Battery charging on hook up (1 Viewer)

[Vlad The Impaler]

Just come back from first trip away at searles Hunstanton,a bit like Benidorm ,not what I bought the van for but kids loved it .The main reason for the trip was to get used to van in readiness for our trip to Mull and Bute.Spotted a FUNSTER flying a Motorhome Fun flag in a fiat based Roadster van with a large satellite on roof.However never got the chance to chat.
I spent 3 days on hook up and used everything including fridge,which was on 240 constant.I was wondering why when I got back my battery gauge was showing three quarters .Considering I had 2 new batteries fitted last week should they not be fully charged?
Thanks Steve.

 

[TheBig1]

on many vans, you have a switch to select which battery (vehicle or leisure) to use and this also chooses which to charge. its not an automatic selection, so you learn to switch over occassionally to keep both topped up.

alternatively have a batterymaster relay fitted, which takes any charge to the vehicle battery once the leisure battery reaches full charge (ideal if you have a solar panel). another option is to fit a secondary trickle charger/conditioner to the van battery if you keep the van hooked up at home

 

[pappajohn]

Battery charger turned on ?????

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[Viennese]

Battery charger

working??????? I just had to have a new one!

Catherine

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Battery

How do I know if the battery charger is automatic or not? On my control panel there is a battery switch, when this is on the internal lights work, however, when at hook up I turned this switch off, tv and fridge still worked but lights didn't? Is this an good to you?

 

[Jaws]

Well you could just measure the battery voltage, then plug the hook up in and measure again.. That is the simplest way :thumb:

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[spannermanwigan]

On our Apache under the dinette forward facing seat you will find the vans charger unit,
this has a orange switch which also illuminates when switched to the charge position.
this will only be illuminated when connected to hook up. I leave ours switched on all the time.
everything operates fine.

Battery switch on panel near door simply turns off/on 12v supply inside van, does not control charging, treat it as isolation switch.

hope this answers your questions

also replied with pm

regards
Steve
:thumb:

 

[rangi]

If your Leisure is under your passengers seat check the fuse, it's just in front of the Battery, a little black thingee, some times the fuse blows, it's a 30amp, bit of 30amp fuse wire will do to replace it.

Just a thought

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Charger

Had a look under seat can only see boiler and water pump,what does a charger look like.Do your batteries Still charge whilst driving if charger not on

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[FULL TIMER]

The battery charger will only be on when you are on electric hook up, this should be able to be left on all the time it also acts as a 12v power source as well and you will only take power from batteries if you exceed the output of the charger. Wether it is switched on or not whilst travelling has no effect at all on the batteries getting charged, there is a seperate device called a split charge relay which allows the auxillery batteries to get charged whilst the engine is running, this relay usually powers the fridge 12v as well . there should be a fuse to this relay at the positive terminal on the main vehicle battery.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

What does a charger look like and do you have to turn it on and off

 

[pappajohn]

What does a charger look like and do you have to turn it on and off

an aftermarket charger may look something like this ...

A factory fitted one may look like this...

Try looking in the wardrobe, or even under the wardrobe floor if it has a false bottom.


there is no need to turn it off as it only works when on hookup.

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[pvw10]

Had a look under seat can only see boiler and water pump,what does a charger look like.Do your batteries Still charge whilst driving if charger not on

Wrong seat Steve its the dining area seats

 

[tonka]

On our 2005 model apache 700, the charger was in the top left overhead cupboard just behind the drivers seat,, It was a model PSU 2005 made by Sergent.
http://sargentshop.co.uk/epages/esh...964/Categories/TechData/"Product Information"

I would first check the charger fuse, it should be labeled.. If you van is similar to our old one and the leisure battery (s) is in the rear nearside locker space, then there is usually a fuse there as well. HOWEVER if that was blown you would get no 12v power at all.
Simple test.. By a basic multimeter and set it to DC VOLTS 20v range,
Connect red and black in right order to one of the leisure batteries. You should have a voltage (hopefully) in the 12v region... Connect the mains lead and check the charger light is on the PSU unit.. If the charger is working you should see a higher voltage like 13.8v to confirm that its getting charge.
There is always a chance the charger is turned off in the cupboard !! or that it's faulty.

Good luck,,,,
Cant stop, 27 degrees here in Benidorm and my cider is getting warm...

 

[spannermanwigan]

Had a look under seat can only see boiler and water pump,what does a charger look like.Do your batteries Still charge whilst driving if charger not on

Yours should look like this

Broken Link Removed

yes your batteries will still charge whilst driving , they charge via a relay under your bonnet
close to engine battery.

hope this helps
:thumb:Steve

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[ourcampersbeentrashed]

Cant believe you didnt come over and say hello to us.

Yes it was our funster flag flying high at Searles Hunstanton for the past 14 days.

Interestingly it was used by lots of people as a locator and was a talking point too so heres hoping some of the motorhomers we met have joined.

Hope you get it all sorted xxxxxx Why not take some photos and post them on fun so others can see the set up you have, that may help xxxx