Bongo Fury

I have a Battery charger and a power supply that converts 12v cigerette lighter socket into 240v.

Is there any reason That I shouldn't plug the converter into the cigarette socket, and the battery charger into the converter, and connect the charger to the leisure battery, so that the leisure battery can be charging as I drive?

berrega wrote:I have a Battery charger and a power supply that converts 12v cigerette lighter socket into 240v.

Is there any reason That I shouldn't plug the converter into the cigarette socket, and the battery charger into the converter, and connect the charger to the leisure battery, so that the leisure battery can be charging as I drive?

This has come up before. Provided the 240V inverter can handle the job without cutting out (they don't like high 'spike' currents such as happens when you first plug in the charger) then I gues not. But it seems an odd way to do it. I imagine you'd achieve a similar result just by connecting the +ve terminal of the starter battery to the +ve terminal of the leisure battery once the engine has started. If so a v. simple arrangement could be arrived at, albeit that you would not achieve the same peak charging as I'm told you get from a battery charger.

Perhaps one of our electrical geniuses could comment on/correct the above?

That seems a very inefficient way of doing it & depending on the charger, you may have to do a lot of miles to put anything worthwhile back into the battery. If you've only got a 4amp charger & a 110 a/h battery? Asa Mike said, direct battery link with one of those isolators for when you're on site, or a proper job Willinton split charge kit.

I've got the Willinton kit fitted, and it's a really well made piece of kit - but it is pricey.

What I had considered as a much cheaper solution, was to fit a set of heavy cables from each battery through to the area behind the dash, and fit a battery isolator in the large cubby hole. This would allow me to parallel connect the 2 batteries once on the move, and isolate them when on site.

Of course, the Willinton kit does this automatically - and more besides. The wiring harness feeding to the original fusebox is a really neat way of moving various circuits over to the L/B.

I may still fit the same manual arrangement under the bonnet, so I can start the engine using the L/B if the emergency ever arose. I suppose I could use a jump lead, or swap the batteries over if it came to that though.

dave_aber wrote:I've got the Willinton kit fitted, and it's a really well made piece of kit - but it is pricey.

What I had considered as a much cheaper solution, was to fit a set of heavy cables from each battery through to the area behind the dash, and fit a battery isolator in the large cubby hole. This would allow me to parallel connect the 2 batteries once on the move, and isolate them when on site.

Of course, the Willinton kit does this automatically - and more besides. The wiring harness feeding to the original fusebox is a really neat way of moving various circuits over to the L/B.

I may still fit the same manual arrangement under the bonnet, so I can start the engine using the L/B if the emergency ever arose. I suppose I could use a jump lead, or swap the batteries over if it came to that though.

Make sure the LB is suitable for starting the car - not all are I believe (they aren't designed for high currents over short periods).

I don't know if someone could confirm this for me but am I right in saying you only need a lead to connect +ve to +ve as the car acts like a common earth for the -ve part of the circuit?

The main thing people warned me of about those isolator switches is that its only a matter of time before you forget to flick the switch when on site, then you end up draining both batteries. I'm not entirely convinced, but I can see the logic. And in fact I think my cheap VSR (relay) is actually not doing its job any more anyway and is leaving them connected with engine off, so I'm even more likely to suffer that fate

mikeonb4c wrote: 1) I don't know if someone could confirm this for me but am I right in saying you only need a lead to connect +ve to +ve as the car acts like a common earth for the -ve part of the circuit?

2) The main thing people warned me of about those isolator switches is that its only a matter of time before you forget to flick the switch when on site, then you end up draining both batteries. I'm not entirely convinced, but I can see the logic. And in fact I think my cheap VSR (relay) is actually not doing its job any more anyway and is leaving them connected with engine off, so I'm even more likely to suffer that fate

1) Yes
2) I never have, but there's always a first time (to be honest, it becomes an automatic habit). I nearly always have a hook-up so it doesn't matter, as both batteries are permanently on charge - more of a problem for you hardy types though

I never use use a hook up, I always tend to use lay by's.
Hence the flat leisure battery.

