B2B (1 Viewer)

Feb 24, 2013
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Bolsover, Derbyshire
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not long enough
Jim posted a link to one these today

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I have been thinking about similar already, but reading the instructions wonder just how easy it is to fit yourself

then remembered I have tried twice to find my engine battery and failed both times

do you think I maybe lack the necessary??

seriously though, if it so easy would it be fair to think I wont be charged too much to have one fitted?

That would be my preference, is this the sort of thing that people do at shows? we are going to Lincoln
 

Pat4Neil

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Sep 28, 2008
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Eddie van bitz might fit it if tge arest tge show, or roadpro, dont know if david newell does that type of thing, if you dont know where your battery is, i would recommend you get it fitted.
 

grasscutter

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Oct 11, 2009
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Failing that how about buying the B2B and then getting a couple of crates of alcohol and inviting all the funsters to help fitting it.:rofl:

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Steve

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May 8, 2013
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great piece of kit(y)
but to fit properly, let someone who can garrantee the work. there are some censer wires that need to be connected and the right size cables

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gwyntaxi

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If you can't find your battery I would leave it to some one who can,it's not a difficult job but if you have any doubts about your ability to do the job,I'd leave it to the experts for the sake of £30-£40 its not worth watch
-ing your pride and joy go up in flames through mis-wiring,Dave Newell sounds like a good bet,seems a gen
-uine enough guy.
 
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DavidG58
Feb 24, 2013
12,991
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Bolsover, Derbyshire
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not long enough
great piece of kit(y)
but to fit properly, let someone who can garrantee the work. there are some censer wires that need to be connected and the right size cables

If you can't find your battery I would leave it to some one who can,it's not a difficult job but if you have any doubts about your ability to do the job,I'd leave it to the experts for the sake of £30-£40 its not worth watch
-ing your pride and joy go up in flames through mis-wiring,Dave Newell sounds like a good bet,seems a gen
-uine enough guy.

I will be getting it done, looking for fitter local to East Mids / Yorkshire though

Will see what we find at Lincoln Show, there is a local firm Auto Mate who may be there, I have used them before

(y)
 

TerryL

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Mar 5, 2010
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Any good auto-electrician should be able to do the job in well under an hour. They are really quite simple although you do have to get it right and, if as others say, you have any doubts about your ability it's money well spent.

Well pleased with ours.

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Sep 23, 2013
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Are you sure you need one? Have a hunt through the M/H documentation to see what make of 12V control system you have. I would expect your van to have something that is already going some way towards doing what a B2B unit would do.

If you have a Schaudt Electroblock fitted already, then it's unlikely you will get the expected benefit.

Any UK conversion more than 5 years old (& quite a few new ones) will almost certainly benefit. I'm not sure yours would fit that category. I recognise your van as yours when I see it, but I can't remember the make, model & year.
 
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DavidG58
Feb 24, 2013
12,991
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Bolsover, Derbyshire
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not long enough
Are you sure you need one? Have a hunt through the M/H documentation to see what make of 12V control system you have. I would expect your van to have something that is already going some way towards doing what a B2B unit would do.

If you have a Schaudt Electroblock fitted already, then it's unlikely you will get the expected benefit.

Any UK conversion more than 5 years old (& quite a few new ones) will almost certainly benefit. I'm not sure yours would fit that category. I recognise your van as yours when I see it, but I can't remember the make, model & year.


Thanks Simon

Ours is an 09 spec Hymer 800S, with the Schaudt system

I often wonder why some of the questions that come up relating to charging do, ours seems to do things differently

we have Hab and Cab simultaneous charging from mains hook up and our solar panel charges Cab when Hab 80% full (I am guessing a bit on the 80% bit, but I do know it changes over at some point)

One of my biggest concerns is that we have a permanently live 12V cigar type outlet in the cab, connected to the cab battery, I have flattened the cab battery once with over use off hook up, don't want to do it again

Is a B2B not the right answer?
 
Sep 16, 2013
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Might also be worth looking at the CTEK D250s Dual.

You can connect your solar panels to this as well and it will charge your leisure batteries and engine battery.

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gibbon

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Feb 25, 2013
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Might also be worth looking at the CTEK D250s Dual.

You can connect your solar panels to this as well and it will charge your leisure batteries and engine battery.
We have the above, fitted by Dave Newell. Works a treat & very happy with it. Off grid, no problem(y)
 
Sep 16, 2013
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We have the above, fitted by Dave Newell. Works a treat & very happy with it. Off grid, no problem(y)

It's a great unit. I have one as well coupled with the CTEK Smartpass so it charges at up to 100a per hour but I have 400a of batteries.
 
