The issue with them is they do not comply with the electric regs and are for use in a tent. In a van the main earth needs to be earthed to the body of the van
I'm swaying back towards the mains hookup kit the more I read. The price is the same, and I know one requires "work", but even my basic electrical brain understands it. I just need to check that the current Westy hookup aperture/cover is big/small enough for the new aperture/cover.
Could anyone recommend a good leisure battery charger for permanent install with the hookup kit? I see the Ctek MXS 7.0 gets good reviews. Just want to make sure that's still the "one to get".
What you need is a charger with a 'supply' mode. For that reason I'd go with the CTEK MXS7.0 if I were you. It is what I have and it has been pretty successful running the 12v Waeco fridge I have in my bus.
Cheers. I did see that some of the cheaper CTEK chargers didn't mention supply, which is clearly what I need.
ctex mxs 7 is best but the 5 will do dont worry about the supply mode if you are running it through a battery as the battery will act as a buffer with the battery charger keeping it topped up when things ar not running
I looked into it when I was looking for a CTEK. You're right, the lower rated ones don't have supply mode. The 7.0 might be a bit overkill for the amount of power I need to draw from it, but it was the fact it had the supply mode that was the deal breaker.
OK, so my setup is going to be similar (if not identical) to the diagram in this pic. So could I make do with an MXS 5.0?
Perfect. Cheers. And one last question (for the time being). Is there a way to wire it up so when I'm not running on mains hookup, and the engine isn't running, I can use the leisure battery to power a "plug socket"?
if you mean running a mains 230v socket off a 12v leisure battery yes you can by using a inverter but be warned they will drain your battery a lot quicker
Yeh, that's what I meant. I thought that'd be the answer! Most places that we're likely to stop at will have mains hookup, and I'm sure we can cope without Eastenders for one night!!!
There are alternatives to the CTEC, I use an Amperor MV3/180C, it’s cheaper than a CTEC and more powerful. http://www.amperorassociates.co.uk/c-battery_chargers/BatteryC-3_18A.html
This is what we had in our Bay. We only used it for the tiny B+W tv/radio we had, it never came out much anyway.
It’s a power source/battery charger that is permanently installed and hard wired to the leisure battery, it doesn’t come with crocodile clips. The 12v positive and negative output spade connectors can be seen in the pic on the link and a metre length of cable is supplied for the 240v input (the white socket). It doesn’t come with flashing lights or a digital display; it just charges the battery and has enough amps to also supply the lights, TV, DVD, radio, and fridge.
Perfect. So does it come with the cables needed to connect to the battery or are you expected to make your own?
You make your own to suit the particular installation. Mine is mounted close to the Leisure battery fuse box under the R&R bed so just 30 or 40 cm of wire was needed, spade connectors on one end and screwed into the fuse box at the other.
