Newbie battery charging question

[RubyOptics]

Hi all, this is a quick and possibly dumb question. I know that all new vans will charge the leisure battery from the alternator when driving. Did older vans (early to mid 90's) do this as well? Many thanks as always for your time and patience.

 

[Stealaway]

Does it have a charge controller?---- https://sargentltd.co.uk/shop/PowerSystems

 

[Jev88]

I hope to find out soon as my system might do this if switches are in the right position!
Have you tried putting a multimeter on the battery when engine running to see if charge is going to Leisure?
If not you can get a widget that skims excess power from your alternator and you wire it to your leisure battery yourself.

 

[RubyOptics]

Stealaway I'm asking as a general question as I am still looking at various vans etc, but thank you for taking the time to reply to me.
Jev88 I think that the usage I imagine for the van would need this functionality, so if it turns out that this is not present I would also need to look into making it happen.

 

[Two on Tour]

The 1989 Euramobil we had was fitted with a split charge relay which was energised by the D+ from the alternator when the van started which was pretty much the norm for a lot of MH's and campers back then. The split charge relay packed up on ours and I replaced with a voltage sensing version, so no wiring to the alternator, just starter battery to leisure battery.

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[autorouter]

I know that all new vans will charge the leisure battery from the alternator when driving. Did older vans (early to mid 90's) do this as well?

Yes, this has been standard for decades. There's a split charge relay that connects the cab and hab batteries together when the engine has started, and disconnects them when the engine stops. It's switched by the D+ signal wire from the alternator.

Actually the very newest vans usually have a 'smart alternator' that only part-charges the cab battery. A special arrangement is needed to ensure the hab batteries are fully charged.