Leisure Battery / Engine Batteries Not Charging

[neutral 3]

Morning all, the leisure battery on the van isn’t charging, either when the van is connected to the mains or when the vehicle is being driven.

The engine battery doesn’t charge via the mains either, but charges when the vehicle is being driven.

There is a small match box sized electrical box bolted just above the leisure battery, guessing this is the inverter ? And that’s it’s failed ?
I have a photo of it somewhere.
I am hopeless with electricery, so any pointers much appreciated !

[Bacon Is Proof]

neutral 3 said:

Morning all, the leisure battery on the van isn’t charging, either when the van is connected to the mains or when the vehicle is being driven.

The engine battery doesn’t charge via the mains either, but charges when the vehicle is being driven.

There is a small match box sized electrical box bolted just above the leisure battery, guessing this is the inverter? And that’s it’s failed?
I have a photo of it somewhere.
I am hopeless with electricery, so any pointers much appreciated!

Impossible to say without knowing the set up.
Would the inverter not be for 'leccy going out of the battery, not in?
My batteries won't charge from the mains either, I'd need to change the 240 AC mains to 12 DC for the battery so a rectifier would be required.
The leisure and engine batteries should both charge from the engine running.

Has the leisure battery been run down and fubarred?

ETA: my inverter is a lot bigger than a matchbox...

Edited by Bacon Is Proof on Wednesday 3rd June 11:42

[neutral 3]

Edited by neutral 3 on Wednesday 3rd June 12:08

Image keeps uploading upside down, but what does this accumulator charger do ?

Edited by neutral 3 on Wednesday 3rd June 12:10

[Mr Pointy]

That's a dual battery charger & it's quite possible it's failed given your description of the symptoms. Here's a link to the manufacturer:
https://www.kemo-electronic.de/en/Animal-Repeller/...

And the installtion instructions:
https://www.kemo-electronic.de/datasheets/m102a_20...

If you had a voltmeter you could measure the voltage on the input & output to see if there's anything there. It's possible there's a bit more going on somewhere since you talk about charging from both the mains & vehicle alternator. If it charges from the mains then there must be a 240v to 12v converter/chrger somewhere in the system; if you don't have 12v coming into this split charger then the issue is upstream.

[neutral 3]

Or, could the split charger Relay have failed or a fuse to it ?

[Mr Pointy]

neutral 3 said:

Or, could the split charger Relay have failed or a fuse to it ?

Possibly, which is why you need a voltmeter to check. You can get them from Amazon, B&Q, Screwfix, Wickes etc.

[neutral 3]

Mr Pointy said:

That's a dual battery charger & it's quite possible it's failed given your description of the symptoms. Here's a link to the manufacturer:
https://www.kemo-electronic.de/en/Animal-Repeller/...

And the installtion instructions:
https://www.kemo-electronic.de/datasheets/m102a_20...

If you had a voltmeter you could measure the voltage on the input & output to see if there's anything there. It's possible there's a bit more going on somewhere since you talk about charging from both the mains & vehicle alternator. If it charges from the mains then there must be a 240v to 12v converter/chrger somewhere in the system; if you don't have 12v coming into this split charger then the issue is upstream.

Thanks for the link, but I cannot seem to find a replacement one on their site. I’ve looked on flea bay and can’t see one either.

[Mr Pointy]

neutral 3 said:

Thanks for the link, but I cannot seem to find a replacement one on their site. I’ve looked on flea bay and can’t see one either.

You can get one from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004AVGSBA

I do think bit more investigation is needed though to see whether the problem is upstream, maybe with the charger or split charge relay. Here's a link to a couple of cheap meters:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-589681-Digital...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-MM20-Multimeter-Fu...

Better ones are available if you want to spend a bit more.

[neutral 3]

Not taken the cover off yet, but this looks ? To be the Charger unit ?

[Mr Pointy]

neutral 3 said:

Not taken the cover off yet, but this looks ? To be the Charger unit ?

There's a good chance it is. The photo doesn't show all of the wiring but I'd guess that round junction box to the right of it has the incoming mains & the white cable goes into the charger. You don't need to take the cover off - you can measure the output (should be around 13-14v) on the piece of connector block at the top of the picture.

[neutral 3]

Mr Pointy said:

You can get one from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004AVGSBA

I do think bit more investigation is needed though to see whether the problem is upstream, maybe with the charger or split charge relay. Here's a link to a couple of cheap meters:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-589681-Digital...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-MM20-Multimeter-Fu...

Better ones are available if you want to spend a bit more.

Thanks Mr.Pointy, just ordered one from Amazon ! For the cost it’s worth changing it. I’ve had the van since Jan 13 and it was on there when I bought it.

[Mr Pointy]

I'd still consider buying a meter because you aren't going to be able to get much further without one.