Leisure Battery Charging From Alternator

In my little Micro camper I made from a Toyota Previa I fitted a split Charge Circuit so that the Leisure Battery charges from the Alternator while driving. It has a device so that when using the leisure battery it will not drain the engine Battery.

In my 2004 Nuevo I have sort of assumed that the leisure Battery is charged by the Alternator when I am driving along as well as the engine battery. Am I correct in this assumption ?

Yes.

Paulmold wrote:Yes.

Thanks. I assume it does not matter where the 3 way switch is on the little control panel. I think this is just for when using and indeed what is being charged when on Mains hook up ?

As long as everything is working as it should of course.... Your Nuevo is of an age when some vans had installations made by MES, if yours is one the alternator will charge the leisure battery and keep the 12v electrics working when pitched on site as well as while driving.

I find the charging for leisure  battery is very poor ,

I wish I could actually find my leisure battery

Molly3 wrote:I find the charging for leisure  battery is very poor ,

I agree, it is on my to do list to check if the battery is being charged by the alternator, as the battery percentage on the Sargent screen never changes after a long drive, although the voltage displayed is healthy. 
I did wonder if this was because the Sargent system shuts down when the engine is running and therefore is unable to register any charge current from the alternator so the display stays unaltered?

The leisure battery on the 2006 Nuevo is fitted under the driver's seat along with the split charge relay, fridge relay and fuses. To access just pull the panel forward under the front of the driver's seat.

davemarshall wrote:The leisure battery on the 2006 Nuevo is fitted under the driver's seat along with the split charge relay, fridge relay and fuses. To access just pull the panel forward under the front of the driver's seat.

Ours is a 2004 Nuevo and I had a good hard look at the front panel and all I could see was a piece of carpeted board with two screws in. Not sure how this opens but it does not look like fun 

If you slide the seat fully forward you should be able to see the battery. The front panel on ours was fixed with 2 small screws.

davemarshall wrote:If you slide the seat fully forward you should be able to see the battery. The front panel on ours was fixed with 2 small screws.

Thanks I will have a look see

I'm waiting for an Aircon unit to be fitted to my Kemerton XL and since ordering have fell down a veritable rabbithole of electrical confusion over Lithium batteries, DC-DC charging and inverters.

I've concluded the factory leisure battery system is very basic and so off-grid capability is minimal. Obviously to power habitation aircon off-grid would require a huge investment but in the meantime I'm trying to establish just what the original equipment actually consists of. I'm waiting on a reply from Sargent but in the meantime has anyone any info or comments on whether:

a. The charging system is equivalent to Battery to Battery - received wisdom suggests this is essential if the vehicle has a Smart Alternator. Mine is Euro 6 so I guess it does. There's no specific mention of this in the Van's handbook or in Sargent's info on the PX Charger.
b. If not can you just bung in a B2B charger such as Victron Orion or C-Tek 250. 
c. I read a comprehensive post by AandN Caravan Services suggesting that the quality of wiring is more important than the charger.

Some experimentation is needed here to establish how much charge the leisure battery is getting when the vehicle is being driven. Apparently you can trick the alternator into giving a bigger charge by switching on the headlamps.

a) you have a split charge system - when the engine is running, the leisure battery, vehicle battery and alternator are all connected together and the alternator will supply whatever current the batteries ask for.
b) No - you need to overlay the existing wiring with much thicker cable (and fusing) This wiring is much harder to route so you may be better using multiple thinner wires connected in parallel. The Sargent PSU will have to be modified to stop the split charge relay connecting the output of the B2B to the input.

If you switch on the headlights the alternator will supply more current - all of it going to the headlights!

You haven't the space in/on the Kemerton to install the thousands of pounds (£) of infrastructure that would be needed to operate an AC unit and then would only have the capacity to operate for a very limited period of time before recharging.

I would recommend you leave your installation as standard and only use the AC unit when on hook up.

Andril1954 wrote:Apparently you can trick the alternator into giving a bigger charge by switching on the headlamps.

As Peter has already said, that's simply not true. It's a myth, that probably had its origins in the time when vehicle voltage regulators were mechanical - i.e. pre-1970s, when they were essentially based on relays. With electronic regulators, all that will happen is that the headlamps will take more power from the alternator.