# Sterling bat to bat charger



## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

A few weeks ago I fitted a sterling battery to battery charger but it is letting my engine
Battery go flat with the leisure battery. I have had to re wire the original relay back in
To protect the engine battery. The sterling must be faulty as it was only a second hand
One off ebay. It charges the leisure batteries brilliant though.


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## sparrks (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> A few weeks ago I fitted a sterling battery to battery charger but it is letting my engine
> Battery go flat with the leisure battery. I have had to re wire the original relay back in
> To protect the engine battery. The sterling must be faulty as it was only a second hand
> One off ebay. It charges the leisure batteries brilliant though.



With the engine switched off for several  minutes try pulling the fuse between the starter battery and the b2b - there should only be voltage on the starter side of the fuse carrier and not the b2b side.


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## molly 2 (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> A few weeks ago I fitted a sterling battery to battery charger but it is letting my engine
> Battery go flat with the leisure battery. I have had to re wire the original relay back in
> To protect the engine battery. The sterling must be faulty as it was only a second hand
> One off ebay. It charges the leisure batteries brilliant though.


 motorhomes love  solar panels  but they are not good in winter, a B to B is useful all year round. Why do motorhomes prefer solar .


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

sparrks said:


> With the engine switched off for several  minutes try pulling the fuse between the starter battery and the b2b - there should only be voltage on the starter side of the fuse carrier and not the b2b side.


I did not try that will check it tomorrow. When I put a heavy load like inverter on leisure  battery
I had a volt meter on engine battery and it dropped its volts at same rate as leisure battery.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

molly 2 said:


> motorhomes love  solar panels  but they are not good in winter, a B to B is useful all year round. Why do motorhomes prefer solar .


They prefer solar because they charge without having to run the engine. Handy if you are parked up
For a few days in summer.


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## Neckender (Dec 22, 2015)

I have just bought a new Sterling B to B 20amp charger, I haven't fitted it yet but the instructions say nothing about taking the relay out and what does it mean by engine regenerative braking my van is a 2014 Euro Five Peugeot Auto Sleeper.

John.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

swiftcamper said:


> And as useful as a chocolate fireguard after September


Are they I've never had one. I might think about it in summer.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

Neckender said:


> I have just bought a new Sterling B to B 20amp charger, I haven't fitted it yet but the instructions say nothing about taking the relay out and what does it mean by engine breaking my van is a 2014 Euro Five Peugeot Auto Sleeper.
> 
> John.


I did not have any instructions with mine. Just advice on here.
I think the electronics in the sterling takes place of the relay. I don't know what
It means by engine braking.


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## sparrks (Dec 22, 2015)

You can of course depending what b2b you have just put a meter across the main semi-exposed terminals - Battery in,  Boosted output, and neg. You should get the battery voltage between boosted out and neg and nothing between battery in and neg, this of course with the engine switched off.


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## shortcircuit (Dec 22, 2015)

Neckender said:


> I have just bought a new Sterling B to B 20amp charger, I haven't fitted it yet but the instructions say nothing about taking the relay out and what does it mean by engine breaking my van is a 2014 Euro Five Peugeot Auto Sleeper.
> 
> John.



With my Kontiki I removed a fuse at the split charge relay that fed(charged) the leisure battery.  If I had left it in I would then have had the B2B, which is wired starter battery(to pick up alternator output) to leisure battery, *in addition* to the original charge circuit.  I fitted a Ctek B2B and this parallel charging would have caused almighty confusion to the Ctek multi stage charging electronics. My Ctek also has a solar panel input which means at the moment in Spain it is maintaining both leisure and starter batteries for my return end of February next year.

All the best 
Hamish


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## Steve121 (Dec 22, 2015)

swiftcamper said:


> And as useful as a chocolate fireguard after September



Well, mine keeps my 4 batteries topped up all year round at latitude 51.8860° N.
Got a 20A Durite B2B charger for when we're on the move.


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## Mick H (Dec 22, 2015)

*Sterling  B2B charger*



eddyt said:


> They prefer solar because they charge without having to run the engine. Handy if you are parked up
> For a few days in summer.



In the summer months I can park for several days, WITHOUT needing Solar panels. This includes watching tv for 3-5 hours per day.

Solar panels weren't available, when I first started motorhoming.    I haven't needed them, so I believe most others don't really need them.
On motorhomes, they DON'T provide free electricity, because of their weight and poor aerodynamics. Similar in a way, to roof racks, (Their ability to waste fuel has been well documented for many years).      And, of course, they aren't normally directly facing the sun.

