jak Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 In the process of replacing habitation battery and investigating possible locations for a solar controller, in a Renault based 2008 Dethleffs Esprit, my attention has been drawn to what I presume is a terminal block located under the driver's seat next to the Schaudt Electroblock EBL220. There are no indicative markings on the visible faces of the block and unfortunately access to both this block, see attached pic, and the EBL220 necessitates removal of the driver seat - which I am not rushing to do having already undertaken the task on the passenger seat when replacing the habitation battery. I am at a bit of a loss to know what the block is associated with but wonder if it could be the Dometic fridge AES connection strip? We have owned the van for approximately 5 years in which time the only electrical work that has been undertaken was to fit a tracker and this block is too visible/accessible for it to be associated with that - I hope! Other than the tracker everything else on the van is standard, as far as I am aware. Although when I removed the habitation battery I was surprised to find the fridge fuse was missing from the three pack holder, but given the fridge functions normally I presume it is located elsewhere on the circuit. If anyone has any clues as the purpose of this unit I would appreciate advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 It looks like a Schaudt LR 03 Regulator, but hard to see clearly? It is also not wired how I would expect, so maybe something else? "The regulator LR 03 provides an automatic 2A trickle charge of the starter battery from the leisure battery. The connected starter battery is automatically charged from the leisure battery, until the voltage of the starter battery has risen to 0.7V below the voltage of the leisure battery. rated voltage of batteries 12V maximum charge current 2A" I assume it is there to 'steal' power from the Habitation battery to help prevent the Tracker dropping the Starter battery too low? If you intend to fit a Solar regulator like a Schaudt LR1218, it would make the LR03 redundant (if it is one?) as the Solar regulator would charge the Starter battery directly and more efficiently. Better still might be to fit an LRM 1218 as this has a higher potential Starter battery charge rate which I suggest you might find beneficial with a Tracker taking such a lot of power from the Starter battery? You will probably need quite a big Solar Array if you intend to rely completely on Solar to put back the Tracker drain through December and January when Solar gain on a 100watt panel will typically only be about 4Ah a day? The Fridge fuse is normally in the 'triple pack' of fuses next to the Starter battery, rather than the Habitation double/triple fuse pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 An interesting possibility and in the absence of any response from other Dethleffs owners one I will certainly investigate. I had hoped it was a standard feature on Dethleffs wiring If what you suggest is correct I presume I should be able to trace the positive back to the starter battery . The tracker was installed shortly after I purchased the van and when I was still somewhat naive about what was being undertaken on the van in the belief it provided both myself and the insurer with a degree of security. If your hypothesis is correct then such trust in my opinion is ill founded. I am in fact thinking of utilising a Votronic 250 Dou mppt controller which is similar to the LRM but as you are aware utilises an improved charging regime. I believe Schaudt have yet to release a new version of the LRM. Thank you once again for your knowledgeable advice. I sense I will be heading to north Wales in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 The Votronic is a very good Solar Regulator and is one of the very few that have the Schaudt compatible Data feed. The LRM 1218 is the new version to replace the LR 1218 and has a similar charging regime to the Votronic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Above I wrote, "The Fridge fuse is normally in the 'triple pack' of fuses next to the Starter battery, rather than the Habitation double/triple fuse pack". Worked on a 08 Transit today which was the first we have seen not to follow this rule as both the Habitation Battery 'double fuse pack' and the 'Starter Battery' Triple pack were under the Passenger seat next to a G80 Gel battery and the Elektroblock. The Drivers seat (normal UK right hand drive) had beneath it two 80Ah Wet batteries. One for Starting and a second linked to the G80 Gel. It all looked Hymer original, but we have not seen this set-up before. We thought an 80Ah Starter battery might be fine for a Builders van used every day, but a bit small for a Motorhome? A potential 4 week period of being idle where the Alarm/ECU would still be draining power is likely to leave the Starter battery a bit short of puff? We suggested both batteries under the Drivers seat were linked for Starting. We have another Transit based 07 Hymer 542 coming in on the 11th, so we can see what setup that has? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 ...Alan, I don't know whether you already know this, or indeed if it is relevant in this case, but many RWD Transits of that era (and AIUI, a few FWD ones as well), were factory fitted by Ford with a dual (60 or 80AH) wet battery 'always start' system, where one of the batteries was essentially dedicated to starting, but decoupled from normal vehicle electric consumers under all other circumstances, the second battery supplying all vehicle circuits. There are specific instructions and warnings on how to install a/the third (leisure) battery to a vehicle that has this system, contained in the Transit BEMM (Body and Equipment Mounting Manual), which would be worthwhile reading if it does, indeed, appear to be the 'always start' system. (it happens to be a good, downloadable reference for anyone with Transit conversion, as it has a lot more technical detail, useful for troubleshooting, than the owners manual). . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 I was aware of the two under Drivers seat batteries and that one was a 'Starter' and the other for things like Interior lights so that a Carpenter working in the van with the lights on all day, etc could still start the engine. But when it comes to Motorhomes, the Converters seem to adopt different strategies. Thank you I will download that document. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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