Willinton Wiring

[Tomo 53]

Help i have been chasing a drain on my LB for a long time have disconnected the Aldi radio,removed the guts from the cabin light and fitted a switch and 2 X 36 L.E.D's. and replaced all the wiring to the the kitchen and battery charger eberspacher etc. with 6mm wires, used a set of meter leads fitted with a device so as to be able to check every circuit for current,still not found a drain. so now i am looking at the Willinton change over system
i have lost the original drawing,a copy would help or any other ideas

[g8dhe]

A copy of the documentation is here http://www.g8dhe.net/bongo_images/Willinton_relay.pdf
I can't see that the Willinton can be the direct cause of the problem, unless the relay has gone faulty, but it would be unlikely to be charging then at all!

[MountainGoat]

I had a bit of a problem with my leisure battery on my holiday in the IOM last week. My Bongo has long been fitted with a willinton kit. But recently while the leisure battery has been charging up fine from the alternator via the starter battery when on the move, nothing seems to be getting to the leisure battery via the PMS unit while the Bongo is on a hookup, looking at the voltmeter which DBO fitted for me you can see the voltage dropping slowly.
I have checked all the fuses on the PMS unit and those of the Bongo in the cab and engine bay, not to mention those on the willington kit but all seem to be ok. Seems to me that it must be a duff relay somewhere but I am dammed if I can find it.
Before I left for my holiday I got the local auto electrician to test both my batteries, he said that the leisure battery was fine but the starter battery was on the way out so I got a new one. Could the power that taken by the fridge (if directly connected to the leisure battery), the clock, blinds and radio etc be more than the PMS is producing or is it just that the impossible to find relay has gone kaput.

Tony

[Northern Bongolow]

ive been messing with a willinton kit for a few days as there seemed to be a fault on the circuit.
eventually found that when the relay switches from starter batt to leisure batt charging the charge was going short circuit/ straight to earth. after a serious autopsy of the unit/relay, it was found that the circuit change over part inside the resin block,not the relay itself was the cause.
the worrying part of this was that it didnt blow any of the kits fuses, it eventually melts the plastic around the main 100amp fuse (but didnt blow it),replaced 4 in 6 months, non of them blown, just melted to a blue blob

this may be similar to your probs tomo.

[Tomo 53]

over the last few days i have monitored the LB on a test bench it's dropped from 12.88 when charged and disconnected to 12.53 in38 hours. is this good or bad also fitted a standard battery in to the van connected as leisure to find it drops from 12.59 to 12.37 volts in 18 hours removed the Aldi radio completely not just a switched feed 18 hours later still at 12.37 so to me its a duff leisure battery and a sh=t radio
I have looked at the relay and it's fuse all seems O/K no sign of meltdown

[g8dhe]

The voltage alone isn't always the best indicator, its merely the simplest measurement to make, the voltages you have measured with no load applied aren't far off normal for a standard lead acid, but that is to be expected with no load. If you can now apply a load to the battery about 1-4 Amps, just connect a spare head light or side light bulb across the battery, and measure the voltage when current is being drawn - a good battery will still measure 12.5 to 12.6 volts, a really bad battery will drop to around 12 volts or even less.

[missfixit70]

over the last few days i have monitored the LB on a test bench it's dropped from 12.88 when charged and disconnected to 12.53 in38 hours. is this good or bad also fitted a standard battery in to the van connected as leisure to find it drops from 12.59 to 12.37 volts in 18 hours removed the Aldi radio completely not just a switched feed 18 hours later still at 12.37 so to me its a duff leisure battery and a sh=t radio
I have looked at the relay and it's fuse all seems O/K no sign of meltdown

It was the main engine 100 amp fuse on mine that was melting, not the split charge relay, intermittent problem, gradually getting worse, tracked back to the willinton relay as NB said (over 2 years old), new relay received today from Martin (excellent service ) problem seems to be sorted.
Aldi radio would be top suspect IMO, I fitted a switch in the supply when I fitted mine, didn't take long to drain my LB when stereo was switched off before seperate switch was fitted.

