Charger? (1 Viewer)

[mikey70]

just a quickie ! Anyone know please if just starting & running the van will charge the leisure battery from the alternator without driving it ? Thanks

 

[Boringfrog]

After the engine battery has had its fair share and then very slowly.

 

[Stealaway]

Yep but I dont think tick over revs would be enough and modern diesels wont rev reliably whilst stood.
Solar panels are the answer

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[OldAgeTravellers]

Basically yes,but, it depends on your setup.
My batteries were getting a bit low today because we had complete cloud cover here in Lagos, Portugal and the solar panels were not putting enough in for me to be able to watch Question Time on BBC tonight. So I ran the engine on tick-over for about fifteen minutes and with my setup the alternator was putting 35amps into the leisure batteries. Some say that it is not good for the engine and probably they are correct. You decide for yourself how you want to arrange things.
Your setup may be different unless you have a way to measure it then you will not know if it is effective for you. Perhaps you have an electrical system in your van that will tell you.
Steve
p.s. My system ensures that the engine battery is always fully charged so the whole 35 amps was going to the leisure batteries with the engine in tick-over.

 

[mikey70]

I agree with the solar panels but in full cloud cover with the uk winter sun angle barely scratching the horizon , and pitched up with windbreaks and awnings attached and virtually impossible for a 20 minute top up drive , I wondered weather an idle run would do the trick , surley would pull a few amps in ?

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

As I said for me twenty minutes standing still with the engine on idle will put in 35 amps so give me enough for a fairly frugal evening when the panels are not performing. I don't think I would run the engine for more than half an hour. It's not a lot but enough to keep the peace if you. Happen to have a Corrie addict onboard which luckily I don't but I am a question time addict, I love to shout at the screen.
Steve

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[Lenny HB]

Yes it will but it will do a good job of wrecking your CAT, DPF & engine, diesels should be driven off directly after starting.

 

[mikey70]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Yes it will but it will do a good job of wrecking your CAT, DPF & engine, diesels should be driven off directly after starting.

Yes Lenny but that depends on the age of your vehicle, you have a new one. The op may have an old one. A ten year old diesel will run all day on tick-over. A fifteen year old one will run for a year on tick-over.

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[Lenny HB]

Yes Lenny but that depends on the age of your vehicle, you have a new one. The op may have an old one. A ten year old diesel will run all day on tick-over. A fifteen year old one will run for a year on tick-over.

I agree Steve it won't do as much damage but still is not good for them. The bores can still glaze and diesels very seldom achive full operating temerature on tickover which can lead to condensation of water in the oil which can be an engine wrecker.
The OP's avatar look to me like he has a modern engine.

 

[Pausim]

I don’t find engine charging of the leisure battery very effective, even on a longer run. My understanding is that modern smart alternators drop the voltage as soon as the engine battery is full, to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. I am in the process of installing a battery to battery charger which is supposed to overcome the problem.

 

[Lenny HB]

I don’t find engine charging of the leisure battery very effective, even on a longer run. My understanding is that modern smart alternators drop the voltage as soon as the engine battery is full, to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. I am in the process of installing a battery to battery charger which is supposed to overcome the problem.

Normally good on a Hymer, on ours we get an initial charge of 20-22 amps dropping to 8-10 amps after ½ hour, Fiat standard alternator.
Does your Merc have a smart Alternator? If so there should be a Schaudt box that controls the charging of the hab batteries & overcomes the problems associated with smart alternators.

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[Pausim]

Thanks @Lenny HB, interesting. It is a Hymer with smart alternator and EBL29. I may not see much improvement then. However, I wanted to bypass the EBL charging functions anyway, because I am also fitting a LiFePO4 battery and the EBL doesn’t have an appropriate setting. I have already been advised by Udo Lang to pull the 20amp charging fuse from the EBL so that the mains charging is left to my Sterling charger.