Leisure battery installation and Split Charge circuit.
Part 7- Testing and Tidying!
Let's now finish off the inside of the circuit and test it all!
Firstly, make sure all connections are good and that you have not trapped any wires or have any dodgy crimping going on! Good. On we go.
If you
want to test the alternator charging circuit that turns the relay on,
set your trusty multimeter to the first DC range above 12v .
sitck the positive probe of your multimeter here, and the negative
probe to a
good earth. It should read 0.00v
KEEP YOUR HANDS WELL
CLEAR and get a buddy to start the engine. Rev slightly until
the red light on the dash goes out.
Now
CAREFULLY put the probes back where you had them. All being well, the
multimeter should read around 13.5 volts, like below. If the red light
on the dash comes on, the multimeter would drop to 0.00v. With the
purple wire connected to the alternator, this would mean that the relay
would not come on to charge the leisure battery UNLESS the red light
had gone out, and this terminal was actually dishing out 13.8v, making the
relay click on!
Now, with the engine off, check the voltage at the leisure battery.
Should get a reading of 12v.
Now fire up the engine again, and make sure the red light is off on the dash.
The meter should now read just over 13 volts again.
Congratulations - your leisure battery will now charge when you are driving along.
If any
of these test fail, go and have a cuppa and come back. Test all your
connections,
check your wiring and have another go. Try these common mistakes first: