Guest neil whiting Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 just had to buy 2 new leisure batterys ,which after there first outing to the jambaree in maidstone kent they needed a charge so on the way back to south wales i thought this would charge them back up, but when i checked the state of charge they was not much difference ,when i bought my swift lifestyle 630l it had only 1 battery so i added another so i would have enough power as i attend many outdoor shows the batterys are 2 85ah wired in parallel the onboard charger seems to be working but not enough to top them right back up and also is it correct when using a battery charger do you connect the charger leads on the 1 battery or do you place + on one battery and the - on the other if anyone can help me again i will be very grateful many thanks ,neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David Powell Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Hi Neil..."search":- Key word:- "leuisure batteries" there is enough information there to keep you reading for an hour or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Its a bit optimistic hoping to fully charge a leisure battery in one relatively short journey. You should carry out some basic checks using a digital volt meter to make sure the charging systems are working correctly. Connect the voltmeter directly between the positive and negative terminals of your leisure battery. 1) With no mains and the engine OFF it should read something around 12 to 13 volts depending on its state of charge. 2) Start the engine and the voltage should rise to over 13 volts, quite soon to 13.5 volts and should settle after some time at 14 volts. If it does not do this then your "split charging" components need looking at by a sparky. It could be a fuse! Split charging systems work best if they take their supply from the alternator B+ terminal and if the wiring used is F A T! This will ensure the quickest charging time. 3) Engine, off and connect the van to the mains with the mains hookup cable. Again the voltage should rise to over 13 volts, quite soon to 13.5 volts and should settle after some time at 14 volts. If it does not do this then your "on-board regulated charger" needs looking at by a sparky. It could be a fuse!. Accept that these charging systems will eventually get your battery at 80% charged. This is the same as your starter battery will be and is because trying to get the last 20% of energy into the battery would mean battery terminal voltages well in excess of 14 volts and a significant increase in water consumption. More risk to electrical components by high voltages and more maintenance! Good luck Go and measure some volts! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Derek Uzzell Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 Your question about connecting a separate battery-charger appears to have been overlooked. Assuming your 2 batteries are wired as shown in Clive M-G's diagram on Page 228 of MMM, June 2005, the logical way to connect a charger would be to the battery-terminals that carry the "To Motorhome" cables. So (again referring to the diagram) connect the charger's +lead to the +terminal of the Right battery and the charger's -lead to the -terminal of the Left battery. This would simulate the way your on-board charger would charge the batteries. (It looks like you could alternatively connect the charger's leads to just one battery and get that battery to feed charge to the other, but this seems a perverse approach to me.) However, I'm puzzled why you would want to use a separate battery-charger: A) 'Halfords-type' chargers are unlikely to have any more oomph than your Swift's on-board charger. B) As you'll need a 230V supply to power the separate charger, why not avoid the extra complication and just use the on-board charger to recharge the batteries? (After all, that's what Swift put the thing there for.) C) There's plenty of high cock-up potential with this procedure unless you disconnect the "To Motorhome" cables from the leisure-batteries before hooking up the separate charger. "On your own head be it", as the seagull said to the sailor! I know it's stating the obvious but, if a 2nd leisure-battery is added to a motorhome and the resultant pair of batteries is then heavily discharged, if it is desired that the recharge period be as short a duration as previously then the motorhome's charging capability will need to be upgraded (higher output alternator and/or on-board charger) to match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neil whiting Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 I WOULD TO THANK CLIVE ,DAVID AND DEREK FOR ALL THERE COMMENTS AND JUST TO LET YOU ALL KNOW I HAVE KNOW CORRECTED THE FAULT IT WAS THE CHARGER ,ONCE AGAIN MANY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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