# Zig unit charger



## 94678

I thought we had an onboard charger with our zig unit but there doesn't appear to be one, I removed the panel behind the CP3V Zig unit to have a look as when hooked up & testing with a multimeter it appears to show no charging.

Should there be one & if so would it be behind the panel ? its a 1992 Eldis hi-top


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## spykal

Hi Usher

Some conversions did not have a leisure battery installed at the time of the conversion so the Zig unit is just a control/fuse panel. All the 12v lights etc were fed from the vehicle battery and no charger was included. A 240v hook up merely runs the fridge and maybe one mains powered light and a socket. If this is the case with your van and you have a second battery (leisure battery) it may have been added later and although it will no doubt charge from the altenator when travelling it will recieve no charge when on a hook up. It would be possible to hook a separate charger into the circuit when you are on a hook up. 

Mike


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## 94678

Thanks for info, 
the leisure battery is charged on the move via a split charge relay & sits in the engine compartment on an original platform , I guess i could get a charger incorporated but it would need to be done correctly to avoid damage to alternator & relays & tracing what wire goes where is easier said than done .

Is the charger normally incorporated with the zig unit or am I looking in the wrong place ?


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## spykal

Hi Usher

There is a quick and easy way of connecting a charger to the leisure battery until you decide on how to wire in a charger permanently.

Quite often there is a 12v socket , it may be a cigar lighter type or a DIN type, situated near the control panel. You could when parked up and having a hook up connected, power a charger from the mains socket and plug the charge leads into the cigar lighter socket (using a cigar lighter plug wired correctly).

Connected overnight or when you are out and about this would top up the leisure battery.

If you have to buy a charger I can reccomend a Ctek 3600 charger :-

Ctek Link <<<<click

Mike


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## 94678

The cigar lighter socket runs from the main battery, if I put a low amp charge into it then I presume it would charge both batteries altho it may be more complicated than that due to the relay which gives priority charge always to the vehicle battery.

I think I read somewhere you can damage your alternater by charging whilst battery leads are connected unless there is a relay device fitted to minimise this as on camper vans ( but possibly not mine ! ) I guess I could fit another cigar socket wired to the leisure battery only & switch to isolate it from the alternator.

The Zig factory I discovered is only 5 miles from where I live & I might call in for advice re the unit fitted in my van


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## spykal

Hi Usher

I was not refering to the vehicle cigar lighter socket but to one which may have been fitted in the habitation area of the van.....many vans have these fitted but if you do not have one in there sorry but my advice does not apply. (if there had been one fitted it would be OK to use it to charge the leisure battery when stationary...the split charge relay would isolate that battery from the vehicle battery)

If you connect a charger to the vehicle cigar lighter you will charge the vehicle battery not the leisure battery...

Mike


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## 94678

What I need to do then is to fit an inline fused cigar socket running directly to the leisure battery, I'll probably have to fit it on the dashboard as feeding thru from the zig unit area might be a problem altho I would prefer it there, 
I think I'll trace all the wires from the zig back to the relay block & see if I can work out what goes where.
The two wires from the leisure batt go straight to the relay & I presume that running a charge into the battery in what in effect would be in the opposite side of relay that it won't damage it ?


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## spykal

Hi again

Yes, that plan would work just fine. With a lot more work you could, of course, install a new Zig type charger/power unit but that would involve a lot more work. The separate charger option is quite a simple step forward and if you get a multi stage charger such as the Ctek your battery will always be kept in tip top condition and of course you can when necessary use it to maintain the vehicle battery.


Mike


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## 94678

Thanks spykal for your help, 
I'm going to get me a Ctek charger as thats the simplest & cheaper option probably for my needs.


regards from vic


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## 109610

Browsing for some info on a eldis hurricane and I note you folks like to runb a onboard charger, a good idea but there is a catch  
on checking out the ctek it charges at some stage up to 14.7volts

this is all fine except if you have halogen lamps on board too and use them while thew voltage is at this level

a rule of thumb for halogens is a 10% overvoltage usually means a 50% reduction in life

14.7 - 12 = 2.7 which is more than 20% which is not a good look for your halogens, granted there will be some voltage drop due to wiring losses, one would hope it's less than 1 vol.
A easy workaround is charge with halogens off or have a conventional tungsten bulb while charging

happy holidays  

Don 
New Zealand


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## ingram

I don't know about Zig chargers generally or what may be in your Eldiss but I have a Zig X7 in my van which is a metal box about 7" long 3" deep by 4" high.

I doubt that one similar would be fitted behind the control panel.

If you do have a charger somewhere it may well be remote from the control panel.

Harvey


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## spykal

ingram said:


> If you do have a charger somewhere it may well be remote from the control panel.
> 
> Harvey


Hi Harvey

You are right ..If there is a zig charger it will be elsewhere and just as you describe ....but I think that Usher must have it sorted by now.... it was January 2006 when we were trying to sort it out :lol:

mike


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## Gissit

Don
Where do you get all your information from? I guess you are trying to be helpful but if you don't know what you are talking about then just don't talk...
If you measure the voltage on any car that is running it will be 13.8 to 14.2 volts and possibly a little higher. Are we to believe that the car makers are toasting bulbs on purpose to help out the bulb makers?


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## rayc

Gissit said:


> Don
> Where do you get all your information from? I guess you are trying to be helpful but if you don't know what you are talking about then just don't talk...
> If you measure the voltage on any car that is running it will be 13.8 to 14.2 volts and possibly a little higher. Are we to believe that the car makers are toasting bulbs on purpose to help out the bulb makers?


This topic is from 2006 and Don's post was January 2008. It was his ONLY post so I guess he has already taken your advise. Not bad going to have a topic stretching on for 9 years. Good to see some members who responded are still about.


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