Help for a total newbie (1 Viewer)

Crumplehorn

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Jul 31, 2017
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49,737
Hi pals!

I bought a wonderful Mercedes 210 Traveliner 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately I never got a proper handover done with it as it was sold by a friend of the owner. I've had a couple of overnight stays and figured out the cooker and loo easily enough - but I'm a bit clueless on electrics.

The thing is, it doesn't have a control panel like you see in many motorhomes/campers - so I have no idea what's running off what and when! I've got an electricity hookup for when I go to campsites but haven't had a chance to use that yet.

I've attached a few pics of some things connected to the battery - the older looking, brown thing, and a splitter-type thing (called a 'powering') that changes the current - I think? I'm guessing they might be in place of a standard leisure battery? The latter of the two emits a hi pitched alarm whe I trun it on (guessing due to lack of charge?)
Any advice is much appreciated. I guess my main concern is not wanting to accidentally drain the main battery by running a few things of the plug sockets in there. It would never be anything major - the odd phone charge, a lamp, maybe charge blue tooth speaker - that kind of thing. The fridge has a hook up option, so I'd probably only utilise the fridge on campsites/charge it from the main battery when driving anyway.


Thanks in advance for any pointers!
 

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Mar 23, 2012
9,427
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sleights
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the first one looks like a transformer from mains to 12v when you are on a hook up the second an inverter to convert 12v from your leisure battery to 240v for plugging in things with a 3pin plug.......carefull it will use a lot of bettery quickly and have a low power limit don't use things that provide heat (kettles hair dryer microwave etc) if you can help it check the power required and the inverter rating first. Use gas as much as you can it has a lot of heat output compared to battery/mains power the inverter might be making a noise when you turn it on because ther is low battery power. Have you found a leisure battery anywhere? it looks like a home conversion but there should be one !
 
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Crumplehorn

Crumplehorn

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Jul 31, 2017
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Thanks for the info! I can't find a leisure battery anywhere. The main battery is under the driver's seat, and both seem to be connected to it.

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Apr 27, 2016
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Are you 100% sure the battery under the driver's seat is the starter battery? Are you sure there isn't a starter battery somewhere, in the engine compartment maybe? I'm not familiar with Merc vans, but there might be one somewhere. I'd be surprised if an inverter is supposed to run off the starter battery - it's just asking for trouble in my opinion.

Also one of the pictures shows a gas hob, so I can see you have a gas supply on board. Most motorhome fridges run on gas. They also can run by mains electric and 12 volts. The switchover is either manual or automatic.

On 12 volts, a fridge will run an average battery flat in a few hours, so they usually run on gas, or mains if on camp site mains hookup.
 
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Crumplehorn

Crumplehorn

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Jul 31, 2017
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Thanks for the warm welcome guys.
Yep, I'm 99.9% certain it's the starter battery - unless there's something glaringly obvious I'm missing. It's incredibly tightly packed under the bonnet, but I just can't see another battery anywhere.
It's hard to find further info on these vans, but I have a friend with a similar age and model, and his starter battery is under the passenger seat, so perhaps it's the same/similar.

Does seem strange to have the inverter running off the main battery. Think I'll just stick to hook up electricity and go with candles battery lights until I get a leisure battery fitted. And yep, think I'll do just that for the fridge, although I don;t think the gas has been tapped through to it, so cool blocks will have to suffice when/if I'm ever off grid :)
 
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Apr 27, 2016
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for the fridge, although I don;t think the gas has been tapped through to it

One thing you may have missed: caravans/motorhomes usually have the gas piped to a 3-way tap gizmo called a manifold. It's usually hidden in a cupboard/drawer but accessible if you know where it is. 2, 3 or 4 way with a tap each for the hob, oven, fridge and heater, whatever is fitted.

Something like this:
https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/g...s-fittings-and-accessories/truma-tap-manifold
 
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two

Aug 4, 2011
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Looks, to me, like the ‘brown box’ is your charger. You can leave it ON all the time. When connected to mains by EHU it will top up you leisure battery.

The other box looks like an inverter. There may be a declaration on the top/side to say how much power it could produce (300W, 500W, 1000W, …). Keep this switched OFF apart from when you use it (plug a mains device into the socket at the end). If the inverter alarms when switched on, it could be that uoutr leisure battery has low voltage.

Enjoy your travels.

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Northernraider

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Jul 30, 2017
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The first picture is a battery charger normal connected to the leisure battery but if it's been a Diy build with someone not clued up they may we have it attached to the engine battery, the second box is as others have said an invertor the loud alarm noise your hearing is because the battery is being drained by it... Some people have invertors wired to the battery which can only be used while the engine is running charging the battery as the invertor uses it I've seen this on friends vw conversions usually for charging smaller mains items like laptop's etc

If in serious doubt I'd consider popping along to an auto sparks and having them take a look just to make sure it's all OK

I've seen some nasty vehicle fires as a result of dodgy wired or faulty invertors best to be safe than sorry especially if an older conversion
 
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