Control panel

[WFB26]

Can someone please help me with what way the battery 3 way switch should be so battery charges when going along the road on a Bessicar 625 year 1999

[Brian Kirby]

Hi Roger and welcome. I think you need to re-post your query in the "Motorhome Matters" section of the forum. It'll just get lost in this section. I'll see if I can get a moderator to rescue it in the meantime.

 

(Moved to Motorhome Matters forum as requested - Derek Uzzell)

[Derek Uzzell]

The Bessacarr Owners Club website has downloadable Swift/Bessacarr motorhome Owners Handbooks from 2000 to 2011

 

https://www.bessacarr-owners-club.org/info-centre/user-manuals.aspx

 

Although a 1999 handbook is not there, the 2000 version (September 1999 dated) should be relevant

 

https://www.bessacarr-owners-club.org/info-centre/manuals/motorhome/9830014-MH-Owners-Handbook-2000.pdf

 

Page 29 shows a KT9M5 Distribution Panel that carries a 3-position switch that allows battery-supply selection (1st image atttached below)

 

Besides being used to select which battery (starter or leisure) provides 12V power for the motorhome’s habitation-area’s 12V appliances (reading lights, etc.) the switch is also employed to select which battery (starter or leisure) receives charge when the motorhome is connected to a 230V mains power-supply (eg. a campsite hook-up - Pages 20 to 23 of Handbook) and the onboard charger unit is operating (see Handbook Page 28 and the 2nd and 3rd images below)

 

(The switch’s central position is OFF.)

 

While your motorhome is being driven the starter and leisure batteries should both be charged automatically by the vehicle’s alternator using a ’split-charge’ system (as explained here)

 

https://www.vanlifeadventure.com/campervan-conversion/campervan-split-charging-guide/

 

and the 3-position switch will not affect this.

[Alanb]

The method of operation of this system is similar to that installed on my first MH, but has the advantage of a split charge relay, whereas my vehicle was only supplied with a manually operated battery coupling switch. (This switch was soon supplemented with a split charge relay.)

 

Perhaps a simple way to consider the installation would be to consider the 12V loads and charger as being connected together in parallel, which they are. The selector switch then connects the combination to the selected battery.

 

I have serious difficulty in understanding the logic behind the penultimate sentence in the original instruction manual. This sentence claims that charging of the "caravan" battery from the alternator will reduce, once the cab or starter battery is charged.

In my understanding, alternator regulators from that era are constant voltage devices, with a nominal setting of about 14.4V.. With the split charge relay operated, the habitation (caravan) battery will continue to be charged within the capabilities of of the system, even if the starter battery is fully charged.

 

Alan