I have just bought an Abi 400 d sprinter this is my first van and just found out that the main lights and pump to the van work of leisure battery my question is does this charge up whilst hook cable is connect whilst sited or not ps the van is a 1996 if this helps thankyou
I will second that too but just make sure that any isolation switches are switched to the on position. You should have a guage showing you the condition of the leisure battery. If the guage is showing a reading then this should be okay but if it's not then check any switches or fuses.
No it should do it automatically without any problem at all actually once the 240 volt electrics are plugged in and active. It's just that if the battery guage doesn't show a reading don't panic just look for the most obvious thing first which is a switch but you shouldn't have a problem really. Fit your battery and connect the + first and the - second and then connect the mains cable. When you disconnect the battery leads do it the opposite way round. Whether it makes any difference or not I don't know, it's just what they advise in the Haynes caravanning book that's all. There should be a rocker switch that says car/van which you switch over when towing from car, just make sure that the rocker switch is in the central position (neutral) when you connect or disconnect your battery etc. as this isolates the power feed. If you don't then it may create a minor spark cause a fuse to blow, the same when connecting and disconnecting from the car towing sockets too. When the leisure battery is connected then switch over the rocker switch to 'VAN' and you should then have a battery reading which should be around 13 volts for a fully charged battery.
I only ask as I didn't turn on my battery charger which has two buttons on the charger which is under one of the front seats. Then wondered why I had a flat battery.
Whilst the charger is off, it doesn't charge the battery? Just pulls from mains?
I have ABI Globestar, Battery charger is under lounge seat.