spartan3956 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 I am considering fitting a Battery Maintainer to my MH I currently have a 120 watt solar panel charging one leisure battery which i find is ample when wild camping as most of the current draw is low LED lighting low wattage TV with only the heater and water pump drawing highish amps. I however have on occasions when using the vehicle radio/ DVD have had a warning come up stating the engine battery is low. I would hate to flatten the battery or have to use the emergency start on the control panel. As the Solar panels easily restore the power to the leisure battery i would like to transfer power to vehicle battery when excess is available. It would help to keep the vehicle battery charged in winter. I have considered Van Bitz battery master C8454: Sterling Power Battery Maintainer and CAK unit Has anyone fitted these units had any problems with there operation and is it worth while which is considered the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 I've been using one of these for about five years with no problems whatsoever - does what it says on the box. http://www.sp-shop.co.uk/Sterling-Power-12V-12V-Battery-Maintainer-PN-BM12123.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 My first suggestion would be to re-wire the radio to run off the leisure battery, that way you won't have to worry about it flattening the engine battery. It also won't make any difference if using it when driving as both batteries will be on charge from the alternator. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan3956 Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Keithl - 2014-10-12 5:29 PM My first suggestion would be to re-wire the radio to run off the leisure battery, that way you won't have to worry about it flattening the engine battery. It also won't make any difference if using it when driving as both batteries will be on charge from the alternator. Keith. Although the Radio isn't the standard one fitted , I am loathed to rewire to the leisure battery while the vehicle is under warranty. I had trouble with the dealers diagnostic computer because the radio wasn't standard and the computer rejected the search for an injector problem i had, a second visit with new programme fixed the problem. I will consider connecting the radio to the leisure battery later even just to get rid of the 20 minute shut down,this is another reason to charge the battery while on site. Unless someone knows how to fool the ecu on a Renault master Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan3956 Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Thank you for your replies I have purchased a unit proposed by Tracker from MDS Battery co .uk for £55.99 inc Vat and Postage Hope this helps anyone who wants to do the same. If anyone has any idea how to stop the radio shut down i would be a happy bunny, Having to turn the engine over every 20 minutes to reset is a bit of a pain Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I thought it was only the X250 Boxers/Ducatos that suffered with the 20 minute cut off which can be sorted through the radio menu (the earlier X244's also have the problem but you cannot sort it in the same way) My 2006 Boxer X244 has the radio wired to the leisure battery and still cuts off every 20 minutes . Didn't know Renaults had this problem and if you've changed the radio, then it must be built into the Renaults electrics and not in the radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan3956 Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Yes Renault cabs does have this battery safety feature, it can also lock you in the MH if the Habitation door isn't on the courtesy circuit but that's another story. I also have a Honda that does the same whether they detect a voltage drop from the radio draw or the ECU has a little man in it with a stop watch i don't know. I am sure that if this is programmed in it can be programmed out some clever electronic`s boffin could make a small fortune . Need more input Johnny Five Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Re the radio switching off, I suspect they more or less all do it, certainly every car that I have had for the past 20 or more years has done it, including the hideously expensive radio within the Multi Media Interface in my current Audi. Strangely enough the aftermarket radio fitted to out Peugeot based Pilote doesn't, but having taken a quick peep at the wiring horror behind it I pushed it back in and hope it never goes wrong. I believe the switch off is part of the vehicle electrical installation, designed to prevent you leaving the radio on all night and finding your battery flat in the morning, and if you identify the feed wire to the radio and connect it to a battery in a suitable way you should be able to flatten the battery with impunity. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 You can at least alter the cut-off time on the X250 from 20 minutes to 60 minutes, which is much more sensible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan3956 Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 How do you do that then might be similar on Renault 60 minutes would be better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 These are extracts from another forum and refer to Peugeot Boxers so switches will be different but worth trying some of the systems described. For Euro 4 models ... ''Switch the radio on and then quickly press preset 2 and the FM/As switch. Successive switching of these two switches gave me CARAVAN and NORMAL IGN. You need it set as CARAVAN. On the menu panel I got IGN TIME (not RADIO OFF). Toggling left and right gave 0 and 180 - switch it to 180 and press the MENU switch again. '' for Euro 5 models... The radio has the option of being used in 'NORMAL' mode, which will switch the radio off after 20 minuets, or in 'CAMPER' mode, which will allow the use the radio for 180 minutes. To swap between the two settings, do the following ........ 1) Turn the radio ‘ON’ using the central power button. 2) Within 10 seconds, simultaneously press 'FM AS' and the pre-set button '2' and hold them pressed until the display changes to show either, 'NORMAL' power mode or 'CAMPER' power mode (this will take about 5 seconds). If the wrong mode is shown, switch the radio off and repeat until you get 'CAMPER'. 3) Ensure that 'CAMPER' power mode is displayed, then press ‘MENU’ 4) Using the ‘UP and ‘DOWN’ buttons over and under the central power button, now changes the display to show various adjustable items. Cycle through the options until ‘RADIO OFF’ and a number of minutes is shown on the display. This will take approx. two presses of the ‘UP’ button or seven presses of the ‘DOWN’ button. 5) With ‘RADIO OFF’ shown on the display, press the ‘LEFT’ or ‘RIGHT’ button on either side of the central power button. Each press of either button will alternate the number of minutes shown between ‘180’ and ‘0’ 6) With ‘180’ showing on the display the setting is complete and 180 minutes of radio operation will be possible. Press the ‘Menu’ button to exit the menu and return the display to its usual view. It is possible that the above will work for other X250 vans (such as FIAT and Citroen) as well as Peugeot. As said there is no guarantee this will work as models have changed several times over a few years but anything is worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan3956 Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Excellent i will try mines a Euro 5 with a Panasonic all singing and dancing entertainment unit fitted, The sterling unit came this afternoon have wired almost in hardest part was routing the wires. One day from ordering to delivery not bad, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan3956 Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 All fitted in the bed locker i was lucky both batteries are only 4 ft away from each other. Well after one day and not a very sunny day the unit has charged the engine battery up from 12.1 to 12.7 volts.I am more than pleased with the result as the solar was only pushing out 1 amp most of the day due to dense cloud., Briiiiiiiii Autumn. I am going to wire the radio direct to the leisure battery, i tried talking to the local Renault dealer but they just want to charge you as main dealer do to look at itNo forthcoming advice or technical help on the phone.Without the original radio i have no way of altering the set up if at all. so if i take my radio out of the ecu`s grasp it wont go off. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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