I'm not against Solar panels, having a 3500W system on my house, but of course these are angled towards the sun, and I get paid the "Feed in tariff", for the energy that they generate. This isn't worth a bean, in the winter months, however.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

Mick H said:


> In the summer months I can park for several days, WITHOUT needing Solar panels. This includes watching tv for 3-5 hours per day.
> 
> Solar panels weren't available, when I first started motorhoming.    I haven't needed them, so I believe most others don't really need them.
> On motorhomes, they DON'T provide free electricity, because of their weight and poor aerodynamics. Similar in a way, to roof racks, (Their ability to waste fuel has been well documented for many years).      And, of course, they aren't normally directly facing the sun.
> ...



I will probably try to manage without solar panels. I don't fancy drilling the roof either.
I need room on the roof to put the boat. Good point about the wind resistance they cause had not thought of that. You might loose a few miles to the gallon. Probably someone on here has done a comparison
Of mpg before and after panels are fitted.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

sparrks said:


> You can of course depending what b2b you have just put a meter across the main semi-exposed terminals - Battery in,  Boosted output, and neg. You should get the battery voltage between boosted out and neg and nothing between battery in and neg, this of course with the engine switched off.



Do you know if there is a fuse in the sterling unit.


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## shortcircuit (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> I will probably try to manage without solar panels. I don't fancy drilling the roof either.
> I need room on the roof to put the boat. Good point about the wind resistance they cause had not thought of that. You might loose a few miles to the gallon. Probably someone on here has done a comparison
> Of mpg before and after panels are fitted.



You do not need to drill the roof to secure the solar panel and in the bigger picture of overall running cost the additional fuel in mpg by with wind resistance etc will be infinitesimal.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

shortcircuit said:


> You do not need to drill the roof to secure the solar panel and in the bigger picture of overall running cost the additional fuel in mpg by with wind resistance etc will be infinitesimal.



I thought you had to drill a hole for the cables.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> I did not have any instructions with mine. Just advice on here.
> I think the electronics in the sterling takes place of the relay. I don't know what
> It means by engine braking.



Hi Ed, the engine braking is when you have Regenerative Braking, IE auto stop start engine at junctions

OOPS, that was meant for Kneckender


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## shortcircuit (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> I thought you had to drill a hole for the cables.


I said "to *secure* the solar panel"  Yes you do need to drill through the roof unless you can find an alternative way. The cables can be fed into the MH using a junction box with a adapter fitted to the base and well sealed with Sixaflex as I have done and had no leaks.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Hi Ed, the engine braking is when you have Regenerative Braking, IE auto stop start engine at junctions
> 
> OOPS, that was meant for Kneckender



Yes thanks. I'm to old for this modern stuff.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

shortcircuit said:


> I said "to *secure* the solar panel"  Yes you do need to drill through the roof unless you can find an alternative way. The cables can be fed into the MH using a junction box with a adapter fitted to the base and well sealed with Sixaflex as I have done and had no leaks.



Aye that's what I was worried about.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> Yes thanks. I'm to old for this modern stuff.



Did you download a manual for your Batt 2 batt from the sterling website Edd


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## molly 2 (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> Aye that's what I was worried about.


. Also the small risk of drilling roof light cable


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

there is a setting on the batt 2 batt for either ignition activated, which is best, and there is another setting which yours might be on, what might be happening is your engine battery is still running your Batt 2 Batt and trying to charge your hab battery when your stopped, I`ll have a read on it, but it would be helpful if I knew exactly how you have it wired, mine is from alternator output to + on engine battery and then to input of the Batt 2 batt, then the output from the Batt 2 Batt goes to + of Hab batterys


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

Which model is it you have Edd, I`ll have a look online at it


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Which model is it you have Edd, I`ll have a look online at it



Ok I got it from our previous thread< I`ll have a read


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

Edd, when you are parked up and using the Hab battery are there any leds illuminated on the Batt 2 Batt,


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> there is a setting on the batt 2 batt for either ignition activated, which is best, and there is another setting which yours might be on, what might be happening is your engine battery is still running your Batt 2 Batt and trying to charge your hab battery when your stopped, I`ll have a read on it, but it would be helpful if I knew exactly how you have it wired, mine is from alternator output to + on engine battery and then to input of the Batt 2 batt, then the output from the Batt 2 Batt goes to + of Hab batterys



I should have added that I have another + feed from the Battery bank in the rear garage to the single Hab battery, this feed is switchable< I would only use this if my single Hab battery went low, but to date have never needed to do that as the Hab battery only feeds the LED lights and water pump ect. I have a slightly similar problem since I fitted it, when I connect 240v from the house, the 14.2V from the Elektroblock charger to the engine battery fires up the Batt 2 Batt charger, so I need to find out what its drawing from the Elektroblock in case it drawing too much, if so I need to fit an isolator switch for when I`m on EHU, the joys of wildcamping LOL


