Another daft question. (1 Viewer)

[Silas]

Does the habitation battery automatically charge when I run the engine or is there a switch somewhere to select it?

 

[Podney]

Silas,there is no such thing as a daft question on Motorhome Fun!
Plenty of daft answers maybe!
Most do,without selecting a switch. But I don’t know if they all do. What van is it?

 

[Silas]

It' a 1996 Kontiki 640t

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[PhilandMena]

Do you have the manuals that came with the motorhome ?
An easy way is to put a multimeter on the battery and then start the engine.

 

[Silas]

No. Nothing at all. Can't seem to find any anywhere on line either.

 

[Reallyretired]

I had a kontiki years back, earlier than yours but leisure battery only charged when the switch was selected for the leisure battery.

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[Silas]

There is a three way ticket switch connected to a voltmeter that seems to show the charge in each battery and the centre position is off. I don' know if this has to be set to charge one or the other or if it is simply a charge indicator.

 

[Silas]

Actually I think it selects which battery to use for the 12v habitation circuit

 

[mushy]

I've got a Kontiki (52 reg) and indeed the switch shows engine or hab battery. I switch mine off most of the time and then on when I need power. The hab battery has always remained fully charged so obviously it must charge when the engine is running. I recently had a hab service and the engineer said there was no voltage going to the battery when on tick over so must assume the alternator kicks in when there are suitable revs as when you are driving. You will soon find out if your battery goes flat but I very much doubt it will.

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[pappajohn]

There is a three way ticket switch connected to a voltmeter that seems to show the charge in each battery and the centre position is off. I don' know if this has to be set to charge one or the other or if it is simply a charge indicator.

That switch has nothing to do with the engine charging the leisure battery.
That is performed by the split charge relay and is fully automatic.... Start the engine, the leisure battery receives a charge.

The switch you mention is for mains hookup charging.
Select hab battery and it will both charge, via the on board charger, and use the hab battery.
Select cab (engine) battery and it charges and uses the engine battery.
Select the center position it neither uses nor charges either battery but uses the charger as a mains powered 12v power supply.


If your hab battery isn't getting a charge from the (running) engine the 1st thing to check is the relay and its nearby fuse.
It should be fixed to the bulkhead above the engine battery next to the identical fridge relay.
They are a standard 30a car relay.
Swap them over to check functionality.

 

[Silas]

That is very helpful. Thanks

 

[funflair]

The easy way to check is to check the habitation battery voltage without the engine running and then again with it running, if the voltage increases Yes its charging.

Martin

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[TerryL]

On my 07 Swift Bolero the alternator charged both engine and hab batteries, until the engine battery was full then the output dropped and only a trickle went to the hab battery.
That was the reason for me fitting a Sterling B2B charging unit, which, simply put, "fools" the alternator into thinking the engine battery needs charging. It also does it at a much higher rate so that now a half hours run tops everything back up. With an additional hab battery and 100w solar panel, plus a Battery Master, I never worry too much about battery power.

My point is, I believe many "older" motorhomes didn't have split-charging relays and relied on a lengthy run to recharge the hab battery.