Electric check for newbie

[36bells]

Hi I am a very recent new owner and posting my electrics set up. Questions I hope you can help me with please
1) there is an invertor Connected to the leisure battery. Is this to be used with ehu hook up ? Or for charging the leisure battery from mains?.
Could I connect a new solar panel to this invertor.
Can I use the 3 pin socket on the invertor or only when on ehu ?
2) I was told to keep the smart charger switch on all the time. Is this correct. I guess this takes spare capacity from engine running and tops up the leisure battery am I right ?.

any recommendations at all on the setup. It’s about a year old

thanks Jane

 

[Boringfrog]

An inverter converts 12V to 240V when not on EHU, do you have any other 3 pin sockets in the van? Your Battery shows 12.3V this is pretty poor, do you have anything running off the battery?

 

[36bells]

There’s a 3 pin on the invertor , a double socket that the smart charger and fridge are plugged Into and another next to the light switches. Is 12.3 bad then ?. It got up to 12.8 after a long drive.

fridge is off

the only thing switched on is the smart charger- should I be switching that off when parked at home. ?
Thanks

 

[Boringfrog]

The smart charger will only work if on EHU and the sockets that it is plugged into are live. 12.3V is about 70% capacity, ideally it should show 12.6V.

 

[Itsmcb]

Hi Jane. Your fairly short question really needs quite a long answer. Have a read through this article, it's a bit long winded but will give you an idea of how things work. https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/m...ice-a-beginners-guide-to-habitation-electrics

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[pappajohn]

No need to turn the smart charger off... At all.
As said, the inverter is to power 230v APPLIANCES from the battery when NOT on hookup.
The inverter will take some battery power when not in use even when it's turned off..... Which may account for the battery being at 12.2v.
Ideally it needs disconnecting from the battery either via an isolate switch or physical disconnecfion.

 

[Itsmcb]

Hi Jane.
Long answer:
1) there is an invertor Connected to the leisure battery. Is this to be used with ehu hook up ?
No, the inverter takes power from the battery and converts it to 240v to enable you to run a 240volt domestic appliance when you don't have EHU. Your inverter is a 500watt one so will only run low power items like a TV or phone charger. Also inverters take a lot of power from the battery so will drain your battery if used for any length of time Or for charging the leisure battery from mains?.
No, the leisure battery is charged by that smart battery charger when on EHU.
Could I connect a new solar panel to this invertor.
No, a solar panel is connected to the leisure battery via a solar controller and helps keep the battery charged up when you have no EHU
Can I use the 3 pin socket on the invertor or only when on ehu ?
The 3pin socket on the inverter is for use when you have NO EHU. The other sockets should be powered only by the EHU
2) I was told to keep the smart charger switch on all the time. Is this correct.
Yes but it requires EHU to work
I guess this takes spare capacity from engine running and tops up the leisure battery am I right ?.
No, the smart charger only works off EHU, you should have a split charge device which uses the power from the vehicle alternator to top up your leisure battery when your engine is running.
Phew, a lot of typing on a phone

 

[ambulancekidd]

 

[autorouter]

I think Itsmcb has covered it, but there's a couple of minor points worth mentioning. The smart charger can be left connected and switched on all the time. When the EHU is not connected, there is a diode (electrical one-way valve) that prevents any battery drain through the charger.

The inverter should be switched off when not actually being used. When switched on, there will be a small drain on the battery even if nothing is plugged in, and this will flatten the battery over a few days.

It's a bit misleading to call it a 'Solar Power Inverter'. A solar power system has solar panels, and a 'solar controller' that is a battery charger powered by the solar panels. It charges a 12V battery. An inverter like yours can be connected to the battery, so that the whole system can give you mains 230V from solar panels.

 

[autorouter]

The chart in Boringfrog 's post (#4) is the 'resting voltage' of the battery, ie when it's not being charged and there's no load on it. When charging, the voltage is higher. The Smart charger voltage will gradually rise to about 14.5V, then drop to about 13.5V when fully charged. That is 'float charging', which keeps it topped up to 100%. It can be left float charging indefinitely.

The battery capacity is 80 Ah (amp-hours). There's three capacity values on the label: C5 (60Ah), C20 (80Ah) and C100 (90Ah). For comparison purposes usually the C20 capacity is used. Most leisure batteries have a C20 capacity of 90 to 110Ah, so it's just at the lower end of the range.

The mains switch box looks much the same as any motorhome. If you look at your mains circuit breaker, you can see 'C10' printed on it. That means it can supply 10 amps max, which is equivalent to 10 x 230 = 2300 watts max from your EHU supply. The other circuit breaker (an RCD) has 30mA printed on it, and is for protection against electric shock. The '25A' just means it is suitable for use on circuits up to 25A.

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[36bells]

Thanks all I learned a lot. Now to find where the split charge device is located

 

[autorouter]

Now to find where the split charge device is located

You can tell if it's working - if the leisure battery voltage rises to over 14V when the engine is running, the split charge relay is connecting the starter battery/alternator to the leisure battery, as you want.