how do you fit a sterling battry to battery charger

[Deleted member 43466]

For the leisure batteries to charge from the alternator you will normally have a relay that connects the starter battery to the leisure battery whilst the engine is running. Once the voltage drops or the engine is switched off the relay should disconnect the batteries.

yes i have that one. Seems like a added on thing not factory fitted.

 

[Deleted member 43466]

Pretty sure they will work ok without them, I have the battery sensor but not the alternator sensor, they are just a safety precaution. If you give Sterling a phone, they are very helpful, even if you didn't buy from them, as they prefer to sell via other outlets but have a good technical backup.
01905 771771 Ask to speak to Will rather than Mr Sterling, he`s a nice guy and very helpful. and the Sterling sp shop is the best prices for extras

thanks i might get the remote if its not to expensive

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

it has a elektroblock as well but when connected to 240v it does not charge the engine battery. Just the lesure
batterry but seems a bit slow to charge them

Aye, the EBL226 only charges at 18amps, and the alternator only trickle charges once it sees 12.5 volts, my alternator puts out 150amps, but thats to cover all the van electrics IE, wipers, fan, lights ect when they are on, but it only trickle charges the batteries, thats why I bought the sterling charger

 

[QFour]

Fitted one to a boat. Cables from battery to B2B need to be short and same size as starter cables. Don't skimp on cables. Longer the cable the thicker it needs to be otherwise you get very large voltage drop. The cable from the B2B to the other battery can be much longer and considerably thinner. You can get the cable ends from RS but you need a mini blowlamp to heat them up and get solder flowing. Don't forget when working out the voltage drop of cables it's there and back. So if you measure 5m then you work on 10. Don't forget you are working on high amps at low voltage so voltage drop can be considerable.

..

 

[Deleted member 43466]

I have an Adria Izol, with the Elektroblock EBL226 and it charges the engine battery as well, well I`m pretty sure it does as I flattened the engine battery messing with the auto sky dish for days and it charged it up on hookup at the house

thats strange the engine battery should be protected from the hab accesories

 

[Deleted member 43466]

Fitted one to a boat. Cables from battery to B2B need to be short and same size as starter cables. Don't skimp on cables. Longer the cable the thicker it needs to be otherwise you get very large voltage drop. The cable from the B2B to the other battery can be much longer and considerably thinner. You can get the cable ends from RS but you need a mini blowlamp to heat them up and get solder flowing. Don't forget when working out the voltage drop of cables it's there and back. So if you measure 5m then you work on 10. Don't forget you are working on high amps at low voltage so voltage drop can be considerable.

..

thats the trouble the unit is bigger than i thougt. Iam struggling to find somewhere near the engine battery
to mount it

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

Fitted one to a boat. Cables from battery to B2B need to be short and same size as starter cables. Don't skimp on cables. Longer the cable the thicker it needs to be otherwise you get very large voltage drop. The cable from the B2B to the other battery can be much longer and considerably thinner. You can get the cable ends from RS but you need a mini blowlamp to heat them up and get solder flowing. Don't forget when working out the voltage drop of cables it's there and back. So if you measure 5m then you work on 10. Don't forget you are working on high amps at low voltage so voltage drop can be considerable.

..

As above, dont skimp on the cables, even from the B2B to the leisure battery as its carrying 50amps, sorting all out and installing was a bit of a mare, but well worth it, I got most of my info off of the boating forums QFour, you guys know how to do it, no hookups in the atlantic LOL

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

thats strange the engine battery should be protected from the hab accesories

They are, but I have the Snipe Auto Satt Dish connected to the engine battery so it automatically parks the dish when you start the engine, safety thing, it only uses power when it first locks onto the satt, but I had been messing with it for days parked up at the house with different satellites and kept leaving the ignition on, I`ll blame my age LOL

 

[QFour]

thats strange the engine battery should be protected from the hab accesories

Sounds like someone has connected it up to the wrong cable. The ELB has a couple of circuits that are on even when power is off in the Habitation Area but these are from the leisure battery. You can use the fridge relay for the 12v signal to put the Ariel to bed. When you put it on mains both batteries get charged. Our ELB also charges the engine battery and Hab battery from the Solar Panel.

I found two wires behind the dash thoughtfully provided by Piloted when changing the radio to Sat Nav. I had the lights on and heating and both seemed to be live 12v. Connected radio up and tried it. Perfect until I.turned everything off in the back with the main switch.

Also found out the power line from the battery on the Fiat Cab drops the voltage when you start the engine and this switches the sat navy off. Which is why Pilote added another wire.

 

[Deleted member 43466]

They are, but I have the Snipe Auto Satt Dish connected to the engine battery so it automatically parks the dish when you start the engine, safety thing, it only uses power when it first locks onto the satt, but I had been messing with it for days parked up at the house with different satellites and kept leaving the ignition on, I`ll blame my age LOL

lucky you were at the house

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

lucky you were at the house

Aye it was, I`m still thinking of a get out of jail quick if the engine batt ever goes duff, I carry jump leads but you need a battery, I thought of a system of connecting my 4x110 amp batts in an emergency to the engine batt but I believe it can do them a bit of harm,

 

[Deleted member 3011]

It is your money laid out on the table so your call, but I would suggest that fitting relatively high power Sterling B2B units are not the sort of project that is normally listed in the beginner section of motorhome DIY projects so make sure you sort everything out before getting stuck in to it.

