Battery Charging

My vehicle battery is flat! My question is: does the charger charge only the leisure battery, or does it charge the vehicle battery too?

Unless you have a switch on the control panel to divert the charge to whichever battery you want, then it will only charge the leisure battery. I note your Trident is 2007, by this time there is normally the switch mentioned fitted but I could be wrong depending on the make of control panel you have.

Thank you very much indeed. My control panel has a rocker Switch with 3 positions: V, middle and L, so I've switched it to V and put it on charge, hoping for the best. Oddly, when I put it to V or L and press the meter Switch, both meter beyond the green to full. So maybe its not a Vehicle Battery problem at all but a starter motor failure. I'll find out in the morning perhaps....

The meter only shows state of leisure battery regardless of veh/hab switch position. By the way, the central position doesn't charge both batteries as some people think, it may just as well be the 'off' position.

if the meter is like my 2002 Symbol, it measure the voltage of the leisure battery (only) and the switch just controls which battery receives charge.

Excellent. Thank you. Now I know!

Paulmold wrote:The meter only shows state of leisure battery regardless of veh/hab switch position. By the way, the central position doesn't charge both batteries as some people think, it may just as well be the 'off' position.

This caught me out in my old Nuevo.  Had been under the illusion from various places that the middle position charged both batteries (even during a habitation check the guy said it should stay on the middle position).

One night in winter when on EHU we noticed the leisure battery had dropped voltage a fair bit and when we flicked to habitation setting the lights all went bright and the charging started.  Then realised the central position is simply 'off' which seems pointless to me.

I was going to try and work out if I could get the middle to charge both batteries but then sold the van anyway so didn't get any farther with it.

I suspect some of the confusion may be caused because the van's split charge circuit is generally wired independently of that switch - so in the middle position, both batteries -will- be charged at the same time - but only while the engine is running...

-mojo- wrote:but only while the engine is running...

Yeah I guess this is where the confusion comes from.  It's annoying as if you don't realise, when on EHU you're still using your leisure battery power for lighting etc unless you flick switch over.

What's annoying is it's not even like they couldn't have wired it in.  The Westfalia T25 I had was a lot older and that always split charged when on EHU by default.

There are two similar threads on charging running at the moment - I would suggest that you might also care to look at;-
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Liam

Greyhound wrote:

-mojo- wrote:but only while the engine is running...

Yeah I guess this is where the confusion comes from.  It's annoying as if you don't realise, when on EHU you're still using your leisure battery power for lighting etc unless you flick switch over.

This is now getting confusing - flick what switch over? On older vans there is only a master switch which can be left on all the time. The lighting will run off battery if not on ehu. If on ehu, the charger feeds the battery which stills supplies the lights.!
Selecting veh or hab on that rocker switch makes no difference, that is purely for charging the battery selected, it is not for selecting which battery will run the habitation electrics.

Having had a 2007 Topaz, the charger only charged the leisure battery. Charging of vehicle battery was only done with engine running, or of course an independent trickle charger when parked up.

On my 2005 Topaz the charging protocols are as follows, and from my experience are common to most motorhome conversions.
With the engine running, both batteries are being charged.  None of the switches on the control panel have any effect.  The habitation electrics are turned off. The voltmeter shows zero.
On EHU the charge goes only to the selected battery on the V/H three position switch.  In the centre position on the three position switch, despite many posts to the contrary, I have measured a raised voltage on both batteries, but this has been well below the normal 13.8 to 14.4 range and is therefore providing very little charge to either battery.
Keith

KMRTOPAZ wrote:On my 2005 Topaz the charging protocols are as follows, and from my experience are common to most motorhome conversions.
With the engine running, both batteries are being charged.  None of the switches on the control panel have any effect.  The habitation electrics are turned off. The voltmeter shows zero.
On EHU the charge goes only to the selected battery on the V/H three position switch.  In the centre position on the three position switch, despite many posts to the contrary, I have measured a raised voltage on both batteries, but this has been well below the normal 13.8 to 14.4 range and is therefore providing very little charge to either battery.
Keith

Not how mine worked. Have you owned your Topaz from new, or has some one been tinkering with the electrics?

Sounds right to me for vans around 2005/6.

Same on my 2004 van, the centre position on the Hab/Vehicle switch is without doubt Off. Neither battery connected to the charger.

With the switch in the middle position you can use a heater in the van on hook up without any danger of over charging the batteries when in winter storage mode.

It's a couple of years since I first posted this controversial statement about the centre position on the H/V switch, so I took the voltmeter out and checked it again.
First readings before connecting EHU, and after the van had been standing for four days.
Vehicle 12.44v   Habitation 12.55v
Second readings connected EHU with switch in centre position.
Vehicle 12.56v   Habitation 12.64v
Rise in voltage Vehicle 0.12v  Habitation 0.09v
As I said in my post..."well below the normal (charging) voltage".." and delivers very little charge to either battery".
It might have been more accurate to have said "no significant charge to either battery"

That's a very useful point made by Crosgor, but again I would have said "dehumidifier"  !!

HI All
I'm interested in this thread because my vehicle battery has gone flat. I thought that by leaving it on hook-up it would prevent this but obviously not. I have to confess that I had the rocker switch on Hab so - doh!!

If I switch over to Van on the rocker switch, will this re-charge the van battery or is it too late?

My van is a 2003 Topaz on VW 2.4tdi (T4)

Thanks!!

I don't think you have anything to lose so switch the rocker to van and leave overnight.
NB A modern smart charger will do a better job of recovering a dead battery but once a lead acid battery has been fully discharged, it will never be the same again i.e. it will not recover its original capacity but might be OK to start the van.

I had an 02 Symbol. I used to run the charger on van for a day and then Hab for a day each month.

Thanks - I'm going to do it now and leave it on until tomorrow