Installation of Battery in Jayco Poptop

Peter R, sounds like you answered all your own questions!! ;)
And with all that knoledge, why PAY someone to do it "profesionally" when (by the sounds of it) you could do it yourself with a minimal amount of effort. It would seem to me that all the hard work has been done, all you need to do is hook the two systems together... Via then anderson.

goodday peter
if your van is a late model jayco with the transformer under the seat you can ask jayco for a wiring diagram on how to connect the wires for the 12v from your battery but there unit (from memory) willalso act as a battery charger

steve

Member - Peter R (QLD)
Are you in Brisbane?
What year model Jayco is it? (There is a number of things to know about Jayco wiring)
Cheers.

I am grateful for the replies to my queries and make the following comments.

Jeff,
You said in part

Questions:
1. Are the lights in the caravan 12v or 240v?
2. The 240v going into the van, does it run a 12v power supply and everything in the van is 12v or are there appliances in the van than use 240v?

Answers
1. They are 12v
2. When connected to 240v we can run the fridge, boil a jug or run the microwave/air con and the lights as well. Not sure how it all works but without the 240v all we can run is the lights (when connected to car)
GOB and Denny,

I have the wiring diagram for the 2004 Jayco, but it means little to me. Perhaps it was the way I asked my question of Jayco (Melbourne) but I was unable to get an answer apart from plugging my Ctek7000 into the power point in lieu of the plug to transformer.

GB83,

This is where my limited knowledge really shows up, and I appreciate your comments about the charging.
I have a Ctek7000 3 stage battery charger and will use that to recharge.

Thanks to all for your interest in answering my question.

Pedro

Peter,

I reckon that Norm C has got the description of what happens just about right. My Coromal (brand new) has provision for a van battery. You need the extra battery for bush camps if you are disconnected from the vehicle. My truck has dual batteries and the auto electrician told me that if I chose to put a battery into the van it would be all OK because the wiring is in parallel. He ran a heavy duty wire from the auxilliary battery to the trailer socket specially for the fridge and van battery. He did not consider that it was necessary to change to an Anderson plug although we discussed it. I do not know the JAYCO set-up.

My van lighting is 12v and no switching is required when running off the vehicle or van battery compared with the 240v. There is a transformer in a cupboard that takes care of that. I am not sure of the specs on the transformer and how it would go acting as a battery charger. The car alternator provides sufficient current to keep both batteries topped up when towing. BUT if you stop for an extended break and leave the trailer connected, be aware that the fridge will suck all the energy out of both batteries in due course. If you have a 48 ampere hour battery the typical three way fridge set on DC for travel will suck out 10 -15 amps or more per hour giving about 3-4 hours life.

The electrician's advice was to disconnect the trailer plug if you will be stopped for a while. If you have a van battery also wired in parallel the total energy available is greater, but you would need to disconnect that also to avoid draining it, (hence the suggestion above regarding a switch to isolate the van battery). Batteries are great for running lights and compressor fridges (Waeco/Engel) but not for running three way fridges.

A problem occurred for me when we last camped on a powered site. I switched the fridge to AC but unbeknown to me the plug next to the fridge that goes into the 240v on board socket became dislodged. The fridge then switched to DC and ran OK for the overnight stop. The next night we were in a bush camp and when I went to use the van lights I discovered that the van battery was flat! Obviously the vehicle alternator could not bring it up to full charge. I had to put it on a 240V charger at the next stop for 24 hours to get it fully charged.

Tricky isn't it!

Kings

Peter,

I am not familiar with Jayco but as a sparky would theorise as follows:

YOUR CURRENT SETUP

1. The van when plugged into a 240volt ac will supply all 240v outlets and 240v appliances within the van and by the sounds of it a 240v ac /12v ac transformer/rectifier for supplying power to the 12volt dc lighting.

2. The van when hooked to the car will only support the 12volt lighting direct from the vehicles 12volt supply and not via the Transformer/rectifier and zero 240volt ac outlets as no inverter is present.

3. I would imagine that there is a 240v/12v changeover relay in the ciruit somewhere to ensure safety when using either of the above inputs to the setup.

WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

1. Place a 12volt battery into the van that will run the 12volt lighting when the car is not hooked up and not power any 240v ac equipment in this mode.

2. Charge this 12volt battery from the towing vehicle when mobile.

3. Charge this 12volt battery via a CTEK 240v ac /12v dc charger when 240volt input is available to be connected to the van.

If the above is a correct summary then let me know and I will try and steer you in the right direction from there.

Regards

Stuart M

Also I would add that a 3way fridge should be connected to the vehicles batteries when mobile (engine running) and disconnected automatically via a relay when the engine is switched off.

This avoids any problems with batteries being drained by what is essentially a 10-15amp heating element. At no time do I see a need to have the 12volt power side of the fridge connected via the van battery as you will end up with a flat battery rather quickly.

To avoid the 240volt fridge plug coming adrift as described above it would best to use a captive syle of 240volt outlet to ensure this does not occur.

Stuart