Power management system PMS3V/H

bighairypict · Post by **bighairypict** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:31 am

I'm still a little traumatised by my new vehicle / flat battery fiasco and would appreciate somebody confirming whether I'm being paranoid or prudent

The instruction leaflet that came with the PMS3V/H says that when the battery selector switch is set to "VAN position" "power is available from the caravan/motor home battery to power all 12 volt electrical circuits".

Does this mean that it supplies electrics that would normally be powered by the main battery eg the air con, interior lights, stereo etc? That seems much cleverer than the zig unit on my previous van but it was 20 years old so I'm at a loss to know whether or not to believe that's what it does

Can anyone with experience of Plug-in-systems and in particular the PMS3V/H give me a little more practical insight than the suppiled instructions?

bighairypict · Post by **bighairypict** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:57 am

69 views and no replies!?!

Am I really the only person with this piece of kit?

(or do all 69 folk have one and don't know how to use it

surely not?)

apole · Post by **apole** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:24 am

Hi there,

I don't have your unit but a similar Zig system.

I am assuming you have a leisure battery.

When you turn on the van 12v via the unit it will power all the things like extra lights, fridge etc from the leisure battery. However it is unlikely the things that were powered by the car battery, such as the heater fan, original interior lights, blinds etc are then powered by the leisure battery, they are not in mine and it would require rewiring to enable them to do so.

I was thinking about moving these onto the leisure battery so that when I'm camping, using the roof, blinds, lights, radio etc didn't flatten the car battery, but then you have to offset that with if you do, it will be hard not to move everything over as on the battery there are only a couple of wires so unless you wanted to get into complex wiring you would end up moving everything over to the leisure battery and then they wouldn't come on and off with the ignition.

Simple way to test yours is to disconnect the car battery and see what happens but I bet they just stop working.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Andy

francophile1947 · Post by **francophile1947** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 12:54 pm

Modifying interior lights, blinds, radio and cigar lighter sockets to run off the leisure battery is dead easy - just follow Pippin's excellent instructions here

Look at the fuse board by the drivers right knee.
Remove the fixing screws and wiggle it forwards so that the rear is visible.

Counting from top left to right the numbering goes 1 to 8.

Fuses 1 to 5 are fed by a thick white/red from fuse BTN under the bonnet, which is always live.
(the fuse, silly, not the bonnet!)

Fuses 6,7,8 are fed only when the ignition is on via the thick red/black wire.
6&7 are curtains L&R, 8 is cigarlighter & mirrors.

1] If you do not have a secondary battery:

You can either select just the cigarlighter/mirrors or probably easier and handier select those and the curtains so that you can operate them without the ignition on.

Cut the thick red/black wire going in a couple of inches from the rear of the fuseholder for 6,7,8. Insulate the end that comes out of the loom.
Use a short length of similarly sized wire to extend the end going into 6,7,8 and tap it into the thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.

If you want to select just fuse 8 for the cigarlighter/mirrors then you would have to identify the blue wire coming out of fuse 8, cut that and insulate the end coming out of the fuse 8. The blue wire going into the loom would then need an in-line 15A fuse fitting and then tapping onto the aforementioned thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.

2] If you have a secondary battery you may wish to feed things from that rather than from the engine battery.

The instructions above are modified only by disregarding tapping anything into the aforementioned thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.
Instead you would need to connect it/them into an appropriately fused wire connected to the secondary battery.

While you are at it you could also feed all the internal vehicle lighting from that source as well.
To do so, cut the blue/red wire coming out of fuse 1 and insulate the end coming out of the fuse. Fit an appropriate 10A inline fuseholder to the end disappearing into the loom and connect it to the secondary battery.

So, there you have it! If in doubt - ASK!

apole · Post by **apole** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:02 pm

Thanks John, really helpful, something for a warmer day.

Andy

bighairypict · Post by **bighairypict** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:34 pm

thanks, Andy

that is what I expected but I was desperately hoping I was wrong!!

Your reply, John, is pretty much the same as the instructions I will be following for the stereo - I guess I should just go a wee bit further while I'm at it

Ni

francophile1947 · Post by **francophile1947** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:05 pm

bighairypict wrote:Your reply, John, is pretty much the same as the instructions I will be following for the stereo - I guess I should just go a wee bit further while I'm at it

Ni

Go for it Ni - it took me less than an hour and gives you peace of mind when camping.

madmile · Post by **madmile** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:07 pm

Hi Bighairypict.
The PMS unit basically allows you to wire in all sorts of things like a pump, lights, heater etc to a 12v fused board. You can choose which of your batteries powers the said 12v items and indeed which one is charged when you have hookup available.
It is quite possible as pointed out already, that you have the blinds radio and lights diverted to the leisure battery, but the switch on the PMS will not affect these as they are wired direct.
If you are getting a flat battery regularly, then I would suspect a split charge system first.
Just a thought, but your fridge isnt on is it, as they can easily be forgotten, but being wired direct to leisure battery can quickly flatten it.

bighairypict · Post by **bighairypict** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 12:40 am

No problem with the fridge, Madmile, but I will have a look (hard to see if the light stays on with the door shut though*). The flat was only once (playing with the AFT with the engine off when I first got the Bongo last week) but now I know how easy it was I don't want to do it again if I can help it.

I think my first step will be to follow Andy's tip and disconnect the main battery to see what still works. After that it will be John's relay of Pippin's instructions, I think.

Alternatively, before I start I might e-mail the company that did the conversion to find out exactly what they did.

Thanks again, team

BTW has anyone tried jumpleads from the leisure battery to the main in an emergency? Is there any reason not to try it?

* the old ones are often good enough to repeat and there's always someone young enough not to have heard them before!

bigdaddycain · Post by **bigdaddycain** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 1:00 am

bighairypict wrote:
BTW has anyone tried jumpleads from the leisure battery to the main in an emergency? Is there any reason not to try it?

I haven't tried this myself, but i believe others have... I think its ok to do this,if my memory serves me correctly....

moonshine · Post by **moonshine** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:02 am

Can't think of any reason not to except that the leisure battery is likely to be less well charged than the main one if you have been running accessories from it.

If the Bongo has simply been standing unused for a period, and the main battery has gone dead, I would certainly try it. Only one jump lead would be needed of course, as both battery negatives are already connected together via the chassis earth.

madmile · Post by **madmile** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:30 pm

May be worth mentioning re the jump start from the leisure battery. It is quite possible if the battery is not a starter battery, then it may well have an earth that is not as substantial as one used on a starter battery, in which case both jump leads would need to be used.