Mikeandthewife Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Hi Technical help please, I want to charge my starter battery using my solar, are these two connections to the bottom right, marked "Load" for this? Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 No, victron does not natively support dual battery charging. The load output was originally designed for street lamps etc. It effectively connects the battery with the load. Ser more: https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/85379/charging-battery-via-solar-controller-load-output.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Hi Mike, As Spirou has stated, the answer is NO. A popular method of achieving your aims is to fit a "Battery Master" which are marketed by VanBitz. The battery master is simple to connect in theory with only three connections. Starter battery, habitation battery, and a negative (earth). However if your hab batteries are at the rear of the van, there could be some wiring involved. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labby Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 If you do decide to fit a Vanbitz battery master (or similar) you should normally find that all of the three battery connections required are to be found at your PSU making fitting much easier and without long wiring runs being needed in most cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeandthewife Posted March 17, 2023 Author Share Posted March 17, 2023 Spirou, thanks, I now know it's not that Alanb, I like the fact it appears simple to do, which is what I was hoping, my leisure batteries are in an outside locker towards the front of the van, so not too bad, ill look up the product, thanks. Labby agree 100%, less chasing around with cables, but not sure, wiring up to the psu, which in my case (Hymer) I think they call an Electrobloc if I've got this right, without a step by step wiring guide, sounds a bit complicated for me to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayc Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 15 minutes ago, Mikeandthewife said: Spirou, thanks, I now know it's not that Alanb, I like the fact it appears simple to do, which is what I was hoping, my leisure batteries are in an outside locker towards the front of the van, so not too bad, ill look up the product, thanks. Labby agree 100%, less chasing around with cables, but not sure, wiring up to the psu, which in my case (Hymer) I think they call an Electrobloc if I've got this right, without a step by step wiring guide, sounds a bit complicated for me to do. If you are anywhere near Taunton Vanbitz would supply and fit it for you. They even have a good campsite attached to their workshop to stay at : https://www.cornishfarm.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labby Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 You will find the 3 x connections needed on the outside of the rear of your Electrobloc and if you look at the Vanbitz battery master web site you will see the wiring instructions and how it works (ignore the split charge relay connections suggested as you would not need to do that, you just connect in to the wires on the rear of the unit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeandthewife Posted March 17, 2023 Author Share Posted March 17, 2023 49 minutes ago, rayc said: If you are anywhere near Taunton Vanbitz would supply and fit it for you. They even have a good campsite attached to their workshop to stay at : https://www.cornishfarm.com/ Hi, no, unfortunately, quite a distance from us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeandthewife Posted March 17, 2023 Author Share Posted March 17, 2023 50 minutes ago, Labby said: You will find the 3 x connections needed on the outside of the rear of your Electrobloc and if you look at the Vanbitz battery master web site you will see the wiring instructions and how it works (ignore the split charge relay connections suggested as you would not need to do that, you just connect in to the wires on the rear of the unit) Will certainly look at this, it would be the best option, thanks for info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 2 hours ago, Mikeandthewife said: Will certainly look at this, it would be the best option, thanks for info Our hymer 2005 had the solar panel 130watt connected through a solar controller direct to electroblock and the dt 201 panel above hab door could display solar input for 2x leisure and vehicle battery it was installed by solar solutions near Poole, carried out at an outdoor show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 11 hours ago, Mikeandthewife said: Spirou, thanks, I now know it's not that Alanb, I like the fact it appears simple to do, which is what I was hoping, my leisure batteries are in an outside locker towards the front of the van, so not too bad, ill look up the product, thanks. Labby agree 100%, less chasing around with cables, but not sure, wiring up to the psu, which in my case (Hymer) I think they call an Electrobloc if I've got this right, without a step by step wiring guide, sounds a bit complicated for me to do. I have downloaded a copy of the Electrblok 216 as fitted to my Adria from the makers website. Not sure of your model but the Schaudt website has manuals available if you need a wiring diagram. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeandthewife Posted March 18, 2023 Author Share Posted March 18, 2023 21 hours ago, Geeco said: I have downloaded a copy of the Electrblok 216 as fitted to my Adria from the makers website. Not sure of your model but the Schaudt website has manuals available if you need a wiring diagram. Cheers Ok, thanks Geeco, will take a look, Monday will be the next chance to look at this further, I'm hoping to remove the Electrobloc then and look at it in closer, as to whether I can figure it out, if not, maybe get a photo and ask on here for advice, my thoughts so far, is to maybe go with this, battery master device from VanBitz. Great this forum, there's always people willing to help you out. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted March 19, 2023 Share Posted March 19, 2023 http://www.motts.org/BRIDGING FUSE.htm This works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipsticks Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 As Clive says his method is dead simple and works well. Ages ago I read this below and the CBE unit was a lot cheaper to buy, mine is still fine after many years. ........ VANBITZ The battery master was designed to support the cab battery at the expense of the leisure battery by transferring charge at anything up to 1.1 amps whilst ever the cab battery is half a volt lower than the hab. This was primarily for storage situations with no hook up or solar BUT it will work with solar with the limitation of the small charge rate.CBE The CBE is designed to maximise the benefit of solar by sending charge at up to 4 amps to the cab battery once the hab battery has reached 13.6 volts (it only has to reach that voltage for an instant to begin transferring charge) and continues to transfer charge until the leisure battery is sensed to have dropped to 12.6 (wont in daylight due to solar input) i.e. it doesn't switch off just because it drops to 13.5 . Before fitting one of these my cab battery was always a lower voltage than my hab but now they are all fully charged and ready to go. I guess it may be out of date now but if not worth knowing the differences https://www.camperbros.com/catalog/CSB2-car-battery-charging-device-CBE-Camper-Caravan-accessories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Well, I find charging the starter battery is entirely unnecessary in our x290 Peugeot. It just happily sits there with very low voltage drop over several weeks. Similar to all these devices above is also Victron Cytrix range. Just make sure to get the right one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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