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## shortcircuit (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> I should have added that I have another + feed from the Battery bank in the rear garage to the single Hab battery, this feed is switchable< I would only use this if my single Hab battery went low, but to date have never needed to do that as the Hab battery only feeds the LED lights and water pump ect. I have a slightly similar problem since I fitted it, when I connect 240v from the house, the 14.2V from the Elektroblock charger to the engine battery fires up the Batt 2 Batt charger, so I need to find out what its drawing from the Elektroblock in case it drawing too much, if so I need to fit an isolator switch for when I`m on EHU, the joys of wildcamping LOL



The Sergent PSU in my MH allows me to select, on hookup, whether to charge leisure battery or starter battery.  By selecting starter battery I can get the battery fully charged and also use the Ctek to charge the leisure batteries using the multi stage charging so much the same as you have indicated.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

shortcircuit said:


> The Sergent PSU in my MH allows me to select, on hookup, whether to charge leisure battery or starter battery.  By selecting starter battery I can get the battery fully charged and also use the Ctek to charge the leisure batteries using the multi stage charging so much the same as you have indicated.



Cheers for that, I`ll have a look at the destructions to see if it`s also switchable on the Elektroblock. Also, when I`m on EHU, the battery monitor says the battery bank at the rear is getting 15.4V, so it looks like I might be getting voltage from the elektroblock charger too, some sort of feedback or loop


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Cheers for that, I`ll have a look at the destructions to see if it`s also switchable on the Elektroblock. Also, when I`m on EHU, the battery monitor says the battery bank at the rear is getting 15.4V, so it looks like I might be getting voltage from the elektroblock charger too, some sort of feedback or loop



Had a read and it doesn`t look like its an option on the Elektroblock 226


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Did you download a manual for your Batt 2 batt from the sterling website Edd


No I just went with what yous said on here


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> there is a setting on the batt 2 batt for either ignition activated, which is best, and there is another setting which yours might be on, what might be happening is your engine battery is still running your Batt 2 Batt and trying to charge your hab battery when your stopped, I`ll have a read on it, but it would be helpful if I knew exactly how you have it wired, mine is from alternator output to + on engine battery and then to input of the Batt 2 batt, then the output from the Batt 2 Batt goes to + of Hab batterys



Yes that's how mine is wired. But I used the original wiring that was already there 
And extended it to reach the bat to bat


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

molly 2 said:


> . Also the small risk of drilling roof light cable


I have not got any lights on cieling


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Edd, when you are parked up and using the Hab battery are there any leds illuminated on the Batt 2 Batt,


No cant see any


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> Yes that's how mine is wired. But I used the original wiring that was already there
> And extended it to reach the bat to bat



I`m not sure what you mean by using the original wiring, have you used the existing cable from the alternator to the engine battery and then added a new cable from the engine battery to the Batt 2 Batt charger, and then a new cable from the Batt 2 Batt to the Hab battery


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

swiftcamper said:


> As I have said before the dumbest way to mount a solar panel is flat on the roof in winter they really are next to useless other than keeping already fully charged batteries topped up.


It might be best to mount hinges on the edge of solar panel and prop it up with a leg.
Then park facing the sun.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> I`m not sure what you mean by using the original wiring, have you used the existing cable from the alternator to the engine battery and then added a new cable from the engine battery to the Batt 2 Batt charger, and then a new cable from the Batt 2 Batt to the Hab battery


I left the original cable from alternator to engine battery.it already had cable from engine  battery to the isolating.relay in the fuse box. Then cable to leisure battery in ns step and another cable to second
Leisure battery. I just joined the wires to the isolating relay up. The pos wire on the leisure battery
Under the step was extended  to reach the battery to battery charger. New  wires made up
For earth and pos out of bat to bat to second leisure battery.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> No cant see any



Well if theres no lights lite up on the Batt 2 Batt, I don`t think its it that pulling the engine batt down, but do a voltage check to see if theres anything coming out of the Batt 2 Batt when the engine is off, if theres no voltage coming out then its not the Batt 2 Batt thats pulling the engine batt down, after that it just finding out what is pulling it down, I`don`t know about the control/charger unit you have, but there may be a relay that's not isolating the engine batt from the Hab batt after you switch off the engine. It would be worth giving Will at Sterling a call to see if he can suggest something, he`s a really nice helpful guy, ask for him by name.


