Charging Leisure Battery

[EastAngler]

Have been wondering about leisure batteries and how they get charged.

Looking at an older B544 as per the other thread how would I charge the leisure battery?

Does it get charged automatically as the vehicle is being driven?

Does it need charging via a site electric hookup?

How can I charge it at home on the drive?


No solar so that isn't an option at the moment.


Thanks

 

[funflair]

It should get charged as you drive but also off a mains battery charger on hook up, older van can have had all sorts of bits added or subtracted over the years so worth a check to see what it really has.

Martin

 

[MisterB]

yes you can charge it whilst its on your drive by using the electric hook up, same as you would on site, there are adapters that allow you to connect your hook up cable to a normal three pin plug or you could even have an external socket fitted to your house, via an rcd of course, so you could just plug in your ehu cable as you would on site

 

[Mike800966]

The question seems to be what is the simplest way to know whats going as older vans can have all sorts of changes made to them, of course you could ask the previous owner.
If you connect a voltmeter or indeed an ordinary 12v bulb across the battery and then start the engine or plug in the mains lead and you will see a change in voltage or brightness. This will tell you that it is geting a charge but not exactly what the rate of charge is.
Most vans will charge the battery as you drive but its usually not as efficient as charging from the mains. As you get used to a van you will learn what it does or does not do but its a learning curve

Best wishes and good luck

Mike

 

[EastAngler]

Thanks - this sort of adaptor?

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[Stealaway]

modern vans are often upgraded by fitting further charging systems. Have a look at solar panels and B2B chargers

 

[MisterB]

Thanks - this sort of adaptor?

yes

 

[xsparks]

Relying on the vehicle alternator will only disappoint you. The results are never good unless driving some distance.

 

[autorouter]

A B544 will have a device called an Electroblock (EBL) that contains a mains charger, connections to the leisure and starter batteries, all the fuses for the 12 volt habitation circuits, and several electrically operated switches (relays) that control what goes where.

If you connect up a site hookup, it will automatically switch the mains charger to the leisure battery, and will also trickle charge the starter battery to keep it topped up. If you get an adaptor from house socket to blue connector, you can plug it into any house socket to charge while on the drive.

There is a small wire from the engine alternator that powers up when the alternator starts running. This is used by the EBL to automatically switch everything around so that the leisure battery is charged from the alternator. It also goes to the fridge to tell it to run from 12 volts when the engine is running.

If you go from your drive to a site with hookup, that's all you ever need. If you want to spend a few days camping where there's no hookup, you'll probably soon be wanting extra leisure batteries, a B2B charger, and/or solar panels.

 

[Grumpybutters]

https://www.ctek.com/products/vehicle/connect-eyelet-m6

Our leisure batteries are under the passenger seat which is difficult to access but when my husband was changing the leisure batteries last year he attached charging cables to the batteries with a lead which comes out underneath the seat - this allows him to use a Ctec charger to give the batteries a good recharge before we leave or if the kids have run them down to stupid levels!

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[pappajohn]

A B544 will have a device called an Electroblock (EBL) that contains a mains charger, connections to the leisure and starter batteries, all the fuses for the 12 volt habitation circuits, and several electrically operated switches (relays) that control what goes where.

If you connect up a site hookup, it will automatically switch the mains charger to the leisure battery, and will also trickle charge the starter battery to keep it topped up. If you get an adaptor from house socket to blue connector, you can plug it into any house socket to charge while on the drive.

There is a small wire from the engine alternator that powers up when the alternator starts running. This is used by the EBL to automatically switch everything around so that the leisure battery is charged from the alternator. It also goes to the fridge to tell it to run from 12 volts when the engine is running.

If you go from your drive to a site with hookup, that's all you ever need. If you want to spend a few days camping where there's no hookup, you'll probably soon be wanting extra leisure batteries, a B2B charger, and/or solar panels.

An excellent explanation of all scenarios

 

[jo10000_6]

If your 1993 is like my 1993 you may have a charger under the drivers seat and the fuses in the cab on the drivers side (mines LHD) no electroblock as such. I’m fairly sure 1995 onwards has the electroblock but don’t quote me on this I’m still a beginner!

I’ve had mine over a year and the people on fun have been great.

With the older motorhomes like ours it’s a balance what you invest in it with modern extras.