Radio wiring

savagethegoat

My camper is due back on the road very soon and I'm going to sort out the cats cradle of wiring under the bonnet.

One question: Am I right in thinking the radio should be wired via the Leisure Battery rather than the starting battery? I've already re-wired it so I'm just checking.

Basicallly anything used whilst static should come form the leisure battery, is that correct (interior lights is about all I have plus the radio and 12v socket)

Aidan_M_M

99% of them are wired to the engine battery.

Your preference. It just comes down to which one are you least likely to over-discharge. Radios can have quite a significant drain on a battery even when powered off depending on the make and design, I'd measure the load before deciding. Mine uses naff all it'll run for days without issue.

Lights, sockets off the leisure battery. I like redundancy systems though I have lights on both battery sets.

As a rule of thumb you are correct. The engine battery by design is only to keep the ECU ticking, turn the starter motor and fire heater plugs the rest is powered by the alternator.

My radio is powered by the engine battery which is often in turn powered from PV.

savagethegoat

My thought is to use the engine battery only for starting the van.... it doesn't have glow plugs or an ecu ....

There are alot of wires there that might be redundant, so I'll be going through them all systematically removing fuses to find out what is what. There was evidence of an alarm too which I've removed as it wasn't connected to anythng and noone would steal it anyway!

savagethegoat

savagethegoat wrote: »

it doesn't have glow plugs or an ecu ....

Sounds reliable.
I find dirt a pretty effective anti-theft measure too.

savagethegoat

nooo....just spent nearly €3000 in the bodyshop......maybe it's more desirable than I think!