Campervan electrics question

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I too have a problem with the electrics in my campervan. The main problem, I think, is that the relay ( I think it's called) between the campervan's engine and the leisure battery has a fault on it. However, I could be wrong because there's buttons and fuses everywhere and I really haven't got a clue which should be switched on or off at any one time. On top of that there's an inverter (what the fuck that's for, I have no idea) which has an on / off button. Too many buttons and fuses is freaking me out man. If anybody knows of a reasonably priced auto electrician in Birmingham, then please give me their details. It would help if they had the patience of Job, and were used to dealing with remedials.

[Travis Tee]

I don't think it's very funny to joke about children with brain injuries in fact I find it offensive. Just because it's not racist ir homophobic you seem to have got away with it. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

12 minutes ago, Travis Tee said:

I don't think it's very funny to joke about children with brain injuries in fact I find it offensive. Just because it's not racist ir homophobic you seem to have got away with it. 

Do you believe that your opinion is held by the majority?

[Travis Tee]

Well I would like to think that most decent people on here would consider joking about a child with a brain injury is wrong. I have such a child and I find it offensive. 

[philipsteak]

My apologies. No offence or hurt was intended

[philipsteak]

16 hours ago, ian the worm said:

Black coffee please!

Deal

[philipsteak]

15 hours ago, ian the worm said:

You asked me what van I've done and I can't seem to PM pictures so....

A single sleeper Daihatsu Hijet.

 

Nice conversion you've done there. I used to have the very similar Suzuki Carry until it died a horrible, expensive death.

[Travis Tee]

1 hour ago, philipsteak said:

My apologies. No offence or hurt was intended

Thank you good luck with your power issues. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

14 hours ago, Travis Tee said:

Well I would like to think that most decent people on here would consider joking about a child with a brain injury is wrong. I have such a child and I find it offensive. 

I'm not trying to rattle your cage, or upset you, but I just don't understand why the words that philipsteak used to create a fictional situation for himself could be found offensive. He wasn't talking about your child, or anybody else's child. I doubt that there's very many people on the planet that would find that a real child having a head injury to be a humorous state of affairs. However, I'm sure that there's a great swathe of society that would argue that such imaginative humour should not be curtailed, both for humour's sake and for the benefit of allowing imagination to flourish. 

I have no way of knowing, but suspect, that you will have laughed at some jokes in the past that others will have found offensive. It's unavoidable I'd say. How can we go through life vetting each and every situation, joke etc to ensure that it's PC enough not to offend anybody at all? We can't. Given that that is the case (in my opinion) then where do we draw the line? At whatever point we draw it, it will be artificial, and have no true value.

Anyway, I wish you and your child all the best.

 

 

 

[Smeble]

Oh ffs

[philipsteak]

So then, dragging this back to the original reason for it...

 

Got a new problem

I got a new battery as I wasn't sure how old/good the one that came with it was. plus I wanted a bigger one anyway, So, stuck it in, connected it up and nothing happens. Using a multi meter on the terminals it's showing 12.85A. As I understand it, that means full. But like I said, nothing happens when trying to use it. With the engine running everything (sockets, usb, lighting, water pump and hob ignition) works fine. I have one of those cheap plug in voltmeters plugged into the 12v socket in the back (I know they aren't particularly accurate) and with the engine running it shows about 14.3/14.4v. Turn the engine off and it drops down until it reaches about 12.8/12.7 at which point everything powered from the leisure battery switches off. 

I tried the old battery (which I'd charged up using a ctek smart charger) and the same thing happened, the only difference being I couldn't get an accurate reading with the multimeter on that one. it kept fluctuating

Anyone any ideas?

[H.M.V]

Delighted to see the comraderie here. I have major CV envy now. 

Edited April 18, 2017 by H.M.V
Uh

[philipsteak]

Yeah, i love having a van (once i get it working properly) and while it wouldn't suit everyone, the fact it's the size of and drives like a car makes it fine for everyday use

[Smeble]

Have you had a look to see if you have a switch anywhere that switches between engine battery and leisure battery? 

Try detaching the engine battery and see if the leisure battery will work then, 

[paulshane]

14 hours ago, philipsteak said:

So then, dragging this back to the original reason for it...

 

Got a new problem

I got a new battery as I wasn't sure how old/good the one that came with it was. plus I wanted a bigger one anyway, So, stuck it in, connected it up and nothing happens. Using a multi meter on the terminals it's showing 12.85A. As I understand it, that means full. But like I said, nothing happens when trying to use it. With the engine running everything (sockets, usb, lighting, water pump and hob ignition) works fine. I have one of those cheap plug in voltmeters plugged into the 12v socket in the back (I know they aren't particularly accurate) and with the engine running it shows about 14.3/14.4v. Turn the engine off and it drops down until it reaches about 12.8/12.7 at which point everything powered from the leisure battery switches off. 

I tried the old battery (which I'd charged up using a ctek smart charger) and the same thing happened, the only difference being I couldn't get an accurate reading with the multimeter on that one. it kept fluctuating

Anyone any ideas?

maybe an obvious question, but did this happen with the old leisure battery, and if it didn't, what happens if you put the old battery back ? EDIT: I didnt read all of your post!

 

also, how long does it take for the voltage to drop on the VM ? 30 seconds ? or longer ? Also, do you have any 'zig' panels as part of your setup ?

Edited April 19, 2017 by paulshane

[philipsteak]

Hi Paul. It's taking about 20-30 seconds or so, so presumably that's the time it takes to drop to 12.7v and cut off the starter battery? So for whatever reason it just isn't drawing from the leisure battery. 

 

No zig panels, its a fairly simple setup, 

Starter battery, into a fuse, into a relay, another fuse, into the leisure battery, then from the leisure battery into a fuse box (1.12v TV, 2.water pump, 3.lights & 4.12v socket and USB) via a cut off switch, then distributed to the various components. They all work fine. The original problem was that the relay was wired up wrong so there was a permanent feed from the starter battery, thus hiding the fact that there was no feed from the leisure battery (I think).

I've tried asking on a couple of campervan forums but non of their solutions solved it, or to be honest, make sense for my set up. They all seem to have much more complicated set ups than me, so I think they have a hard time thinking about something much simpler. If you see what I mean. One person was talking about separate fridge circuits!

I'm not averse to taking it to someone to have a look at it, I just think it must be something really simple. All the devices and sockets work, the wiring must be fine if everything works when the engine is running, the leisure battery is fully charged, so why doesn't it work from the leisure battery?

[paulshane]

it sounds like the lights etc may be wired to the main battery, which is being cut off not that the relay is connected properly.

 

a split charging circuit dosn't need to be mega complicated, something as straightforward as this pic will work:

 

link: 

 

you just need to wire everything 'auxillary' to the leisure battery - the devices should work all the time, but the leisure battery will be isolated from the starter battery while the engine is not running, so won't flatten the starter batt.

 

try your meter directly on the terminals of the leisure batt - with engine on, it should be about 14ish volts like you saw earlier, and with engine off, about 12.5ish which should be a steady reading if no electrical equipment is running.

 

do you have a pic of the 'cut off switch' and it's wiring ?

[Smeble]

Have you tried motorhomefun, they are pretty knowledgeable on there

[philipsteak]

Fixed it. Although that probably over states my role in things. I was present and it started working again is probably closer to the truth. No idea what i did. My guess would be a dodgy connection somewhere that got reconnected properly when i put it all back together. Something which I'd done previously with no effect. 

Thanks to everyone who took the time.