Are my Leisure battery and Engine batteries linked?

[alecturn1]

Hi have got my van in storage with no hookup.I have a small solar panel in front window plugged into cigarette lighter.
I go and check on van once a week .When checking on the instrument panel I am getting almost indentical readings on both batteries just Under 13v at moment.I was expecting the leisure battery to be dropping a bit or is it getting charged some how ?No solar panel either (Hymer Swing 2002 on Fiat Ducato)

 

[Lenny HB]

Only linked when the engine is running.

Two possibilities:-
All the Fiats I have had (earliest one 2008) The lighter socket is only connected when the ignition is on so your panel is doing nothing.

Those small panels are pretty useless it only be partly keeping up with the drain on your starter battery, I assume the leisure battery is a Gel they tend to stand at a higher voltage after a charge & don't drop as fast as a standard LA battery.

 

[alecturn1]

Only linked when the engine is running.

Two possibilities:-
All the Fiats I have had (earliest one 2008) The lighter socket is only connected when the ignition is on so your panel is doing nothing.

Those small panels are pretty useless it only be partly keeping up with the drain on your starter battery, I assume the leisure battery is a Gel they tend to stand at a higher voltage after a charge & don't drop as fast as a standard LA battery.

When I plug the solar panel into the socket a light comes on,on it .This is with ignition off.

 

[Lenny HB]

When I plug the solar panel into the socket a light comes on,on it .This is with ignition off.

What light?

 

[scotjimland]

I have a 2003 Ducato and the lighter socket is only 'live' when ignition is On.. I have a dash cam plugged into it, which goes 'off ' when ignition off

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[alecturn1]

The light on the solar panel plug

 

[Lenny HB]

The light on the solar panel plug

Probably doesn't mean the socket is necessarily live check it with a meter or plug something in to see if it works.

 

[Jev88]

The light on the solar panel plug

That usually means solar panel producing a current..... but doesn't mean it is going anywhere. Hold the panel in the sun without it plugged in and led should come on.

 

[Badknee]

Connect some crocodile clips straight to the battery terminals, that will work where the figgy socket won’t

 

[alecturn1]

When I pull the plug out of the cigarette lighter out the light goes straight out

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[Dolmen]

I g

The light on the solar panel plug

I guess you mean

When I pull the plug out of the cigarette lighter out the light goes straight out

There is no reason it shouldn’t be live, if I read right it’s a 2002 van, 21 years for someone to have fused it, or many used to have two outlets one live one not, however, as others have said, easy to check. Putting all that to one side it still doesn’t answer you question ie is it charging both batteries.

 

[alecturn1]

yes forgetting the solar for a minute,The van hasn’t been moved for about 5 weeks.I turned the engine over for about 10 mins a fortnight ago,started first time didn’t struggle at all.

 

[Jev88]

Seems like first thing to do is pop a meter in your 12v socket and see if wired live with or without ignition on. Not too hard to make it do either on an older van.

 

[headlight]

yes forgetting the solar for a minute,The van hasn’t been moved for about 5 weeks.I turned the engine over for about 10 mins a fortnight ago,started first time didn’t struggle at all.

Just to say that running the engine for 10 minutes probably doesn't put enough charge back in to the starter battery to replace what you've used starting it.

 

[IRHP]

Just to say that running the engine for 10 minutes probably doesn't put enough charge back in to the starter battery to replace what you've used starting it.

It doesn't do the engine a lot of good either.

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[headlight]

It doesn't do the engine a lot of good either.

Agreed. Far better to take if for a drive and get it up to operating temperature.
Better for the engine and battery.

 

[PDrill]

I once had a (oh my, whats the name for the thing that connect/separates engine and hab battery? I'll use relay here) relay between hab and engine battery which operated a bit strange - although just as it was designed, when I figured it out.

After driving the voltage of both batteris were exactly the same, and the situation stayed the same for hours so I understood the batteries aren't disconnected from each other. After hours I noticed they have started to differ. When digging in to the specs of the relay I understood the situation. The following voltages are from memory, accuracy is not relevant here.

Then the engine was started and the voltage on the engine battery rose above 13.7 the batteries were connected together (to charge the hab battery). When the engine was turned off, the voltage naturally dropped instantly to 12.8 or something like that. But! The case was that the relay didn't disconnect before the engine battery voltage dropped more, maybe to 12.4 or something like that. So only when enough electricity was used to get the battery level down then it would disconnect.

So maybe you are in the same situation. Not much power use so even the small panel keeps voltages high enough not to disconnect and both batteries show same voltage?