batteries

W

Weir

0
hi there, we managed to do our first bit of camping this weekend and all went very well and very fun!! even got the van up to 70mph on the motorway down a long straight hill but it was a little unnerving so i quickly eased off!! she ran very well tho and we're really happy...
i was a little paranoid about how long the battery would last so i tried to minimize using the stereo and internal lights while we were parked up. the battery is pretty massive so i think it has quite a long life but i have been planning on getting a leisure battery.
it occured to me today tho that the stereo, heater and interior lights are all hooked up to the main starter battery at the moment, if i put in a leisure battery how would i switch all that over?
i understand about wiring the two batteries in parallel whilst driving to charge them with the alternator and then switching over from the starter battery to the leisure battery when you're camping but how do you go about supplying power to the components that are already connected to the starter battery.
even more concerning is that in order to use the stereo, i have to turn the ignition key, this brings the brake lights on because for some bizarre reason the handbrake triggers the brake lights! All this seems like potentially quite a big drain on the battery and could also presumably wear out the coil sitting with the ignition switched?!?
i'm not really sure how these things are best setup so any advice would be good.
thanks!
 
The handbrake is meant to switch on the brake lights, underneath is a switch that triggers the signal..;)
Concerning batteries, there are many ways.The simple way is to wire a split charge system that charges separate batteries from the alternator, many folk on here will have this system fitted.Its simple and wont drain your main battery.Youll wire another live feed to a fuse box/distribution block that will feed multiple 12v appliances without the fear of ruining the main battery.More sophisticated charging systems such as made by sterling offer greater effeciency and protection.
Again you could fit a solar powered power source to another battery.
Im sure others on here will enlighten you further.

:D
 
I'd like to know about this too. Jessica has wiring for a second battery - but it aint there so there are loads and loads of wires (and a little black box)

A wiring diagram would be really usefull too!

Rupert

www.littleyellowcar.co.uk
 
I can vouch for leisure battery being indispensable, but not sure enough of my ground to do a full wiring diagram for you, am hoping to fit a second leisure battery soon to double capacity soon so will have a look at what is there. There are threads tucked away from last year which discuss wiring so may be worth doing a search for 'leisure battery' and seeing what comes up


It might be worth carrying a charged battery somewhere with you as a temporary solution in case you run of juice on your main one for starting.

Fantastic to here of your weekend camping, lovely to know of another being used and enjoyed:)

Bessie - four star commerdation
 
Do you have a starting handle? Shouldn't matter if you flatten the battery then :D
 
the leisure battery thing seems reasonably simple to wire up from what i've read. you just need a form of switch or relay between your two batteries so they both recieve charge but there's no draw on the starter battery when the engine isn't running. we don't need a whole lot of power, i only envision running the interior lights and the stereo - maybe a fan run off the cigarette lighter would also be handy for warm evenings if our planned trip to barcelona over materialises...
it's made even easier with one of these:
http://www.brocott.co.uk/towbar-electrics/towbar-wiring-relays/intelligent-self-switching-split-charge-relay-kit-12v-30amp-p-848.html?osCsid=fpptn1ng49bjcd06dejcbpfiejs438t3
which automatically detects whether enough charge is going to the starter battery before allowing charge to go to the leisure battery.

the difficulty i'm having is that the stereo and interior lights are already wired into the main power loom. will this mean i have to rewire the lights and stereo to use them through the leisure battery. this seems a complicated way of doing things. as i said - the fact the handbrake brings on the brake lights if the ignition is switched means using the stereo is even more of a drain in its current set up -getting power to the stereo means also getting power to 2x21watt brake lights!![:0]

i guess rewiring the interior lights isn't so much of a problem because they'll basically only be used when camping anyway. things like the stereo and cigarette lighter need to be used when driving so i can't completely rewire them - perhaps some sort of secondary switch to change the power source over when camping?!? anybody have any experience with this?!?
 
