Zig Issues.......Plz help?

[thewackymonkey]

Hi,
Can anybody help me plz, have just purchased my first Bongo which is fitted with a Marque 1 12v zig unit.
I do not have an operating manual for it & wondered if anyone could tell me more about what the different switches do & what postions they should be in for driving & being hooked up?. Very frustrated have already drained my S/B once by experementing.
Just want a greater understanding of this has I cant wait to start my new adventures in her (Betsy) my Bongo & fear I might get my self stranded!!
Also is it common for the Leisure battery to be on the left hand side of the bonnet & the S/B on the right, thought this should be the other way around???.

[francophile1947]

Sorry, no idea about your Zig unit - mine is a different model.
Leisure battery is usually on the nearside of the Bongo i.e. passenger side.

[windywatson]

Hi,
The LH switch with the Car & Caravan symbol (the unit is usually used in caravans) is a rocker switch to select the battery you want to use to power the equipment in the bongo. Up to car symbol will run all 12v equipment off the starter battery, down to caravan symbol will run the 12v equipment off the liesure battery. The other 3 switches operate the 12v equipment as per thier lables or whatever the installers have wired them too. When switched to car battery the meter will display that battery condition and the same applies to the LB (caravan symbol).
Your LB will be charged whilst the vehicle is being driven and is the first 12v supply you should use. You should only ever realy use power from the Starter battery (car symbol) in an emergancey situation as you stand a good chance of inadvertantly stranding yourself with a flat SB.

If your vehicle has mains hook up the LB battery should be being charged by an on board battery charger. I'm unsure if this unit has one built in as it is a very basic ZIG. If not I expect there will be an independent one installed somewhere to do this.

Hope all the above helps.

Cheers

[g8dhe]

You can check if you have a charger built in to the unit, by putting the left switch in the middle OFF position and then when on a Hook-Up if the meter reads 13 volts or above then the charger is fitted. There really isn't much to the unit its very simple - but ideal for a Bongo or small Camper.

[Simon Jones]

Zig Marque 1 is just a distribution panel rather than a charger, so if you have a hook up socket on the van, there may well be a separate charger (or none at all).

http://www.rainbow-conversions.co.uk/ch ... 311-p.html

The CF8 is the next model up which includes a charger.

[thewackymonkey]

Thank you all so much for your advice things are a little more clearer now. We have tried through the process of elimination with the hook up plugged in & we are finding that we are only getting power to appliances when the unit is switched to car. we have tried to switch to caravan mode but there is no power whatsoever inside campervan.
Is it possible to keep running in car mode when hooked up to electrics on site, with out draining the S/B? we are not sure of how this zig has been wired prior to us purchasing.
Also with the leisure battery being on the driver side & the S/B being on the passenger side under the bonnet is this having any impact on either batteries??.

[g8dhe]

Ah ha it must be your vehicle we saw at the National Bash ? Ady, persuaded us to come across and take a look! But we only got as far as the bonnet and the reversed batteries and we didn't look as to the EHU arrangments ! As I remember the L/B was not connected to anything other than the split charge relay.

To be honest all though the current arrangement works electrically, it would make a lot of sense to replace the two batteries with correct terminal orientation and on the expected sides of the vehicle and then the usual wiring methods will work to connect the L/B into the internal systems.

[windywatson]

I would advise you get help to check out the way your wiring has been done. It sounds very much like the unit has not been wired in, in the way it was intended. Hence you flatening your SB.
It should have the LB wired in so that you run off that battery when switched to the van setting.
If it's not wired like that rthen it shouldn't be to big a job to get that done, especialy as you say that you do have a LB with split charge installed.
If the system is wired correctly up to the mains hook up, what would be happening is that the mains will be charging the LB and at the same time if you use any of the 12v equipment it will be taking current from the same source the LB backed up by the charger.
If the charger has been wired to charge the SB then yes you will be ok to leave switched to car and use your 12v equipment as the charger will keep the battery topped up.

Split chargers don't allow current back from the LB to the SB, so unless your LB is wired to the ZIG it is effectivley doing nothing for you.

Cheers

[Simon Jones]

If the system is wired correctly up to the mains hook up, what would be happening is that the mains will be charging the LB and at the same time if you use any of the 12v equipment it will be taking current from the same source the LB backed up by the charger.

The Zig Marque 1 is nothing more that a distribution panel: 4 switches, 3 fuse holders and a voltmeter, so it in itself will not charge anything when van is plugged into the mains. There ought to be a separate charger somewhere in the system, but it sounds like it needs a check over by an auto electrician to establish exactly what is going on.

One weakness of any Zig unit is that if you leave it in 'touring' mode you are just connecting both batteries in parallel (crudest form of charging) so they will both discharge together when the engine is switched off. The way round this is to have a proper split charger installed and leave to the switch set ton 'on site' mode to isolate batteries when the alternator stops charging.

[thewackymonkey]

Thanks ever so much for your feedback, really has been helpful.
Think it best I get it checked out by the professionals!