% charged ( as using radio to listen to TV through speakers ) so it is charging both.

John
 
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ubuntu1

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Feb 13, 2008
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b2b

There are some good battery to battery chargers out there that will sort out this problem. I can let you have details of a mobile engineer in Lancs that can fit it for you.
 
Jan 19, 2012
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May be no help, but...there's a button on the control panel of our autocruise that the dealer told me switches the hab consumption from leisure to starter battery 'in case of emergency'. Forumites advised that this would also work in reverse - to charge the starter battery instead of the leisure one whilst on hook-up. And it does! Was gratifying to see the starter batt voltage jump up on the display when the switching button was depressed. As said, it may have no relevance, but it took me a while to work out!

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magicsurfbus

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Oct 11, 2010
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A small solar panel on the dashboard won't make much difference in winter when light levels are low and windscreens get misted and frosted. I've got an 85W panel on the roof and connect my leisure battery to my engine battery via a temporary split relay charger when in storage, and to be honest that set-up struggles when it's as gloomy as it has been lately.

Consequently I'm bringing my 2005 CI home from storage today for a goodly dose of EHU to keep both batteries topped up, so it surprises me that a 2010 model doesn't have that basic facility.

As others have suggested, installing some sort of shared charging set-up would be the only permanent answer - I wouldn't put too much faith in small solar panels.
 

JeanLuc

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Nov 17, 2008
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Does your Arto have the Schaudt Electrobloc (EBL) charging system? I thought all Hymer Group vans used these, but perhaps the newer ones do not. If it does, then it should charge both battery sets, but the leisure batteries take priority. If your engine battery is not being charged, I would suspect a faulty fuse, or possibly poor contacts somewhere in the system.
Definitely don't buy any new charging equipment until you have done some more checking. If all else fails, contact N&B in Germany, or Udo Lang at Shaudt (assuming you do have an EBL). As others have said, it is very unlikely that the standard system does not charge the starter battery whilst on EHU.
 

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