If you wish to contact us regarding technical help, or product information  Please contact 01905 771771.


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## sparrks (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> Do you know if there is a fuse in the sterling unit.



If I remember correctly there are a couple, but they are not designed to be user serviceable but rather for the protection of the internal circuitry. 
The fuse I was referring to was the one that should be located at the starter battery Pos terminal fitted by the installer, likewise there should be a similar one at the Pos terminal of the leisure battery.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> I left the original cable from alternator to engine battery.it already had cable from engine  battery to the isolating.relay in the fuse box. Then cable to leisure battery in ns step and another cable to second
> Leisure battery. I just joined the wires to the isolating relay up. The pos wire on the leisure battery
> Under the step was extended  to reach the battery to battery charger. New  wires made up
> For earth and pos out of bat to bat to second leisure battery.



It looks like its the isolating relay in the circuit that's the problem, if you cant check it yourself get someone to check the connections to see if its isolating the engine batt.  My Batt 2 Batt goes direct to a separate battery bank and not connected to the single Hab battery, they are both independent.


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## eddyt (Dec 22, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Well if theres no lights lite up on the Batt 2 Batt, I don`t think its it that pulling the engine batt down, but do a voltage check to see if theres anything coming out of the Batt 2 Batt when the engine is off, if theres no voltage coming out then its not the Batt 2 Batt thats pulling the engine batt down, after that it just finding out what is pulling it down, I`don`t know about the control/charger unit you have, but there may be a relay that's not isolating the engine batt from the Hab batt after you switch off the engine. It would be worth giving Will at Sterling a call to see if he can suggest something, he`s a really nice helpful guy, ask for him by name.
> 
> 
> If you wish to contact us regarding technical help, or product information  Please contact 01905 771771.


Thanks I'll check that tomorrow. There was a strange thing in the fuse box when I pulled it out two
Off the studs holding various cables had a thick metal link joining them together but it was split

So I soldered it together because it looked like a joining link I'm thinking that might have
Something to do with it. 
The engine battery was only dropping when I put a drain on leisure battery.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 22, 2015)

eddyt said:


> Thanks I'll check that tomorrow. There was a strange thing in the fuse box when I pulled it out two
> Off the studs holding various cables had a thick metal link joining them together but it was split
> 
> So I soldered it together because it looked like a joining link I'm thinking that might have
> ...



That might just be the problem, it might have been a shunt for your battery control panel, mind you, not if it was broken, maybe a photo would help to identify it, someone on here's bound to have seen one before.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 23, 2015)

Any joy Edd


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## eddyt (Dec 24, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Any joy Edd



I have checked the voltage on the terminal on the bat to bat for the engine battery
And it was 2.9 volts. The engine battery is not dropping its voltage now so it might be ok
I will keep a eye on it because I am not sue about its fuses. I might have to fit one.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 24, 2015)

eddyt said:


> I have checked the voltage on the terminal on the bat to bat for the engine battery
> And it was 2.9 volts. The engine battery is not dropping its voltage now so it might be ok
> I will keep a eye on it because I am not sue about its fuses. I might have to fit one.



I`m confused now, 2.9 volts, is that not a bit low


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## sparrks (Dec 24, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> I`m confused now, 2.9 volts, is that not a bit low



Maybe he meant 12.9v


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 24, 2015)

sparrks said:


> Maybe he meant 12.9v



Now that would make sense Sparks


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## eddyt (Dec 24, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Now that would make sense Sparks



No it's 2.9 volts on the terminal on the bat to bat charger where the engine battery is connected
So there must be a bit leakage of volts so where.


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 24, 2015)

eddyt said:


> No it's 2.9 volts on the terminal on the bat to bat charger where the engine battery is connected
> So there must be a bit leakage of volts so where.



So your engine batt must be stone dead


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## Johnnygm7lsi (Dec 24, 2015)

Or a bad connection, but if it was a bad connection it wouldn't have charged your Hab battery


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## eddyt (Dec 24, 2015)

Johnnygm7lsi said:


> Or a bad connection, but if it was a bad connection it wouldn't have charged your Hab battery


I have wired the cut out relay back in to the cable to the engine battery and it seems ok.


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## sparrks (Dec 24, 2015)

eddyt said:


> No it's 2.9 volts on the terminal on the bat to bat charger where the engine battery is connected
> So there must be a bit leakage of volts so where.



Is that with fuse on the starter battery in place?


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## eddyt (Dec 25, 2015)

sparrks said:


> Is that with fuse on the starter battery in place?



I can not find the fuse near the battery. I think it might be in the fuse box.
The relay was isolating the engine battery from the sterling unit.


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