Leisure battery not charging from engine.

India Hannaford wrote:Should I in fact have a proper leisure battery?

It has in the past been quite normal for some AS models to be fitted with a car battery as the "leisure" battery. This is because AS bought the base van from the manufacturer with the second battery already fitted - for example my '99 Transit based Flair had two identical Ford branded batteries from new. VW T4s and T5s are likely to be similar, as VW offer a second battery as a factory option.

Provided you don't run them flat, car batteries are a very good substitute for the cheaper end of the leisure battery range. Expensive, proper leisure batteries can tolerate being deeply discharged much better, but the good ones are very, very expensive.

So... for reasons of economy, it's quite acceptable to use a car battery. The ones in my Flair lasted extremely well - each gave me an average of 6 years working life, from memory.

I don't know your set up but the difference between vehicle batteries and leisure batteries is quite small now. Vehicle batteries used to give big amps for starting and not a lot else. Leisure batteries are better suited to constant small loads. Today with all the alarms and radio codes the vehicle battery has to also handle low current constant delivery.

A long way of saying each has its advantage but for now, either will do.

Sorry for the late reply - problem still not fixed. Had someone check everything this morning in the heat, well obviously not everything as the fault has not been found. Someone else coming tomorrow.

-mojo- wrote:Ah yes - Scotchloks - a curse on any electrical installation. I guess they may be Ok for anything fully protected from roadspray, but they are a real liability anywhere underneath or in the engine bay, because they penetrate the outer insulation of the cable but don't then protect it from water (or salt water in the winter) entering the core. Personally I don't think any professional installer should even consider Scotchloks in that situation.

When we received our Harmony in 1995 I contacted AS at that time to advise them of the unsuitability of using Scotchloks at this very connection. I got a polite reply from Mr Trevelyan, but no commitment to substitute something more appropriate, such as a sealed bullet connector.

Depending upon the alternator fitted, in my view the best solution is to put a ring/spade connector on the split charge wire and include this beneath the stud on the D+ line on the alternator. However in my experience many Boxer alternators have the less preferred two-way connector on the alternator which unfortunately precludes this, but these are sometime substituted for the more common stud type when the original fails, as I had to do once when an alternator died on the road.

To check the work has been done and that both D+ line functions are working OK, in addition to the fridge/charging function it's worth checking that your battery charge indicator comes on OK with the key in the Run position but with the engine stopped.

Bartfarst