Can you buy a home hook up thing?

berrega wrote: Can you buy a home hook up thing?

Just a normal extension lead from a DIY store

And in fact I think my cheap VSR (relay) is actually not doing its job any more anyway and is leaving them connected with engine off, so I'm even more likely to suffer that fate

To do that, it would have had to fail in the energised state - i.e. the contacts welded together. Either that or it's failed open, and isn't charging the L/B at all as you drive, or the contacts have become worn/damaged over time, and are not passing the full current to the L/B causing a poor charge.

All are possible. Replacing the relay unit itself (like for like) should sort things out though - assuming that the connections, wires, fuse holders, etc, etc are all up to the job of course.

I've bought a adapter for a home hook up.

Two questions.

1) how long can I expect it to take to fully rexcharge the leisure battery.
I left it for 4 hrs and it didn't seam to touch it.

2) do you actually have to flip the switch for the extenal hook up power on for the battery to be able to chage or is it better to just plug the van in and leave that turned off?

mikeonb4c wrote: Make sure the LB is suitable for starting the car - not all are I believe (they aren't designed for high currents over short periods).

I don't know if someone could confirm this for me but am I right in saying you only need a lead to connect +ve to +ve as the car acts like a common earth for the -ve part of the circuit?

So, if my starter battery ever went flat, I could attach a +ve jump lead from the +ve terminal of my Elecsol LB (charged obviously) to the +ve terminal of the starter battery and it would fire it up?

Andrew

dave_aber wrote:

And in fact I think my cheap VSR (relay) is actually not doing its job any more anyway and is leaving them connected with engine off, so I'm even more likely to suffer that fate

To do that, it would have had to fail in the energised state - i.e. the contacts welded together. Either that or it's failed open, and isn't charging the L/B at all as you drive, or the contacts have become worn/damaged over time, and are not passing the full current to the L/B causing a poor charge.

All are possible. Replacing the relay unit itself (like for like) should sort things out though - assuming that the connections, wires, fuse holders, etc, etc are all up to the job of course.

Good old BF software - only just come across this and thanks Dave. I'm guessing they are welded shut but must explore further to be certain. New one is only GBP11 or so. I ought to fit a Willinton kit (can you believe I helped persuade him bring an 'idiot proof kit' to market way back when, and I don't have one as I'd already done my own cheapo DIY job with help from corblimeys factsheet - works OK and was cheap to do )

hembramacho wrote: So, if my starter battery ever went flat, I could attach a +ve jump lead from the +ve terminal of my Elecsol LB (charged obviously) to the +ve terminal of the starter battery and it would fire it up?

Andrew

Depends on how your leisure battery is earthed. Providing the earth wire is like a normal battery lead, you should be able to do it.

francophile1947 wrote:

hembramacho wrote: So, if my starter battery ever went flat, I could attach a +ve jump lead from the +ve terminal of my Elecsol LB (charged obviously) to the +ve terminal of the starter battery and it would fire it up?

Andrew

Depends on how your leisure battery is earthed. Providing the earth wire is like a normal battery lead, you should be able to do it.

LB earthed from chassis I think - Willinton kit, so it should work then. Cool.

(Bongo not here - being MOT'd at present or I'd double check)

Cheers

Andrew

berrega wrote:I've bought a adapter for a home hook up.

Two questions.

1) how long can I expect it to take to fully rexcharge the leisure battery.
I left it for 4 hrs and it didn't seam to touch it.

2) do you actually have to flip the switch for the extenal hook up power on for the battery to be able to chage or is it better to just plug the van in and leave that turned off?

I take it you mean you've got a hook up lead? does your van have a fixed 240v input etc? or have you bought an ehu with an rcd & sockets on the end? If you just need to charge your LB, a normal extension lead would do it, you just need to get 240 v to the charger.

1) depends on the battery charger, if it's an intelligent type charger that only puts out a max of 4 amps, then 4 hours won't do a lot, you'll probably need at least 24 hours if not more, depending how discharged it is.
The output should reduce & therefore the charging rate will slow down the more the battery gets "full"

2) don't really understand the question as I don't know what you've got & what the switch is actually doing?