Charging the engine battery from the leisure battery charger...?

[Stitch]

The last few weeks as the weather has been getting colder I've had more and more trouble with starting the van. It's got a new battery, starter and glow plugs. It's runs down over the week. Even though the van is plugged into the mains and the leisure batteries are charged of the on board battery charger is there a way I can wire this in so it also tops up the van battery..?

 

[Makzine]

I'm sure there must be a way to do it but it's not my area of expertise. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to help out :wave:

 

[andyjanet]

Hi Ian, don't mess with something that's doing its job properly, it could cause more problems, if you are ehu just buy a battery mate for a motorbike that will cycle the battery up and down so it doesn't get cooked, I have two bikes on an optimate, always start and battery's last for years, andy

 

[Polar Bear]

Why is the battery going flat is the question I would be asking myself?

 

[Deleted member 5816]

Fit a Stirling Battery Maintainer from Road Pro

Alf

The last few weeks as the weather has been getting colder I've had more and more trouble with starting the van. It's got a new battery, starter and glow plugs. It's runs down over the week. Even though the van is plugged into the mains and the leisure batteries are charged of the on board battery charger is there a way I can wire this in so it also tops up the van battery..?

 

[Obanboy666]

Our fiat swift always flattened the engine battery if left for more than a week,although I understand fiat have now built a battery isolation switch in to the new vans .

My Swift just maintains both batteries when on ehu. It has the Fiat isolation switch but I have never used it in 2 years.
Never had an issue with the vehicle battery draining even when stood for a month without ehu. I wonder what is draining the battery ?

 

[shortcircuit]

It would help if we new the make of MH. You also need to find out what is discharging the battery.

My Kontiki has the option to charge engine battery on HU simply by pushing a button. It gets better, as I have a B2B charger and can use this, by switching to vehicle battery when on HU thus making use of the B2Bs multi stage charging for leisure batteries.

 

[Andyderbyshire]

I have a cheap small solar panel from maplins that plugs into my cigerate socket . Works a treat my starting battery is always full of charge
Just need to make sure you have power to the cigerate socket when the ignition is switched off for it to work

 

[Obanboy666]

Probably just the clock and other electronics running in the background.
Fiat know it is a problem hence fitting the isolation switch to the newer models.
Still not as bad as the drain on the leisure batteries from the sarjent controller.

I've noticed that but my solar panel keeps them topped up even in winter thankfully.

 

[shortcircuit]

Probably just the clock and other electronics running in the background.
Fiat know it is a problem hence fitting the isolation switch to the newer models.
Still not as bad as the drain on the leisure batteries from the sarjent controller.

If you have a battery clock at home, how often do you change the small AA or AAA battery?

For the battery to be discharging so rapidly there must be a reason and that should be established first.

 

[Stitch]

Wow, thanks for the response's everyone.. I only just nipped out to wash the van..

I should have added. The van sits in London for a couple of weeks before its gets started to take me home.. It starts normally any other time so I don't think I have a parasitic leak.. (Except me listening to radio 4) I was just thinking if I'm charging the leisure batteries via the mains then why not the van battery at the same time..?

Reading back through the posts this seems to be what I'm looking for..

RoadPro | C8454 | Sterling Power Battery Maintainer

Many thanks Alf for the suggestion.

 

[Deleted member 5816]

On some control panels you have a master switch center OFF then up for leisure or down for van it all depends how the van was wired as to the van battery charges.

I have a Stirling Battery Maintainer it has been on 3 vans now it a quick easy job to fit takes me half an hour or so you can set either battery as the main you can use to top up the leisure from the van or the opposite mine tops up the van battery from the leisure having a good alarm etc

Alf

Wow, thanks for the response everyone.. I only just nipped out to wash the van..

I should have added. The van sits in London for a couple of weeks before its gets started to take me home.. It starts normally any other time so I don't have a parasitic leak.. I was just thinking if I'm charging the leisure batteries via the mains then why not the van battery at the same time..?

 

[Rob H]

Charging the engine battery from the leisure battery charger.

Hi Stitch.

Cyrix Battery Combiners - Victron Energy

Rgrds,

Rob H.

 

[Deleted member 3011]

I leave vehicles for up to two years at a time and they all have different ways of keeping both batteries charged.

All have solar panels. One has a duo solar regulator which connects to both batteries. Two have US made Trik-l-charge units which provide up to 5 amps to the engine battery but only if the house battery is above a certain voltahe, another has a blue sea (or is it blue sky) bi directional unit which allows charging in both directions. Another has a home made equivalent using Schottke diodes

Whatever you use needs to be able to prevent charging from one battery unless it is itself topped up from the solar or mains charger - otherwise there is the real risk of coming back and finding all batteries dead flat if the charger fails

 

[trevskoda]

The last few weeks as the weather has been getting colder I've had more and more trouble with starting the van. It's got a new battery, starter and glow plugs. It's runs down over the week. Even though the van is plugged into the mains and the leisure batteries are charged of the on board battery charger is there a way I can wire this in so it also tops up the van battery..?

Yes buy one of these its v/good,ebay may have them £25.

 

[Andyderbyshire]

Really you want to find what's draining the power To find this you would need a clamp amp meter by clamping it round the outgoing circuit cables at the fuse box to narrow it down to problem circuit
You could install a voltage sensing split charge unit that would do what you're asking but you're not actually finding the direct problem

 

[Deleted member 5816]

If you read post 15 the van is Stood for a fortnight properly with an alarm on its only now with the cold weather the OP has difficulty starting so he knows his problem.

Alf

Really you want to find what's draining the power To find this you would need a clamp amp meter by clamping it round the outgoing circuit cables at the fuse box to narrow it down to problem circuit
You could install a voltage sensing split charge unit that would do what you're asking but you're not actually finding the direct problem

 

[shortcircuit]

If you have a battery clock at home, how often do you change the small AA or AAA battery?

For the battery to be discharging so rapidly there must be a reason and that should be established first.[/QUOTE
It is a known problem on the fiat x250 ,that is why they now fit a battery isolation switch as standard

My posting was to bring into context the amount of power consumed by the clock. Never in a month of Sundays would the clock flatten a battery in such a short time so there must be something else drawing current.

Out of curiosity, what does the X250 battery isolator isolate as I would imagine having to reset the radio every time becoming a bit tedious?

 

[shortcircuit]

Cut this from an old posting

"Spoken to Fiat today and they said use the battery disconnection switch and use the key to lock the doors.
What about the alarm I said ...you won't be able to use it... no alarm no insurance..sorry that's all we can suggest"

????????????????????????

 

[Neckender]

The last few weeks as the weather has been getting colder I've had more and more trouble with starting the van. It's got a new battery, starter and glow plugs. It's runs down over the week. Even though the van is plugged into the mains and the leisure batteries are charged of the on board battery charger is there a way I can wire this in so it also tops up the van battery..?

I've had a couple of new motorhomes that do not charge the cab battery when on hook up and with alarm fitted the cab battery has run down, on both vans I fitted one of these, dead simple 3 wires, one to earth one to positive on cab battery and one to positive on leisure battery. It also works very well with solar panel £22 Ebay.
John.
SPLIT CHARGE EASY FIT LEISURE TO ENGINE BATTERY CAMPER MOTORHOME BOAT 12V SOLAR | eBay