Zig Cf9

[Daniel]

Hi all,

I have been told by the manufacturer of the Zig CF9 that it is designed to only charge one leisure battery upto 100ah. The campervan I bought recently has two batteries attached to the CF9. Does anyone else have two batteries attached to a CF9 and does the CF9 charge them both?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Daniel

 

[AndyC]

There should be no problem connecting 2 service batteries in parallel to the Zig. The unit is presumably designed to cope with charging a battery of up to 100Ah, if you use it to charge batteries with a greater capacity it will just take a bit longer.

AndyC

 

[Daniel]

Thanks Andy,

One battery is stored underneath the cupboard which is directly below the zig unit (by a few feet). The other battery is underneath the bench seat which sits in front of the cupboard so the batteries aren't in parallel with each other.

 

[avandriver]

Thanks Andy,

One battery is stored underneath the cupboard which is directly below the zig unit (by a few feet). The other battery is underneath the bench seat which sits in front of the cupboard so the batteries aren't in parallel with each other.

In parallell refers to the way the batteries are wired and not to their physical location


Steve

 

[AndyC]

In parallell refers to the way the batteries are wired and not to their physical location


Steve

Yes, it means that both batteries positive terminals are connected together and both negative terminals are connected together.

AndyC

 

[Daniel]

Oh right I see!! Thanks for clearing that up. I am on a very steep learning curve at the moment.

One other thing I was thinking about is why exactly would you need 2 leisure batteries?
In my case with my van my assumptions are that cos the battery that is connected directly to the ZIG is difficult to access another battery has been connected in 'parellel' which sits under the bench seat so it is very easy to access so I can connect an inverter or 12v fan heater to it etc??

Thanks
Daniel

 

[wildman]

Hi, the reason for two batteries is to increase the number of amp/hours available. when connected in parellel all loads, lights, TV inverter etc are equally spread across both batteries, it makes no differance which they are connected to. With a zig unit both batteries will charge to the same level. Ideally both batteries should be identical leisure batteries.
Leisure batteries are constructed differently to normal starting batteries because they do a different job. Starting batteries are designed for high current discharge for a very short time (whilst starting) Leisure batteries are designed to supply a constant current for much longer periods, they can withstand being run almost flat and still recharge, whilst starting bateries if run dead flat will oxyidise and refuse to recharge. You can connect whatever loads you want to either leisure battery (don't forget fuses and correct size wire for the current being drawn) Also make sure that your charging arrangements are sufficient for your needs. Hope that helps.

 

[Daniel]

Thanks Wildman that made a lot of sense to me and I think it answered my next question which was going to be about the battery charge monitor. So if the charge monitor is reading 12v for arguments sake then both batteries are running at 12v?

"You can connect whatever loads you want to either leisure battery (don't forget fuses and correct size wire for the current being drawn) Also make sure that your charging arrangements are sufficient for your needs."

Not sure about this bit though?

Thanks
Daniel

 

[xtraaccess]

CF9B Draining battery

Does anyone know why a cf9 would drain a battery overnight..if i give it a full charge and disconnect the battery, the next morning the battery can be connected and its fine(green light), however if i charge it right up and leave it connected to the zig with the cf9b switched off it drains the battery to a red light status.. its a new battery and when the zig definately charges it up fine, its just acting like the juice is going back into the zig when you leave it connected and remove the 240 supply.