Frank Beevers Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 When the main switch on the control panel is turned to the off position is the inboard battery charger also switched off when on a mains hookup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Welcome to the forum Frank - at the risk of being rude - what does the handbook tell you? The other way to tell is with a digital voltmeter. If the battery is being charged the voltage at the leisure battery terminals should be over 13.1 volts and when it is not being charged and has been at rest for at least an hour or three it should be under 12.9 volts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I'm only guessing really as I don't know the Accordo, but looking at the web pictures it seems to feature the same battery control switch as our old 2008 Elddis. On that the battery charger (although really it was only a power supply giving a steady 13.8V) remained on irrespective of the position of the battery switch. The only way to turn it off while 240v was connected was to flip the circuit breaker labelled 'charger' on the consumer unit in the wardrobe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Beevers Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Thank you for replying. The van is new to me and the owners handbook does not say. The reason for my asking is that the engine battery discharged to a point where it would not start the engine. The van has not been driven for about two weeks but the alarm has been on so I guess this must be running down the battery. I wondered if the onboard battery charger charged both leisure and engine battery together. As I turn the main switch on the control panel off when leaving the van I thought this may be the reason. The handbook does not mention this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Frank Beevers - 2015-02-12 4:27 PM The reason for my asking is that the engine battery discharged to a point where it would not start the engine. The van has not been driven for about two weeks but the alarm has been on so I guess this must be running down the battery. I wondered if the onboard battery charger charged both leisure and engine battery together. As I turn the main switch on the control panel off when leaving the van I thought this may be the reason. All 'modern' van engine batteries go flat in two weeks if you do not drive them so there is probably not a fault other than poor design and execution of the electrical system by Fiat/Peugeot. The makers excuse for this is that they are designed as workhorse vehicles designed to be used daily but it is a poor and invalid excuse as many otherwise daily used vans remain out of use at times sooner or later. I doubt that the inboard charger also charges the engine battery but again a voltmeter would confirm either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynneroy Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Hi Frank, I hope you are enjoying your new Elddis, we too had one recently and leave our alarm on, but never had a flat battery, not sure of the answer to your question but if you find out please let us know. We are enjoying our Accordo, stayed in some really cold weather and the heating is amazing, we have had to put in extra shelves, fit the awning winder to the wall just inside the habitation door, made a lovely headboard and a few other adjustments and love it, off to the NEC on Tuesday to buy some accessories. Have fun Lynne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynneroy Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Hi Frank, well we were intrigued so Roy went out to check ours, it charges which ever position the switch is in whilst on hook up. Lynne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Elddis motorhome handbooks can be downloaded from the Elddis website http://www.elddis.co.uk/help-support/help-advice/handbooks 2015 Accordo and Autoquest handbooks are listed but aren’t actually there!! However, it’s likely that they will repeat the advice regarding battery-charging that was printed in the 2014 Aspire and Autoquest handbooks, namely "AUTOMATIC CHARGING SYSTEM The battery charger will operate automatically when the motorhome is connected to the mains outlet on a motorhome site. The 12V system, with the exception of the 12V refrigerator and battery charging, will not operate when the motorhome is running. CHECK all motorhome equipment is set-up to accept the site supply before actually switching on.” There’s no indication that the motorhome’s control-panel's On/Off switch’s position impacts on the battery-charging process when the vehicle is on electric hook-up (EHU) and Lynne has confirmed that the switch’s position has no effect on charging. There’s also no indication that the motorhome’s starter-battery can be charged via the vehicle’s onboard battery-charger when the motorhome is on EHU (Surely something every owner of an Elddis motorhome would be interested in knowing about?) and it’s likely that only the leisure-battery gets charged. As Tracker advises, a quick check with a voltmeter would confirm that this is indeed the case. (There are relatively simple ways to pass charge to the starter-battery when on EHU (eg. the “Battery Master” product), but modifying a modern motorhome to permit EHU starter-battery charging really should not be necessary.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Beevers Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Thank you all for your replies, The van is almost new and I have the owners handbook but it has no reference to the engine battery being charged but as the engine battery ran down I guess it must only charge the leisure battery. The engine would not start so I went out to Halfords and bought a battery charger (own make). The guy in Halfords said that it could be left on all the time as it has a monitoring device built into the charger it just adds charge as and when required. As the van will not be used so frequently in the winter months and I have a mains hook up on my drive I will leave it connected. I am also having a large solar panel fitted on the roof and a battery monitor that will send a charge to both the leisure and engine battery via the solar panel when camping without a mains hook up, the kind of camping we do most often. I can recommend the Halfords charger it brought the battery back up to full charge in about 4 hours. it only cost £39 so it did not break the bank. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I've been using one of these for the last 7 years or so and it does exactly what it should and is simple to fit and wire up if you have basic skills, or any auto electrician will fit it for you if you are not comfortable doing it yourself. http://sterling-power.com/collections/battery-to-battery-chargers/products/battery-to-battery-charger-maintainer Also available at less cost is this one. https://www.roadpro.co.uk/retail/12v24v-electrical-products/battery-management/battery-control-products/battery-master-79.htm Or this one for a bit more. http://www.vanbitz.com/product/battery-master/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynneroy Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Hi again, We have a solarpanel fitted that charges both batteries and it works perfectly, our alarm is always on and we have o problem with flat batteries, so good luck. I hope you have some good trips planned, we are off for the night on Monday and then onto the NEC on Tuesday to look for accessories. Enjoy Lynne ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 The simplest/cheapest work-around is probably Clive Mott-Gotobed’s ‘bridging fuse’ arrangement: http://www.motts.org/BRIDGING%20FUSE.htm I suspect that Frank’s Peugeot handbook will advise against charging the starter-battery without first disconnecting the battery at its negative terminal. Besides which, as Frank has a mains hook-up capability at home that will allow his Accordo’s leisure-battery to be charged by the motorhome’s on-board battery charger, why not just link leisure- and starter-battery together temporarily while the motorhome is on hook-up and thus avoid the complication of operating two individual battery chargers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I am not at all sure that Clive's solution is the best answer for most people unless they really are strapped for cash which would not seem to apply to most of us who own a modern motorhome and I would much prefer to suggest a properly fitted battery to battery combined charger current flow limiter. Long before vans were ever fitted with leisure batteries, and following a couple of flatties which are very inconvenient on a large heavy vehicle, I used to fit a second battery to preserve the starter battery when parked up and I used similar wiring to Clive's except that I fitted a switch to turn the second battery charge on or off rather than a moveable fuse, as well as an inline fuse of course. I clamped a large clip on the steering wheel, which clipped onto the sun visor when driving, to remind me whenever I forgot! We also used the same system on several boats to create a reliable back up starter battery because you can't bump start a boat and several miles out at sea a flat main battery is even more inconvenient unless you have several oars and a few slaves to hand! Simples, but like Clive's solution it was easy to fit, totally reliable, always worked and was almost idiot proof! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Hi I have a 2012 Elddis Aspire 255. If the twelve volt control panel is turned of the batteries Habitation and engine are still charged. On mine the battery charger itself has a red button which is light when chargers is on this also serves as push for on push for off switch. In the top right hand side of the control panel there is an indicator that shows when the batteries are linked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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