Leisure battery

Can anybody tell me when charging the leisure battery at home do I have to turn any switches on in the Motorhome ? I am a total newbie got my very first Motorhome and planning a weekend next Friday. I read in my manual about veh/aux switch should this be in the aux position when charging or only when I want to use the electrics. Thanks for any answers in advance

 

If you are chargeing the leisure battery then it should be in the aux position, if you are in the van position then you will charge the van battery.

 

Not necessarily, it depends on the van in question.

Explorer Group (Elddis and Compass) vans have AUX/VEH switches but that only affects which battery (leisure or van) is used to power the motorhome 12 volt system. Normally it should be left in the AUX position as switching to VEH can discharge the van battery fairly rapidly - I know, I did it by mistake once

In vans like ours the charging system only charges the leisure battery and (unless modified by the addition of an after-market relay) wil not charge the van battery.

Can you tell us what van you have Sandygirl? It might then be possible to direct you to a web site where the manual is available for download.

Graham

 

our kontiki has a three way rocker switch on the panel......van, leisure and off, so depending which position the switch is in it wil charge or use either van or leisure battery or turn off the charger

 

Thanks everyone it is a Avantgarde Compass Suntor 100 4 berth. So has the switch got to be on aux to charge the battery or can the switch be left in the off position to charge

 

Right. That's more or less the same as our Elddis Autoquest 100. You should always leave the switch in the AUX position unless you deliberately want to run the 12 volt system from the Van battery - as I mentioned earlier, not recommended.

The charging system only charges the leisure battery. The van battery is charged from the alternator.

If you don't have a handbook, those for the 2008 & 2009 models are downloadable as PDF files from Here. I have a PDF copy of the 2003 handbook which I will be happy to send as an e-mail attachment if you let me have your e-mail address in a PM.

Any other questions you have, just ask.

Graham

 

Thanks Graham, its a 56 plate and I do have a handbook but didn't understand the jargon (sorry not thick just not technical lol) also my van battery is dead because I havn't used it since I got it on the 9th February I have bought a battery charger but have to charge it with the battery disconnected (just looked under the engine and the terminals to the battery look like they will never come off also if I disconnect the battery will this affect any electrical stuff inside. Havn't worked out how to send a PM yet.

 

You should take a note of the radio security code before disconnecting the battery because the setting will be lost when the battery is disconnected.

I know what you mean about the terminals though - I wouldn't like to try disconnecting ours.

I have a Tronic T4X charger (as supplied by Lidl) which can be used without disconnecting the battery. Aldi sell a similar one under (I think) the Auto Express brand. The are very similar to (but much cheaper than) the CTEK Multi XS 3600.

As a general tip to help avoid running down the van battery, make sure the radio is fully turned off and not just turned off on the ignition key.

Graham