wiff2110 Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 It would appear that the 2008 swift Bessacarr E460 that I recently purchased does not have on board charging for the engine battery, only the leisure battery is being charged, it is fitted with the Nordelectronica system. Any other owners having this problem? If so how have you overcome it so that the engine battery does not go flat whilst the motorhome is standing around. I can’t believe a motorhome could be produced without this facility. I would appreciate your comments and advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labby Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 If you look at the Vanbitz battery master it is designed for trickle charging the starter battery via the leisure battery when it is being charged (either from EHU or solar). It is very easy to fit , a reasonably price, works very well and should solve your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 As I said in this earlier thread https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/55395-bessacarr-2008-e460-model/#comment-696433 it was commonplace for UK-built motorhome to have an electrical system where only the leisure-battery could be charged from an EHU. There seemed to be a possibility that the Nordelettronica system fitted to wiff2110's Bessacarr could be 'tweaked' into charging both batteries, but I assume this has now been proven not to be the case. This link may be worth reading https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/53237-maintaining-both-camper-batteries-in-winter/#comment-682582 In principle the VanBitz "Battery Master" is simple to fit (just 3 wires) https://www.vanbitz.com/the-van-bitz-battery-master/ In practice, if the starter-battery is buried under the floor in the motorhome's cab and the leisure-battery is metres away at the rear of the vehicle, installation becomes much more challenging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labby Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 When I fitted a Vanbitz battery master to a Bessacarr E570 fitted with a Nordelectronica PSU/fuse box , that I used to own , the starter and leisure battery connections that are on the rear of the PSU/fuse box unit were found to be a good place to wire in the battery master . (Saving having to run wiring all the way back to either of the batteries , and Is a method of connecting a battery master that can be also be used with most other makes of PSUs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 VanBitz's installation advice for their Battery Master product is here https://www.vanbitz.com/wp-content/uploads/Battery-Master-installation-and-test-.pdf with suggestions that avoid 'direct' wiring between the leisure and starter batteries. If wiff2110 is able to connect into his motorhome's PSU/fuse-box as you did, that is plainly preferable to running a long cable between the batteries. (Years ago I fitted a Battery Mate device (similar to the Battery Master) to my 1996-built Herald Templar motorhome that only had leisure-battery ECU charging. The starter and leisure battery of the Transit-based Herald were both in the engine compartment, so installation was very simple. My two later motorhomes were not UK-built and had as standard ECU charging of the leisure battery with a simultaneous trickle-charge being provided to the starter battery - so no incentive for me to retro-fit any Battery Master-type device.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 On 11/24/2022 at 1:30 PM, wiff2110 said: It would appear that the 2008 swift Bessacarr E460 that I recently purchased does not have on board charging for the engine battery, only the leisure battery is being charged, it is fitted with the Nordelectronica system. Any other owners having this problem? If so how have you overcome it so that the engine battery does not go flat whilst the motorhome is standing around. I can’t believe a motorhome could be produced without this facility. I would appreciate your comments and advice. I.ve used this method for several yrs on my van http://www.motts.org/BRIDGING FUSE.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted November 26, 2022 Share Posted November 26, 2022 On 11/24/2022 at 1:30 PM, wiff2110 said: It would appear that the 2008 swift Bessacarr E460 that I recently purchased does not have on board charging for the engine battery, only the leisure battery is being charged, it is fitted with the Nordelectronica system. Any other owners having this problem? If so how have you overcome it so that the engine battery does not go flat whilst the motorhome is standing around. I can’t believe a motorhome could be produced without this facility. I would appreciate your comments and advice. Unfortunately there are motorhomes much newer than yours which don't come with that facility. Like other I have installed (or rather VanBitz did) a battery master to both my Bailey motorhomes. It's a good fit and forget solution. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 27, 2022 Share Posted November 27, 2022 There are lots of previous forum threads about ways to keep a motorhome's starter-battery charged when the vehicle is out of use. The discussions (going right back to 2005) almost always have a reference to Clive Mott-Gotobed's 'bridging fuse' ploy mentioned above by witzend, and some of the threads include comments from Clive himself. https://tinyurl.com/bdem9p5z (In my last posting I said that I had fitted to my Herald motorhome a "Battery Mate" device. This operated similarly to the VanBitz "Battery Master" but was a good deal cheaper, and I used to wonder why it stopped being marketed in the UK. The sad answer (revealed in a 2009 thread on another forum) was that the UK importer of the Battery Mate had committed suicide in 2004 after his wife had died of cancer.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les W Posted November 27, 2022 Share Posted November 27, 2022 A battery master, solved this issue with our Inca. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potus4388 Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 I use my solar panel to charge both, I have the solar charger set for 80% to leisure battery and 20% to starter battery . This set up seems to work very well for me, even at this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.