Mechanic has vanished, help !

[rockweed]

I have the Numax CXV300 LB installed, then my mechanic vanished! I had bought a 12-24 volt 100 amp sensing split charge relay VSR unit and cable, he had threaded the cable to the sink area where I also wanted a LCD light installed. I want light, mp3 player and water pump to run off LB.
My new mechanic wants to buy a Maplin power converter, not sure why. I thought what was essential is some display that tells me how much power I am using or if LB was flat etc. Finally can someone also recommend a water pump system that can be fitted. Sorry I am a total newbie on this stuff and thanks for any advice, non techie if poss.

[mikeonb4c]

Where are you based? The lb installation should not be complex for any autoelectrian. By water pump system do you mean for a tap/sink?

[windywatson]

Please tell us where you are based. There may be members near by who can help you. Shouldn't be to difficult a job & well within any good auto electrician to sort. There are a number of variations on wiring & as yours is started but not finished it hard to say exactly what it is you need to complete the job. But don't let anyone over complicate what is basically fairly straight forward to do. Taps & 12v water pumps are easy to come by, caravan accessory shops etc. Shouldn't be beyond a competent DIY'er with some guidance.

Cheers

[rockweed]

Based in south London sw9

[rockweed]

sorry yes I mean tap/sink

[Gasy]

As above
Get a caravan tap with the micro switch £ 15-30
And a caravan 12v submersible pump £9-20 to drop into your water butt
A 1m peace of hose and 2 jubilee clips
Job done

[rockweed]

Thanks for that Gasy. Can anyone confirm the need for a power inverter (over £100 ?) and is the unit I need to bring it all together a Zig unit ?

[g8dhe]

You really do not need an inverter! If you re on EHU then there is no point at all.
If your running from a leisure battery then Mains powered devices are going to cause a large drain on the battery via the inverter such that you won't want to run them for long anyway, also there are 12 volt devices for just about everything you need in a Bongo!!!

[wonkanoby]

what do you need the invertor for

[rockweed]

This is my problem I don't know why the mechanic wants me to buy an inverter, because I haven't got a clue, I am at the mercy of the mechanic. He is a friend and is doing this as a favour, but he dos not do this stuff usually, he is trained though.
I don't know what EHU is ?
To put it in idiot terms my understanding is…the Leisure battery has wires they pass through the spliter kit or is it the VSR ? Power from the LB runs the water pump, LED light and music player, but the wires need to end at a ZIG MARQUE 1 CONTROL PANEL ? I am trying to get this done tomorrow as we want to go away next week and tomorrow is the only day my friend can help. If someone can help by explaining the process I can show the mechanic this post and he will do what is says. thanks

[windywatson]

HI,

An EHU means Electric Hook Up. In other words if you are on a campsite you can use a power lead to connect to the hook up point usually on a pillar next to your pitch & plug that into your van. This is the mains 240v that will power your ZIG unit.
The ZIG unit has a built in transformer that will give out 12v supply for whatever you want to power. For instance, 12 water pumps, additional 12 sockets & 12v lighting etc. It is also connected to the LB keeping it charged whilst your on mains EHU. You may have all of the above accessories already wired into your Leisure battery (LB) then all of that is taken care of.
Whilst your engine is running you will have a Split charging system that will keep your LB charged for you.
In some cases Zig unit may also be wired to the starter battery as well, dependant on the model you have. If so you may have a switch (3 way rocker) for you to choose which power source you want to run from, Vehicle =SB (pic of car), Van=LB (pic of caravan) & a centre position which is the mains that of course is being transformed down to 12v so your 12v appliances still work in that position as long as EHU is in use. And of course If you are on EHU you will or should have 240v sockets that you can use for any mains stuff you taken to use.
You don't need a converter really as all of your stuff like phones, music players can all be run off their own 12 fag lighter adaptors. If needed you could also have some additional 12v fag lighter style sockets fitted if you've a lot of stuff to plug in. You would usually only need an inverter to run 240v ac equipment if you didn't have access to a EHU & only had mains equipment available to you. However you could only use equipment with minimal power consumption otherwise you'll hammer the battery. Also a good power unit(zig) should have an LED/meter on the panel to tell you what condition your battery is in if your not on an EHU.
Hope that hasn't been to technical for you. Your mechanic may be a good friend & you may think he is competent, but I'd get help from else where if he is suggesting other more complex things.

Cheers

[rockweed]

Thanks that is what I needed, hopefully I don't need more advice but you never know...

[jimmo62]

Looking at a few wiring diagrams on the web, it looks like the Marque 1 is just a simple switching unit. It does not appear to have a charger or any capability to switch mains voltage when on EHU.

It looks like it has 3 fused switched circuits which can be run either from the starter battery or the leisure battery.

e.g. http://archive.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic ... 40&t=52742
http://www.g8dhe.net/bongo_images/zig/Z ... ue%201.png

So I'd say it's only really uesful for switching the fridge between starter battery and leisure battery. And if you have a voltage sensing split charge relay then I'm not even sure it's worth doing that since the leisure battery will be kept charged when driving anyway.

Did I miss something?

[g8dhe]

The Marque 1 is just the switching panel you pair it with one of the two power supplies that then provide the 12 volt feed and charging. In later models they started to put all in one with the CF8 and CF9 but they were designed with caravans rather than motorhomes in mind where your only connected to the car whilst driving then your free standing with either battery alone or an EHU, whilst in a campervan your always "connected" to the car part!

[rockweed]

The ZIG MARQUE 1 CONTROL PANEL seems to offer enough for what I want, am I missing something ? will it limit expansion to say a fridge in the future ?