Bongo Fury

I have a Leisure battery with Willinton fitted. Among other things the cig lighter sockets are powered off the LB. I am thinking of carrying a battery charger with a fused accesory plug for topping up the LB at campsites and occasionaly at home,

Am I right in thinking I can just plug the charger into one of the cig lighter sockets without causing any undesirable effects to the split charge relay etc or would I have to disconnect something?

The charger won't have the right plug for the cigar lighter socket. Why not just put the clips on the battery?

Velocette wrote:I have a Leisure battery with Willinton fitted. Among other things the cig lighter sockets are powered off the LB. I am thinking of carrying a battery charger with a fused accesory plug for topping up the LB at campsites and occasionaly at home,

Am I right in thinking I can just plug the charger into one of the cig lighter sockets without causing any undesirable effects to the split charge relay etc or would I have to disconnect something?

Depending on the charger and the state of the L/B you may blow the fuse associated with the cigarette lighter, possibly not frequently, but most likely on the time you most need it!
Charge the battery directly, or if you want to keep the wiring neater by a dedicated, and suitably fused cable, directly to the battery.

g8dhe wrote:

Velocette wrote:I have a Leisure battery with Willinton fitted. Among other things the cig lighter sockets are powered off the LB. I am thinking of carrying a battery charger with a fused accesory plug for topping up the LB at campsites and occasionaly at home,

Am I right in thinking I can just plug the charger into one of the cig lighter sockets without causing any undesirable effects to the split charge relay etc or would I have to disconnect something?

Depending on the charger and the state of the L/B you may blow the fuse associated with the cigarette lighter, possibly not frequently, but most likely on the time you most need it!
Charge the battery directly, or if you want to keep the wiring neater by a dedicated, and suitably fused cable, directly to the battery.

Thanks, I will do that. It is a spin off to a mod on my bike really.I will be fitting a suitable plug to the charger. I will be doing the same to my motorbike, I have bought a fuse carrier and weather proof cig lighter socket and just wanted to do it that way for convenience. On the bike the seat has to be unbolted to get at the battery so a socket makes sense and it would be handy on the Bongo too.

I had planned to use assymetrical plugs like you get on some bike chargers...what Americans call "trailer plugs" but they seem to be as rare as hen's teeth so I decided to make do with what I can pick up at Maplins and I gain an accessory socket on the bike (and a heavy duty one on the Bongo).

francophile1947 wrote:The charger won't have the right plug for the cigar lighter socket. Why not just put the clips on the battery?

I'm just trying to come up with something that is compatible with all three batteies that I'm likely to charge. I am definitely hard wiring something for the bike because the battery is a fag to get at and I want to be able to occasionaly charge it overnight and just be able to unplug it and go in the morning, there is enough faf already with getting all the gear on and the lock off etc!

Extending the idea to the Bongo's batteries seems a good idea

is this the sort of thing you are after ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HELLA-STYLE-D ... 564818be5e

or this one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-VOLT-CONTI ... 5ae48bcfe6

longhaul8 wrote:is this the sort of thing you are after ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HELLA-STYLE-D ... 564818be5e

or this one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-VOLT-CONTI ... 5ae48bcfe6

Thanks. Not really although either would do it. There are also what are known as John Dere Plugs which may even be the same thing. Good shout as they are probably electrically more reliable than fag lighter ones which tend to be a bit hit and miss. I have compromised a bit for ease of compatability with various devices.

This was what I originally planned to use but couldn't find anywhere:

I have bought the bits to do a standard fag lighter socket on the bike so I will buy another for the Bongo with a 20A illuminated changeover switch so I can charge the starter or leisure battery at
will. I can also use it to power the SAT NAV or the hands free.

You will get those 2-pole plugs from any radio supplier who stocks motorola radios. Those are the exact ones they use.

dave_aber wrote:You will get those 2-pole plugs from any radio supplier who stocks motorola radios. Those are the exact ones they use.

Cheers Dave. I know a couple of places that might have them. I am struggling to find a good place to mount a socket on the bike so I may well go back to plan A

IIRC, Ctec do a range of suitable plug/sockets too.

Velocette wrote:I have a Leisure battery with Willinton fitted. Among other things the cig lighter sockets are powered off the LB. I am thinking of carrying a battery charger with a fused accesory plug for topping up the LB at campsites and occasionaly at home,

Am I right in thinking I can just plug the charger into one of the cig lighter sockets without causing any undesirable effects to the split charge relay etc or would I have to disconnect something?

I have a Will' unit fitted via my 135Amp Leas' battery being control charged via a ZIG UNIT

those plugs are used with more solar panel installations. All three of my solar panels came with clips like that. check out maplins.