Newbie battery charger questions

[AussieMick]

Is this still the original battery or have you replaced it.
Depending on how low your low battery reading is, it is damaging your battery.
Try and keep a good charge in a battery for longevity.
When not using my van I charge it on a 240v smart charger at least every fortnight as the voltage steadily drops a little bit each day.

 

[wallport]

Yes original battery now about 18 months old. I don't yet have a charger for the starter battery and was hoping to get by till an offer appears.

 

[roadtripper]

Still waiting on an offer for a proper charger for the starter battery but have had low battery a few times now. I have an AA Car battery solar charger from a time gone by - is it safe to use this and will it do any good? Connection is via OBD socket rather than cigarette socket - is that OK to use for trickle charging on a transporter t6.1?

An OBD port usually has a permanent live but it's often not fused very heavily as it's only expecting to power an electronic code reader.

If it's one of the dashboard type ones about the size of a magazine it's unlikely to help very much with the loses behind the windscreen but it's unlikely to harm.

A 5A CTEK or NoCo maintenance charger isn't a lot though, don't trash a £150 battery waiting to save £5.

 

[wallport]

A 5A CTEK or NoCo maintenance charger isn't a lot though, don't trash a £150 battery waiting to save £5.

OK. Looking at the victron ip65 5a plus a cigarette lighter adapter (which is very expensive on amazon).

 

[CAB]

OK. Looking at the victron ip65 5a plus a cigarette lighter adapter (which is very expensive on amazon).

What about this? Lower power but will do the job, still need the cig adapter though.

 

[wallport]

What about this? Lower power but will do the job, still need the cig adapter though.

Sorry if there is a link to a product, I'm not seeing it?

 

[CAB]

Sorry if there is a link to a product, I'm not seeing it?

Sorry.

It was the CTEX MXS 3.8

CTEK MXS 3.6 12V Charger and Conditioner (MULTI XS 3600) | eBay

• Selectable charging power to match smaller (e.g. motorcycle) and larger (e.g. car) batteries. Manufacturer Part Number 56-752. Item model number 56-752. Item Weight 821 g.

www.ebay.co.uk

This one is £50 delivered; also looks to be a few used MXS 3.8 and MXS 5 on ebay.

 

[wallport]

Thanks but I have now gone ahead and bought the ip65 5a plus the adapter. Cost me £90 in all but failed to find any offers and waited too long already.

 

[tbrezn3]

Guys hey!

This forum is amazing. But Im obviously bad with searching, since english isnt my native language. So I apologize in advance if asking something that has already been answered.

A basically have two questions. I own a 2016 multivan, that im very subtly turning into a campervan, possibly without to many alterations to the van itself.
I want to power my 12v compressor fridge and a small water pump, and thats mostly all the need I have.

1. question - would this line of thought work - Im making a 230v connection to the van, and from there, I thought of putting a 30a battery charger to the main battery (I do not intend to install a second leisure battery, nor do I have one under the seat), and plugging the fridge into the existing 12v socket by the front door in the rear compartment. When driving, the altenator would power the battery, thus powering the fridge, and when stopped and plugged into grid, the battery charger would power the battery and the battery would power the fridge. Is this a bad idea?

2. question - I have no idea how to check if the 12v socket is always on in the rear compartment. I know the 12v socket is always on at the dash cam, how do I check if the 12 socket in the rear is always on, not having to sit for an hour in the van to see if it still works?

Sorry, third question - where is the fuse location for the rear 12v sockets? Is it okay, to turn the original 12v socket from 1 socket to 2 sockets?

Thats 4 questions

Sorry

And THANK YOU!

also, Im a newbie, please be gentle

 

[roadtripper]

1. question - would this line of thought work - Im making a 230v connection to the van, and from there, I thought of putting a 30a battery charger to the main battery (I do not intend to install a second leisure battery, nor do I have one under the seat), and plugging the fridge into the existing 12v socket by the front door in the rear compartment. When driving, the altenator would power the battery, thus powering the fridge, and when stopped and plugged into grid, the battery charger would power the battery and the battery would power the fridge. Is this a bad idea?

You can certainly support the starter battery with a charger but there are a few things to consider:

- I don't know the 240v regulations in your part of the world, but you will have to check things like grounding the van body to earth and having an RCD
- The starter battery is a high current type battery, they are very easy to permanently damage with discharge. This is why people fit leisure batteries as they are designed for lower current (not starting an engine) as well as isolating the starter battery.
- Your approach would be fine for lighter loads like lights and charging phones and laptops but a fridge would have a strong chance of damaging the starter quite quickly if you forgot to plug the charger in - and if you have start stop your 70Ah starter battery is only going to be at 80% charge anyway
- I would look at the Alpicool style fridges that can take an optional battery (this is what I do as I'm in a similar situation to you) so that charges itself when running.

2. question - I have no idea how to check if the 12v socket is always on in the rear compartment. I know the 12v socket is always on at the dash cam, how do I check if the 12 socket in the rear is always on, not having to sit for an hour in the van to see if it still works?

Get some plug in lights is the easiest - either native 12v or a simple USB string and a 12v/USB adaptor that you probably already have. Arrange them so you can see them without unlocking, lock the van, go and have dinner, come back and check!

Sorry, third question - where is the fuse location for the rear 12v sockets? Is it okay, to turn the original 12v socket from 1 socket to 2 sockets?

Wiring diagrams etc are a benefit of VIP membership. One thing to consider is the factory wiring will only expect occasional use whereas you may be using it for several days. I'd only plan to draw around 8 amps over a single socket and it's wiring.