charging engine battery

[coot]

Hi,

We have a Ace Modena Novella when I connect to the mains does anyone know if the battery charger charges the engine battery as well as the leasure battery. I started the engine and the battery seems low.

[Derek Uzzell]

I think that Swift had stopped making Ace Novella motorhomes by 2006, so yours will be older than that. (It could be useful to know the year of your vehicle.)

 

Looking at early-2000s Swift motorhome handbooks, it seems likely that a Novella’s battery-charger only charged the leisure-battery (which is probably what one would expect with a Swift-built motorhome in those days).

 

However, as you bought your Ace secondhand in early-2015, there is the possibility that a previous owner might have modified the vehicle’s original electrical system to allow starter-battery charging when the vehicle is connected to a 230V power supply and the battery-charger is operating.

 

The best way to confirm whether the starter-battery is being charged is to check the voltage of the starter-battery and the leisure-battery at their terminals with a multimeter (every right-thinking motorcaravanner should invest in a multimeter) when the motorhome is not connected to a 230V supply. Both batteries should have a voltage below 13V.

 

Then connect the motorhome to a 230V supply and confirm that the battery-charger is operating. Rechecking the voltage of the leisure-battery should show a significant increase to above 13V (13.8V to over 14V depending on the charger).

 

If the starter-battery’s voltage also shows an increase, then it’s being charged by the battery-charger: if the starter-battery’s voltage remains as previously measured, then it is not being charged by the battery-charger.

[Tracker]

It is probably a good opportunity to also check that the alternator is charging the leisure battery when the engine is running just to be sure.