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DavidG58
Feb 24, 2013
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not long enough
I remain as grateful as ever for helpful input, but no less confused

I hope to get some technical help while at Lincoln next month

Funsters and or Fitters (y)

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Sep 16, 2013
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I remain as grateful as ever for helpful input, but no less confused

I hope to get some technical help while at Lincoln next month

Funsters and or Fitters (y)

Just had a look at the exhibitor list and Dave Newell will be there. Very knowledgeable guy with a good rep.
 
Apr 29, 2014
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Not quite sure what we are talking about here as totally stupid with electrics but I assume to do with engine battery going flat really helps with solar panel but my battery use to go flat after two or three weeks bought a battery mate off jim via van bits brilliant can't recommend it enough even installed it myself
 
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DavidG58
Feb 24, 2013
12,991
101,157
Bolsover, Derbyshire
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Hymer S800
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not long enough
Not quite sure what we are talking about here as totally stupid with electrics but I assume to do with engine battery going flat really helps with solar panel but my battery use to go flat after two or three weeks bought a battery mate off jim via van bits brilliant can't recommend it enough even installed it myself

These kind of comments scare the life out of me :D

But bless your enthusiasm, but please never let buy a used MH from you :whistle:

Good luck to you though, I think we are talking about the same thing by the way (y)

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Sep 16, 2013
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I didn't have much of an idea on electrics when I first started my build and was getting so much conflicting advice I had to spend months learning all of the issues with 12v charging (it's often referred to as a black art).

I wrote an article on my findings here that may help:
.
and also a brief video I made on how the system works:
.

12v electrics were the single most important part of my build as I work on-line and needed a PC running in my van (meaning I can work from the beach). After a few attempts at systems that didn't cost much I gave up and opted for a money no object, what's the best system available, approach.

This is what I came up with and it's great a year on. Once connected everything is automatic and I never need to even flick a switch. It just works flawlessly.

Hope this helps.
 
Sep 23, 2013
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<snip>One of my biggest concerns is that we have a permanently live 12V cigar type outlet in the cab, connected to the cab battery, I have flattened the cab battery once with over use off hook up, don't want to do it again

Is a B2B not the right answer?
No, I don't think it is. The unit you link to is designed to make best use of the alternator while the engine is running. Your Schaudt will do that, albeit not quite as aggressively as the Sterling.

Your need is to keep your engine battery topped up while the engine is off, so no alternator output. The Schault is supposed to do that too, but it will only do that while it is getting sufficient charge into it to keep the habitation battery charged & some left over. If there isn't enough coming in from your solar panel to keep up with what you are using from the habitation battery, then there won't be anything available to top up the engine battery.

If you didn't have the Schaudt, I would suggest a Battery Master; made & supplied by VanBitz & also available from Jim's shop. Every time the engine battery drops more than half a volt below the habitation battery, the Battery Master will use the habitation battery to charge the engine battery at 1.1 amp. Not a lot, but designed to replace the power used by clocks, radios & alarm systems. The problem is that with the Schaudt trying to do the same job, they are inclined to interfere with each other.

I suspect the best solution is the simple one - either don't use that particular 12V socket when parked up, or get it rewired so it draws it's power from the habitation battery. Rewiring it is, in theory, a very straightforward job. The practical difficulty is threading the wires! It may be cheaper to just fit another 12V socket somewhere convenient in the van drawing it's power from the habitation battery. I didn't have any 12V sockets in my van apart from two on the dashboard which were both fed from the engine battery & only worked with the engine running. So I got Dave Newell to fit another socket in the living part of the van, fed from the habitation batteries, while he was doing some other work on it.

Whether Dave, or any other installer, would do that at Lincoln will probably depend on how well they know your model of van. The time taken to do it will depend entirely on how easy it is to run the cable from either the battery or from the Schaudt (better) to where you want it positioned. If they know the van they will know how much time to allow.
 
Sep 23, 2013
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Might also be worth looking at the CTEK D250s Dual.

You can connect your solar panels to this as well and it will charge your leisure batteries and engine battery.
That's what I would use if I was converting a van from scratch. I might well use it rather than fixing a faulty Shaudt Electroblock. But I wouldn't throw out a serviceable Electroblock in favour of the CTEK kit - the additional performance doesn't really justify the cost.

Even with the CTEK unit(s), I would still want my 12V socket fed from the habitation battery.

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