No offence taken at all, I’m so pleased you have reply and yes it does as you said with the modern system of charging the way you typed. The problem is the local garage didn’t know how the modern system worked, the old van I had was a Dispatch, and just a normal battery , I wired up a relay no problem at all, I took current van to auto electric yesterday and the boss wouldn’t come and have a look ,he was too busy, so that’s them off the list, I want someone to wire it up that know what their doing, My post haven’t changed as I haven’t found anyone who knew apart from yourself who knew what they said to try and help me. My turn to say I’m sorry if someone answered me previously a couple of months ago, but it’s not what I’d hope it was the easy way as older vans were fitted with relay. I’ll call at another garage I know the owner and if I don’t get the what to do. I’ll look up a mobile auto electrician. But anyone else can answer me, please post, thanks to everyone who tried to help me.
You can't go wrong but to cover all basis with a battery 2 battery charger. I fitted one to my 62 plate Peugeot Boxer, even though a standard VSR works just fine.
Because models of van differ so much from each other and to Euro standards, I honestly don't blame fitters for not getting involved. You can figure out how your van's charging system works by ordering one of those volt meters you plug into your van's cigarette lighter. Just by driving around, you will be able to see if the alternator is charging all the time and if it dumps a lot of power into the battery when you slow down with your foot off the accelerator. What happens to the voltage when you put your highlights on? This is a process and takes time. But buying and fitting a b2b charger will save you the hassle.
I like my Sterling BB1260 unit, but programming it can be very confusing, especially for an old brain like mine.
The Victron Orion DC to DC 30 amp charger will work fine for you and much easier to manage.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404212175641?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-153316-527457-8&mkcid=2&itemid=404212175641&targetid=4585375813136407&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=555119507&mkgroupid=1308419990463276&rlsatarget=pla-4585375813136407&abcId=10039096&merchantid=87779&msclkid=6a81699e920813d2d5e40f6bd0e307e3The best thing about these is that you can program it for the leisure battery you have via an app on your smartphone. In other words, if you have a maintenance free leisure battery, then you program the b2b charger to 14.2v.
What you do need to do is place the b2b charger where it is dry and with plenty of air circulation around the cooling fins on the base.
There are dozens of YouTube videos on how to fit these and program them.
You need to remember that in most cases, a b2b charger will not fully recharge your leisure battery. I still put my 230v leisure battery charger on every night. And a b2b charger isn't cheap.
Then the next question. Do you actually need a b2b charger in the first place, or will you be able to just plug an extension cable into the van every night and recharge your leisure battery?
Our Shurflo pumps draw around 3.2 amps an hour. Our pumps don't run all the time. If they run for 20 minutes on normal everyday residential cleaning, I would be most surprised. So a single pump will draw perhaps 8 amp plus in a full day on the glass. That's 8, 10 or 12 amps from say a 105amp leisure battery. This will leave you 97, 95 or 93 amps in the battery's capacity.
