Connecting a battery to jayco freedom.

GreyB4MYTime · Newbie

Connecting a battery to jayco freedom.

exa41 · Guru

Hi G , something doesn't gell , the cables are figure 8 flex and wont carry anywhere near the power required to supply a 2000 w inverter , the heat sink is merely a diode to prevent reverse polarity .you will need somewhere in the vicinity of 300ah to run an inverter of that size for any period of time, do you have pics of the inverter connections.

Brenda and Alan · Guru

I think the diode is to isolate the three way fridge from the battery in the caravan so the van battery can charge when engine is running and run the fridge at the same time. When the engine is not running the fridge will not run from the van battery. Such a system was used for many years in Coromal caravans, but there are better ways to achieve this result nowadays. The electrician who did this wiring needs a good swift kick .

Alan

-- Edited by Brenda and Alan on Wednesday 24th of February 2016 09:40:10 PM

Hylife · Guru

Hi GreyB4MYTime .

That looks like standard Jayco wiring that was from the early 90s to the mid noughties.

The white is usually the positive and the black is the negative (check with a multimeter) and they can carry only miniscule amounts of power.

These vans were never wired up for retrofitting of house batteries. All power was supplied direct from the tow vehicle for minimal night lighting (swap out those old incandescents for LED) and vainly attempting to operate 3 way fridges.

For that vintage van, start at the trailer plug electrical connector. The wires run inside the drawbar and the down the right underside of the van. There will be a tin shield covering all those wires connection in your No. 2 pic.

So that you don't upset the van weight balance, your house battery(s) needs to be placed internally in the van over the axel under a seat. From here you need to run some heavy duty wire from the battery to the trailer plug area and use an Anderson plug. This will replace the small diameter wire feeding the positive on the trailer plug which you will disconnect and tape up. Next you need a battery isolator device fitted in the tow vehicle engine bay, this will isolate your vehicle battery from the house battery when the engine is off. Heavy duty wire is run from the battery isolator in the engine bay to a matching Anderson plug on the rear of your vehicle. The house battery can be fed charging power from your vehicle whilst driving.

Some vans have a 12 pin flat trailer plug with some heavier duty pins but even these are not really sufficient to carry the required current for good house battery charging.

Unfortunately, the overall distance of most caravan wiring results in too much voltage drop, even with massive diameter wires, to effectively charge your house battery either from the tow vehicle or from solar, so it is recommended that a DC to DC charger is fitted between the heavy duty incoming power wires and the battery terminals, as close to the battery as possible. The DC:DC charger will have multiple input terminals for multiple sources of power, eg, tow vehicle, solar etc and it ensures that there is always the right voltage being supplied to the house battery depending on its state of charge. When using solar you dont use the MPPT controller of the panels as the DC:DC charger handles that sa bypass any controllers mounted to the back of the panels.

The white and black wires in your pic will be connected to some heavy duty wire also connected to the house battery terminals with two devices recommended to be fitted in between.

1, a battery master on/off switch and,

2, a self resetting circuit breaker of an appropriate rating for the power you are going to draw down.

In a nut shell that is a basic overview of retrofitting batteries to older Jaycos/vans, it is how I wired up my 1996 Jayco, but there is 'More than one way to skin a cat' and I am sure there will be no end of advice offered here with variations on the same theme.

Ask the questions, listen to the advice, consider the arguments put for different methods, and ultimately get in an do it, or, if you lack the confidence or skills to perform the tasks yourself, you can always have an auto electrician do it for you, then you know it is done right, first time.

-- Edited by Hylife on Wednesday 24th of February 2016 10:42:20 PM

GreyB4MYTime · Newbie

Thanks heaps Hylife. That is really helpful.
Its hard to think of a 2001 van being "vintage"

I wasnt thinki g of putting an Anderson plug on but for the cost of it I may as well.

KevKim37 · Senior Member

The Centurion and Setec Brand Power Converters (Also Not Inverters) are only in the range of 20 to 30 amp Battery Charge capabilities. They are Not capable of Fully Charging Badly drained batteries properly, if wanting to Charge batteries, it is better to fit a Multi Stage Switchmode style Battery Charger ie Projecta, Ctek, Oz Charge. The Model No. 2000 does Not represent the Size as such only that it is a 20 amp Charge capacity.

Cheers Kev.

GreyB4MYTime · Newbie

Thanks KevKim37, do you know if the Projector battery chargers that have a supply mode are suitable for use as a power convertor?

Jaahn · Guru

HI,

Those old power convertors are just a fixed voltage DC supply for the van. They put out around 12.8v or even lower. They will not charge batteries to any extent at all, not designed for it. They were designed for use without a battery and run the van 12V needs from the 240V mains ONLY.

A multi stage battery charger or good solar regulator or combination unit, will charge the battery first at higher voltage and then do another step and finally will drop back to 13.8 V for the purpose of keeping the battery full and supplying any power needed in the van. Perrrrfect wink That is why all proper set-ups have this system.

Jaahn

PeterD · Guru

KevKim37 wrote:
The Centurion and Setec Brand Power Converters (Also Not Inverters) are only in the range of 20 to 30 amp Battery Charge capabilities. .

Kev, you are giving them too much credit. The ST-20 has a maximum output of 20 A for running the vans electrics. Its maximum battery charging is only 10 A. The figures for the ST-35 are 35 A and 15 A.

I do agree with you, they are p155 poor battery chargers.

Bevandy2 · Senior Member

Another example of many opinions and confusing advice.
We bought a 2001 Jayco Freedom, new, in 2001, fitted with that useless Centurion thing, after many problems we had a AGM deep cycle battery fitted in the boot, and a competent caravan electrician advised and fitted a CTek smart charger, which solved all of our problems. That battery was fitted in 2009 and is still going good. The CTek repairs it as it goes.

I suggest you find a reputable electrician who specialises in caravan electrics, and get it done properly, or you will have no end of electrical problems in your travels.

The original Jayco wiring in the cupboard was an absolute dogs breakfast, I had never before seen such a mess, only a mug would attempt sorting it out unless he was a qualified Sparkie.

Seriously, don't mess around with electrics, too much at stake, find a legit. electrician and get it done properly.

(most major caravan repair shops will have a sparkie they can recommend)

Sorry if I sound a bit blunt, but we have had too many hassles and expensive "good advice" over the years with electrics, it was finally a great Sparkie who set us right.

Best wishes,
Bevan