Leisure batter

[Newby]

Hi, im new to this, ive got a leisure battery on my motorhome, but theirs is a unit next to it, not sure what its for

 

[David and Sally]

Post a photo. Or give us details of the model or info from the unit label.

 

[Two on Tour]

Post a photo of the unit in question to give us a clue of what you're on about.

 

[Lenny HB]

If you upload a photo that would help. It could be the charger and distribution unit.

 

[10tenmen]

Anything similar to what’s in this picture

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[Newby]

This us all I can get off the unit

 

[Googlebot]

It’s your battery charger/power supply.

 

[10tenmen]

The company SME produced chargers and inverters and is now taken over by DANA in 2019.

Homepage - DanaTM4

Dana TM4 develops and markets low- to high-voltage electric motors, generators, power electronics and control systems suitable for the automotive, commercial, off-highway, marine, rail, motorsports, and recreational vehicle markets.

www.danatm4.com

 

[f6c]

Welcome aboard

 

[Newby]

Cheers for the reply, is that anything to do with the solar panel I've got on the roof

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[Googlebot]

Cheers for the reply, is that anything to do with the solar panel I've got on the roof

Very doubtful, can you follow where the cables go from the panel? Solar controllers are normally fitted where you can view the status lights if required.

 

[Newby]

Cheers, yer the controller for the solar panel is in the cupboard, but didn't know if was anything to do with the solar, so that unit charges the leisure battery or not,!!

 

[autorouter]

The charger model is SME-240-13,8CI. That suggests it's an old-style 13.8V fixed voltage charger, not a 3-stage intelligent charger. As a guess I'd say the 'CI' means it's on a CI motorhome.

It says OUTPUT 12Vdc 20A max. I think the '12Vdc' is a nominal value, and the actual voltage will be 13.8V, and the amps will be anything up to 20A.

It's nothing to do with the solar panel on the roof, except that they both charge the leisure battery. There should be a solar charge controller, which takes power from the solar panel and feeds it to the battery.

There should be a box with 12V fuses, containing some relays, which distributes the 12V to the habitation circuits. One of the relays will switch on when the engine is running, to charge the leisure battery from the alternator/starter battery. This box sometimes has a built-in solar charge controller, but usually it is a separate small box.

Edit: forgot to say the SME charger is a mains charger, that is it only charges the leisure battery when the motorhome is is connected to mains power from a hookup post.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

This us all I can get off the unit

Just post a photo up of the battery with the unit that's next to it and advise what make your van is ,then some folks can maybe help you out.

 

[Stefan Arminia]

Hello everyone, I'm desperately looking for a solution: my power supply unit (same brand and manufacturer) is also broken.

Now my question: which charger can I use to replace the defective one? Does it matter if a new 3-stage intelligent charger replaces it?

Thank you for the answers!

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[autorouter]

In my opinion,it will be fine to replace a fixed-voltage 13.8V supply with a 3-stage intelligent charger. The voltage of a 3-stage charger varies, reaching as high as maybe 14.8V, and will drop to about 13.5V when the battery is fully charged. I would think that any motorhome devices would work perfectly well at those voltages. Most modern motorhomes have 3-stage intelligent chargers, and the devices work fine, and the chances are the devices are just like the ones in your motorhome.

 

[pappajohn]

Hello everyone, I'm desperately looking for a solution: my power supply unit (same brand and manufacturer) is also broken.

Now my question: which charger can I use to replace the defective one? Does it matter if a new 3-stage intelligent charger replaces it?

Thank you for the answers!

A 3-stage intelligent charger will do nicely.
Depending on the charger it may have settings for different battery types, if so set it for your type of leisure battery......lead acid, gel, AGM etc

 

[Stefan Arminia]

Thank you for the quick replies and best regards, Stefan