admin - from trying to check the timing, i've realised the engine needs a starting handle to turn rather than a spanner. sadly i don't have the handle, not that it would be much good because there's a radiator between the pulley and the front of the van thats just a little in the way?!?[:0]
 
This is a simple, cheap and effective way


perkobatteryswitch.jpg


Battery Selector Switch

Make Before Break Design
For use with two or more Batteries (and single or dual engine systems on marine applications)
Permits selection between batteries for starting and charging or operation of both batteries in parallel.
Allows addition of an extra battery for use with accessories.
The "OFF" position also acts as an Emergency Disconnect in the event of an electrical problem.
Ignition protected.
Surface Mount - design protects the copper contacts and brass terminals used as electrical connections.
Suitable for 12, 24 & 36 volt systems


I can even recommend a dealer if you need one ;)


Cheers
Jules

RatSport www.ratsport.co.uk
 
Have to say I'm will Jules on this one - it is nice to be able to turn off the juice without having to faff around unbolting the battery.

This also has the advantage that if your main battery dies, you can simply switch to battery number 2 to try and start it.

Not sure where to mount the switch, it is a pretty big lump- mine is about 6x6 inches, the door pillar by the driver's sholder is looking favourite at the mo.

you could just rewire you stereo so that its operation isn't ignition linked (and save your coil).
 
hello everyone me again, you definately need a leisure battery not a second car battery as they last a lot longer, then you need to take all the feeds for things like radio, 12volt sockets and lights from this with easy to use quick release battery clamps (available from any good camping shop) then you need a split charge relay (available from a good towbar or caravan dealer) wired to engine battery then a feed and earth to the leisure battery and this will then charge the leisure battery off the engine battery but only once the engine battery is up to full charge hence no more flat engine battery and a radio you can use when parked up camping.... all a bit long winded but hope this helps its fairly easy to do too.
 
yeah, it occured to me yesterday (whilst trying to come up with designs for some sort of secondary relay that would switch the stereo over to the leisure battery for when we were parked, and then when driving it would switch back to being ignition switched from the engine battery) that there's really no problem having the stereo run off the leisure battery at all times, as with the lights - i'm still gonna have to rig up some form of switch otherwise the stereo will be running the leisure battery down in standby when parked up at the house but it'll be a lot simpler in the long run.
 
Wiring in a split charge is so simple, goto a scrappy and find a large relay and just wire it in as so:
split%202.gif


Note the relay trigger source will be an ignition live, that way the relay actives when the ignition is on causing both batteries to charge, when ignition is off, the relay shut down the circuit between the 2 batts so only the Leisure one is drained. Its then just a case of wiring what you want to run from the leisure battery - Job jobbed!
 
You could get a split charge relay out of a caravan like i have that way its got an in put for a battery charger so when your on site you can can hook the electric up and charge your leisure battery mine also has an out put for your fridge so will only turn the fridge on when the engine is running its brill brought it brand new from a caravan shop it was about £13.00 including all connectors and wire!!:D:D
 
it must be a split charge relay not an ordinary relay otherwise when the engine battery runs low it will pull the leisure battery down too or reverse and the alternator isnt designed to run both but the split charge will only charge the leisure when the engine is up to speed;)
 
quote:
Originally posted by CHARLIE COMMER

it must be a split charge relay not an ordinary relay otherwise when the engine battery runs low it will pull the leisure battery down too or reverse and the alternator isnt designed to run both but the split charge will only charge the leisure when the engine is up to speed;)



It will only pull charge from the leisure battery if the ignition is on though. A relay is a relay, if yours is doing as you say, you've bought an intelligent split charge system.

If you've got this and are expecting as you say, you've been done. Its a mechanical unit, purely a switch.
relay.jpg


This is a clever one
smartbankii-oem.jpg


I have a batt charger in mine to just charge the leisure batt when hooked up. It will only charge the leisure batt since the connection to the main batt is broken when the ignition is off.

Both systems work equally as well really, just depends wether you want to spend some monies, or get a relay for free[?]
 
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