Pretty sure they will work ok without them, I have the battery sensor but not the alternator sensor, they are just a safety precaution.

Running these units without battery and alternator protection is a bit like driving a car without brakes - the car will run perfectly until something goes wrong and you need to stop.

50 amps potentially being supplied from a relatively small alternator and getting pumped into a relatively small battery for up to a couple of hours at a time is stretching things too far anyway so without full protection and proper settings relative to the size of the battery, you risk doing major damage.

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

Sounds like someone has connected it up to the wrong cable. The ELB has a couple of circuits that are on even when power is off in the Habitation Area but these are from the leisure battery. You can use the fridge relay for the 12v signal to put the Ariel to bed. When you put it on mains both batteries get charged. Our ELB also charges the engine battery and Hab battery from the Solar Panel.

Interesting about the fridge relay, I might give that a try, so when you start the engine the fridge relay gets 12v and parks the dish ???


Also found out the power line from the battery on the Fiat Cab drops the voltage when you start the engine and this switches the sat navy off. Which is why Pilote added another wire.

Funny that, my last MH a fiat Ducato did the same to my VHF Ham radio, it shut it down when I started the engine, it was a PITA cos it always stopped the memory scan on the radio, its the only vehicle it has done this with

This EBL confuses me, with engine running is it the alternator that charges the Leisure battery and not the EBL, and when on hookup is it the EBL that charges the leisure batt

 

[Tezza33]

Aye it was, I`m still thinking of a get out of jail quick if the engine batt ever goes duff, I carry jump leads but you need a battery, I thought of a system of connecting my 4x110 amp batts in an emergency to the engine batt but I believe it can do them a bit of harm,

I carry a set of cigarette lighter socket jump leads just in case, this one is expensive but I bought mine from Aldi, less than £10 and worth every penny, I used to connect from a leisure battery socket to the one on the dash and 10mins later the engine starts, I don't need this anymore because my engine battery charges from the solar panel now but I still carry it
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/...GS-010316544&gclid=COCFyuX7_MgCFSgFwwodA2ECZQ

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

I carry a set of cigarette lighter socket jump leads just in case, this one is expensive but I bought mine from Aldi, less than £10 and worth every penny, I used to connect from a leisure battery socket to the one on the dash and 10mins later the engine starts, I don't need this anymore because my engine battery charges from the solar panel now but I still carry it
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/...GS-010316544&gclid=COCFyuX7_MgCFSgFwwodA2ECZQ

Never seen them in ALDI, or I would have bought one, good idea, I`ll keep an eye open for one, as for the solar panel, that could be the next project

 

[Deleted member 43466]

Aye it was, I`m still thinking of a get out of jail quick if the engine batt ever goes duff, I carry jump leads but you need a battery, I thought of a system of connecting my 4x110 amp batts in an emergency to the engine batt but I believe it can do them a bit of harm,

if it happened to me after i have fitted the bat to bat chrger i would just unscrew the two pos battery leads off the bat to bat charger
and join them temporary to charge the engine battery

 

[Tezza]

I dont know how it works...but i had my sterling b2b fitted by a motorhome electrician.and all he did was put the sterling in-between the cable coming from the engine battery to the leisure battery. From the sterling to the leisure battery he upgraded the cables.He also put a 50amp fuse next to the leisure battery. When i rang sterling and asked about the temp sensors and i quote" oh you dont need them unless your planning on staying somewhere quite warm for a long time ".So make of that what you will

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

if it happened to me after i have fitted the bat to bat chrger i would just unscrew the two pos battery leads off the bat to bat charger
and join them temporary to charge the engine battery

then jump start the van so the B2B could charge the engine batt LOL

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

I dont know how it works...but i had my sterling b2b fitted by a motorhome electrician.and all he did was put the sterling in-between the cable coming from the engine battery to the leisure battery. From the sterling to the leisure battery he upgraded the cables.He also put a 50amp fuse next to the leisure battery. When i rang sterling and asked about the temp sensors and i quote" oh you dont need them unless your planning on staying somewhere quite warm for a long time ".So make of that what you will

Yeah, just what I thought, I fitted it anyways as it came with the charger, but I dont think it is needed, unless maybe if the batt`s went faulty, and yes, I have fuses everywhere, they cost a bloody fortune, especially the 140amp ones

 

[Johnnygm7lsi]

thats the trouble the unit is bigger than i thougt. Iam struggling to find somewhere near the engine battery
to mount it

From what Will at Sterling tech told me it is more important to site it nearer the leisure battery than the engine battery, but more importantly he emphasized that the beefier the cables the better, less voltage drop, look at the cable recommendation in the installing instructions, my charger is 5M away from the engine battery