Trooper leisure battery charger

Hi
Can anyone tell me how you check if there is a leisure battery charger installed. I have looked in all the places suggested on the Forum, but cannot find one or any switch. The leisure battery is no good, it only reads 10 volts. The charging light on the ZIG unit does not come with the engine running or when on electric hook-up. Everything works ok. on electric hook up, apart from the fridge ignition for gas. In the folder that came with the camper there is instructions for a Euro Charger 1014 by MEC Ltd, but I cannot find it. There must be a switch somewhere!!! Thanks

What year is your Trooper?  I believe the charger was an optional extra on some, depending on age.

A-S have made the Trooper in various forms for almost 30 years, and layout and spec have changed a lot in that time.

If you give us an idea of when yours was manufactured you're more likely to get a reply from someone with a similar van.

With symptoms as you describe, the best starting point is generally to seek out blown fuses, and then to move onto more complex stuff if none are found. Be warned, A-S made quite a good job of putting the fuses in unexpected places on some vans, so have a good look around adjacent to both vehicle and leisure batteries...

Thanks
My vehicle is 1993 VW 2000Ltr Petrol. From the brochure I thought the optional extra was for a leisure battery and charger. The 12v lights are very weak because of the state of the leisure battery, but I cannot see how you can switch to using the car battery.

Steve A wrote:I cannot see how you can switch to using the car battery.

On a van of that age I'm fairly sure there is no built-in facility to allow you to do so, because the power controllers of that era did not have the built-in low voltage alarms that the more recent ones do. Obviously it's extremely inconvenient if you switch to the vehicle battery and then flatten that too!

Like the fuses, A-S also hid the (optional) chargers quite well - on a previous van, mine was in the void under the wardrobe, but they can be elsewhere such as underneath one of the rear seats.

If the leisure battery is not charging while the engine is running, the reason is typically either blown fuse(s) or a problem with the split charge relay.

On my 1993 Trident the battery charger was in the cupboard below the sink drainer.

It was a Zig DCU3 and had to be switched on when required.



The main Zig Unit was ZIG MC2000



Cheers,
Dave

I've found it. After looking at various pictures on the Forum showing possible locations, I removed the trim in the cupboard beneath the sink and there it is. There is no switch or light on the unit so I assume it should work all the time on hook-up. I replaced the duff leisure battery with a car battery. I know that will not work as efficiently but it will be ok for the lights for know. There is a reading of 13.6 volts across the battery on EHU, does this show the charger is working, or is that just the 12 volt circuit operating? Thanks for all the help.

Steve A wrote:I've found it. After looking at various pictures on the Forum showing possible locations, I removed the trim in the cupboard beneath the sink and there it is. There is no switch or light on the unit so I assume it should work all the time on hook-up. I replaced the duff leisure battery with a car battery. I know that will not work as efficiently but it will be ok for the lights for know. There is a reading of 13.6 volts across the battery on EHU, does this show the charger is working, or is that just the 12 volt circuit operating? Thanks for all the help.

If the battery is reading 13.6 when on EHU and you are using some lights, then it does indicate that the charger is working. If the charger was not working the voltage would quite quickly fall, especially if you have all the lights on.

The 'charger' is not really a battery charger, it is a power unit. A battery charger would have to be capable of getting the battery voltage up to circa 14.7 volts to fully charge it (but this cannot be maintained for a long time, as it would lead to gassing of the battery electrolyte. The power unit on the other hand can be left connected 24/7