[Tomo 53]

over the last few days i have monitored the LB on a test bench it's dropped from 12.88 when charged and disconnected to 12.53 in38 hours. is this good or bad also fitted a standard battery in to the van connected as leisure to find it drops from 12.59 to 12.37 volts in 18 hours removed the Aldi radio completely not just a switched feed 18 hours later still at 12.37 so to me its a duff leisure battery and a sh=t radio
I have looked at the relay and it's fuse all seems O/K no sign of meltdown

It was the main engine 100 amp fuse on mine that was melting, not the split charge relay, intermittent problem, gradually getting worse, tracked back to the willinton relay as NB said (over 2 years old), new relay received today from Martin (excellent service ) problem seems to be sorted.
Aldi radio would be top suspect IMO, I fitted a switch in the supply when I fitted mine, didn't take long to drain my LB when stereo was switched off before seperate switch was fitted.

Thanks ,I had already fitted a switch in the supply to the radio after finding a label on the Aldi loom under a wrapping of tape stating" this wire will drain your battery if left live" so it looks like the other memory live is also a problem. inexpensive radio/ DVD/card /USB player now needed.

[dave_aber]

I switched the main on my Aldi radio, but not the memory - no problems with flat batteries.

[sharon]

Now I don't know my Volts from my Amps, so feel out of my depth with anything electrical.

I have a bongo trip planned next week and over last weekend developed a problem.... I installed with the help of my dad and some great instructions a Willinton Kit which worked like a dream....

However, over the weekend it seems to have became faulty. Dim cab light, stereo not working etc, so I assumed they weren't drawing enough power to work (after reading something somewhere on here). So I took it to an auto electrician today who tested things and said the relay isn't working properly. 13 Amps coming out of the battery and only 8Amps from the relay. (or is it volts?)

Anyway, he said i need a new relay. I have emailed Martin so will hopefully get a reply soon, but given I am having an emergency here, could anyone point me to where I could buy a new relay that I can take to the electrical chap to fit for me!!??? I don't really know what I am looking for or where to look.

Help!!

[dave_aber]

Martin is the answer here. Although you could get the part number off the kit relay and in theory replace like fo rlike, they are modified by Martin when he makes the kits, so whatever you buy off the shelf won't be the same.

He has consistently been very good at his customer service, so you are in good hands.

(Yes, it's volts not amps!)

Best advice as you are going away next weekend is to get a battery charger and make sure the L/B is kept topped up whenever you are parked up / camping. Do you have a mains hook-up / charger system installed?

[sharon]

I'm going away on Wednesday so am really against the clock for a proper fix!!!

I don't have a mains hookup installed... I'm rolling unconverted, but do have a mains cable with socket on the end thingy for those "i need a socket" emergencies.

Oh, actually, just thinking the problem is though that the stereo, lights (dim), cigarette sockets, etc aren't working off either battery, which is a bit of a problem :/

Does anyone have a phone number for Martin they could PM me?

(volts volts volts.... I bet I forget that again soon!!!)

[BongoBonkers]

Sorry to piggy back on this thread but I too have similar issues with my Willinton kit but cannot find Martin's email. Can anyone please tell me what it is? Thanks, Dave

[sharon]

Although you could get the part number off the kit relay and in theory replace like fo rlike, they are modified by Martin when he makes the kits, so whatever you buy off the shelf won't be the same.

I suppose the follow-up question here would be.... what modifications could have been made, and would something off the shelf work anyway??

(yes, I'm panicking of the thought of no radio when on my travels!!!)

[dave_aber]

As far as In can see, the Nagares RL/180-12 is just a relay - what Martin does is add the 'voltage sensing' circuit and an indicator LED - so an off the shelf version won't work.

Have you got a battery charger you can take with you and use with your "mains cable with a socket thingy"?

If you are just looking for the radio etc to work whilst travelling, you can always patch the 'leisure' circuits back to standard quickly and easily :

1. Remove the 4 fuses in the Willinton kit, under the bonnet.
2. Remove the willinton patch leads from the original fuse box by the driver's right knee.
3. Refit the 4 fuses to the original fusebox.

Just don't leave things on at night - or run with a charger fitted to the starter battery overnight powered by your mains lead.