Should Leisure Battery be earthed to the chassis?

[longwori]

Hi guys, sorry if this is a bit of an elementary question. I have searched for the answer and I think it is Yes but would like confirmaiton before blowing anything up.

I have just bought a second hand Bongo and not everything is working as it should. It appears as though the Zig CF8 is wired directly to the terminals of the Leisure battery using uninterupted wires to the battery terminals. There is no wiring of the Leisure battery to the chassis though. Should there be?

This would mean the LB -ve and the main battery -ve were in effect connected. I guess I can then use the +ve feed from either battery combined with the chassis to power anything.

Please let me know if you agree with or disagree with my thoughts or know anything I should be careful about.

Thanks guys,

Ian

[g8dhe]

Yes the leisure battery should be connected to the chassis.
However its also not a bad idea to run your own -ve around the vehicle as its not unknown for chassis connections not to be as good an electrical connection as you would like, often with rust be the cause of the problem over time.

[longwori]

Thanks Geoff.

I guess the Zig may be connecting the two anyway but I will check.

I could just run a cable from the -ve of one battery to the other and rely on the main batteries chassis connection couldn't I? That would save having to make a new chassis connection

Ian

[tallbongo]

You could, but is the main battery connected (electrically) to the chassis? I've got a similar problem with my leisure battery not charging and cannot find any point where there is an electrical short to the chassis on either battery (the cables are there - the electrical contact isn't).

I'm proposing to run cables from both batteries -ve to the same, new earth on the chassis. See the topic here - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... =3&t=43587.

[longwori]

Hi Geoff. I just assumed the -ve chassis electrical connection that was factory fitted would be a good one!

Thanks for highlighting that it maybe isnt. I will check.

[g8dhe]

I could just run a cable from the -ve of one battery to the other and rely on the main batteries chassis connection couldn't I? That would save having to make a new chassis connection

Its what I do in my vehicle, BUT do make sure that the cable you use is adequately rated, at least 50 Amp rating, and keep it as short as possible.