Leisure battery, split charging and propex heating

[ratty1959]

Hi,

I need to fit a leisure battery with split charging kit, but when it comes to this sort of thing i am completely useless! been on JK and there are tons of items listed and i really am at a loss, can anyone suggest a kit? and a decent battery?

Also want to buy a Propex heater, but again not sure what i need etc...

If anyone can help i would really appreciate it!

Jai :lol:

 

[lard]

Hi

What interior do you have?

Also what do you want to run off it? Do you want to take a feed up to the fusebox and run your interior lights and stereo or just have a separate outlet that you can then use to run stuff?

Have a search on here for leisure battery setup - I had a thread going with various diagrams to show how I set mine up

There are a few options to be fair ranging from:

A simple setup with a battery in the boot and a wire coming out to a separate outlet/fusebox and then outlets

add into this:

ability to charge the leisure battery when you go along?

- you then need a split charge relay to simply charge the battery when the van runs
- or a split charge module that detects when voltage is above 13v and then switches charge to the battery
- or a split charge board/module that does the above but then allows you to take a feed to particular appliances like a fridge, that runs of leisure battery when parked, but main battery whilst running

ability to charge the leisure battery when you plug into a power socket?

- you'll need a 240v socket on the van - if you have a westy you can use the yellow US plugs (think aogrady sells them on here)
- you'll then need a 240v fuse board that you can connect to a socket for 240v power
- you'll then need a battery charger than runs on 240v off the fuse board, then connects to the battery to charge the leisure battery when the van is plugged into 240v

do you want 240v when not plugged into the shoreline power?

- you'll need an invertor plugged into the leisure battery then a 240v socket connected somewhere (most invertors have one built in but nicer to run to a permanent socket

Would you prefer to have an easy option (though more expensive)?

- then google for Zig units that have all the required logic and switches built in - you connect to the battery, the 240v input and to the leisure battery and they sort it all out

It's cheaper, easier to fix and more flexible to go for the component layout with separate 240v fuse box, invertor and 12v charger - takes up more room, Zig type units are a cleaner/smaller install - but cost more

Hope the above is helpful?

 

[lard]

Leisure & 240v thread:

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17139&hilit=+battery

picture paints a thousand words

or ability to choose main or leisure battery for stereo/lights e.t.c.

Also worth PM'ing 67westy on here to see if he is still making the leisure/split charge boards - they are ace and I replaced the smart com intelligent thing in the pictures with one of his boards and it's brilliant

 

[gas1man]

Boris has a 110 a/h Leisure battery. Between the batteries is a Durite Split charger (+- £40),handy piece of kit as it monitors the charge, and stops and starts via a relay when voltages are reached. EBay.
The charger I went for is the little more expensive but oh so worth it in the long run. CTEK MXS 10 model(+-£120.00) as this looks after everything when bus is stored in garage, on site camping or wild camping. Worth every penny. The MXS 7 is also ok I believe from the supplier but wanted to be sure.
Next is the Propex heater which I was fortunate enough to be included in on a group buy. I purchased a model
4411 External model and had a plan for it to be , where it is now, slung under the bus in a galvanised tray.(+-£400.00)

Hope this helps

J & P