Help. Just bought a 1994 lunar sunbeam. It seems to have everything ( we think). There is a battery but what do you do with it? How does it charger? What is it for? As you must guess we are complete novices to all this lol. Help!!
battery are for light waterpump somtime ignision for heater and three way frige not recamened can be chargerd from car engine when driving to site, by relay when on site charge by electrick hook up when swiched on at control panel,
the leisure battery can be used when there is no electric hookup on your site, to run lights, water pump etc, if your going to rough camp without hookup then I would suggest checking the leisure battery, maybe need a new one, but if you use electric on site it dont really matter, all will run on the electric, the leisure battery will normally be charged when van is being driven, and when hooked up
It's not advisable to connect the caravan up to a 240 mains supply without a leisure battery being connected too as there's nothing to control the 12 volt feed which could eventually damage the onboard battery charger. It's very much the same as having a solar panel without a controller installed as the electrical feedback can damage the solar panel. This has been a costly mistake for a few in the past only to find out the hard way but the best policy is if you ask a qualified auto electrical technician who should give the same advice.
Right, first of all check the leisure battery voltage when the engine is running. It should be about 13.5 Volts.
If it is, then the battery is most likely duff. If it's not then.....
check the inline fuses for the leisure battery. These could be nearly anywhere. Check the wiring back to the split charge relay. Check the voltage into the split charge relay (assuming that's what's fitted although it might be a diode.) and the voltage out of it. Should be the same with the engine running ie. about 13.5 V.
I have had one occasion on my Talbot when the wire to the relay got corroded and stopped the charging.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.