Charging of main battery and leisure battery

[PaulE]

Can anyone advise me if by hooking up a mains connection to the MP it will charge both the leisure battery and the main battery simultaneously. If not, by using a normal battery charger connected to the main battery, will this also charge the leisure battery ? Any comments / advice gratefully appreciated. Thanks

Andy, I had the same question. Did hooking it up charge both batteries?

 

[Roy C]

Andy, I had the same question. Did hooking it up charge both batteries?

According to the manual when the electrical hookup is connected:
"If the following conditions are fulfilled, the battery charger also charges the starter battery of the vehicle:
- the voltage of the starter battery must be between 9.5 V and 13.85 V
- the voltage of the additional battery must be at least 13.9 V"

 

[Andy B]

Hi Paul,

Roy has given a very good answer to the question (thanks Roy). My understanding is that it will charge the main battery to a level where it will start the engine, etc.. However, it will not fully charge the main battery.

I am now thinking of adding in a trickle charger device that I can power off the 240v socket in the MP, such that when I have mains connected to the van, both batteries get a full charge.

I don't know if anyone else has done this ? If so I would be interested to know which trickle charger device was used.

Hope this all helps.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[PaulE]

Yes Roy was a great help to me when I was deciding which van and options to get (thanks Roy!). I'm planning to leave it garaged for a few months and had assumed that hooking it to the electric would keep my batteries charged.

 

[WilvanEgdom]

Clearly the 220V -> 12V internal battery charger is placed under the fridge (MP 2005). Question, if I connect a solar charger on these wires that lead to the internal battery will that then also charge the starter battery? Or are there two separate wires?
Does anyone on this forum have a wiring diagram? That would be awesome.
This way you do not need a (more expensive) dual battery solar charger. ;-)

 

[Method7]

Don't know if this helps, but my MP has the Auxiliary Heating option. This sits under the passenger seat (nearside of MP), the leisure battery is under the driver's seat, and the main battery is in the engine compartment. Seems there are various positions for the various batteries !!

The thing under the hood looks like a battery, it even has a + power hookup for jump leads but it’s not a battery, it is in fact a relay box. Pop the cover off and take a look.

 

[Macromac]

Clearly the 220V -> 12V internal battery charger is placed under the fridge (MP 2005). Question, if I connect a solar charger on these wires that lead to the internal battery will that then also charge the starter battery? Or are there two separate wires?
Does anyone on this forum have a wiring diagram? That would be awesome.
This way you do not need a (more expensive) dual battery solar charger. ;-)

View attachment 353

Hi, did you get a reply to this question?

 

[KRWakefield]

Clearly the 220V -> 12V internal battery charger is placed under the fridge (MP 2005). Question, if I connect a solar charger on these wires that lead to the internal battery will that then also charge the starter battery? Or are there two separate wires?
Does anyone on this forum have a wiring diagram? That would be awesome.
This way you do not need a (more expensive) dual battery solar charger. ;-)

View attachment 353
if you connect the 2 wires from the solar panel controller to the 2 wires coming out of the mains charger (12v +&-) the solar panel will keep the aux battery charged and will trickle charge the main battery when the aux battery is fully charged ( only a small charge current).
My 120W panel keeps my aux battery at 13.4-13.7 volts.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Keith

 

[Dutchyankee]

It’s hard to believe but our 2004 Viano MP leisure batteries still original! The main battery was also original but died last year with the extreme winter weather we had (-12C for 7 days)
The leisure batteries (we have two on under each seat) also stopped holding their charge when the motor is off in a few minutes. So we’re going to have to replace them.
I discovered that there were two when I was preparing the wiring for the inverter and solar controller.
I installed a 4KW pure sinus inverter and busy with 2x 100W solar panels. I planning to see what MB changes for them and talk to a local company who installs this for not so do it yourself owners. If anyone is interested I will post the results with photos.
I got into this message thread Googling a search for new batteries and thought you guys might be interested.
I have absolutely no idea how these batteries lasted so long.
We bought this 2004 Showroom model from the first owner. He kept impeccable records (paper) and also give me a copy of his excel spreadsheet of all the cost for the entire time he owned it. It calculates the total cost per Kilometer.
I have photos anyone is interested
To be continued

 

[Dutchyankee]

 

[handsonfree]

No , there are 2 batteries. One is a normal PB Batterie for starting etc under one seat. Under the other seat is a batterie with no fuel inside but a gel , this is the "camper "batterie. Difference one is for havy starts ( the normal car battery ) and the other gel batterie is a batterie which can deliver low current over a long period of time. Due to the fact that there are 2 different battery load models , they are not interchangeable and even DO NOT PUT a normal car batterry inside of the Gel batterry compartement , The batterry THE BATTERYY WILL BE BLOWN UP !!!!!!! so CAREFULLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dutchyankee]

Thanks for the information. The MB dealer service department wasn’t aware that the bus had 3 batteries in all. I will remove the two under the seats and see what type they are. I was not intending to place a lead battery in the vehicle due to outgasing of Hydrogen sulfide gas during the charge/discharge cycle which is poisonous.
We’d be dead before it exploded.

 

[MarioF]

Hello. Can anyone tell me what this thingy is?

Regards.

 

[Dutchyankee]

No , there are 2 batteries. One is a normal PB Batterie for starting etc under one seat. Under the other seat is a batterie with no fuel inside but a gel , this is the "camper "batterie. Difference one is for havy starts ( the normal car battery ) and the other gel batterie is a batterie which can deliver low current over a long period of time. Due to the fact that there are 2 different battery load models , they are not interchangeable and even DO NOT PUT a normal car batterry inside of the Gel batterry compartement , The batterry THE BATTERYY WILL BE BLOWN UP !!!!!!! so CAREFULLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Viano has 3 batteries! The main in the engine compartment, a helper (also gel) under the driver’s seat and a second Gel leisure battery under the passenger seat which was swollen and replaced with a new gel battery.