Zig CF9 Charging Problems

[crazycampergirl]

My Zig CF9 has stopped charging my leisure battery. I managed to drain my van battery by leaving the keys in the ignition and this also drained my leisure battery because my Zig was in the the 'towing' charging setting. I jump started the van, charged that battery but the leisure battery remained dead and kept drawing power from my van battery overnight. Once I swithed the Zig to 'onsite' this stopped happening and I now have a charged van battery but discharged leisure battery.

I have tried charging with both the alternator and the mains hook up but the Zig keeps clicking the charger on and off. It will charge for a second then cut off as if a relay is switching inside the Zig. I have looked inside and I have no loose wires and it sounds like the clicking is coming from the transformer.

Does anyone have any ideas what's wrong???

Cheers!

 

[Mr B]

Hi Crazycampergirl,
Try 12voltdc.webs.zigmanuals.htm or call on 07974 590826 or 0121 628 7522, they say they are Zig experts. Not all leisure batteries charge from the alternator perticularly if you have an older model of motor home.
Regards,
Chris

 

[NicknClair]

Hi,
Looking at the issues raised, it looks like a possible leisure battery failure, coupled with a possible charging relay issue, as the batteries should be independent if each other once the engine is switched off (unless somewhere someone has connected the 2 direct, but wouldn't have thought this would be the case). If the leisure battery is faulty, this will pull down any good battery linked to it. Now by the looks of tings, if the split charge system is at fault, this is leaving you good engine battery connected to the suspect leisure battery and is pulling the engine battery down with it.
The Zig unit will cut out the charger, if the leisure battery had a defective cell therefore the charger would overheat and stop working.
My advise is to see if you have a good leisure/automotive sparky local to check the split charge system and certainly look at the leisure battery at the same time.
Hope this helped

 

[Nosha]

You could also check the VERY small fuse fitted to the circuit board under the cover - On my old caravan Zig unit the case was 'pop' rivetted on as if there was no servicable parts inside.


Also if you get stuck they can be returned to the maker, but there was a charge of £50 to cover the heavy weight of shipping plus the first hour to check/repair... However it can come back as unrepairable and then you're fifty quid worse off - quite a gamble!

 

[crazycampergirl]

Thanks guys,
I have checked the leisure battery voltage and it's only 2V! Is this dead beyond recovery or could a trickle charger help it?
When plugged into the 240V hook up to charge, the battery is getting some charge when it clicks on for a second but even after an hour the leisure battery voltage had only gone up by 0.07V. So it seems to be working a bit but this click sounds like it keeps switching itself on and off!
My thoughts are to try and resurrect the battery using a trickle charger, if that doesn't work-buy a new battery and see if the Zig likes that, if not-get the Zig checked out.
Does that sound like a plan or is there anything else I could try?
Cheers,

 

[Deleted member 207]

I've had batteries that caused the recharger to click as you describe - the low amp recharger could not cope with the battery's state of discharge.

IF the battery is a leisure battery and not a cranking/starting battery there is a chance it will recover if you have a suitable recharger and disconnected from the vehicle. Long slow trickle recharge will do the job.

IF its a cranking battery, 2Volts is pretty well terminal for them. Its likely that the plates are now touching and shorting and causing the recharger to click on and off.