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Radio when Camping

4K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  Abyss 
#1 ·
Hi
I want to connect my radio up so that I can use it when I am camping, however I don't want to kill the starter battery.

I have installed a relay on to a switch which connects to the leisure battery on one side and the ignition feed on the other so that if the switch is on in the back it will create the connection and hopefully power on the radio. What I need to know though is does the live feed (for the radio memory) provide the main power for the radio or does the ignition wire? Or will what I have set up just cause trouble. I have seen something on here which has 2 relays installed but my brother in law (who is an electrician) claims this should work. I am just worried that the ignition wire is just a trigger and the radio will still draw power from the starter battery.

I hope this makes sense to someone with some expert electrical knowledge and you can advise accordingly.

Cheers
Andy
 
#10 ·
As above - I just leave mine connected to the leisure battery.
The leisure battery is always on charge via a split charge system, so I cannot see why I would require to change it back and forth.....
Because my head unit is double din with a nice big screen - "prior to this mod" I did flatten my starter battery whilst working on the van.
Since I have changed over to the leisure battery, I have never had a problem and not worried about battery drain for the cranking. T:

.
 
#12 ·
The main power comes from the permanent live which keeps the radio presets stored as well,, the switched live is just used to switch head unit on and off. A very simple, cheap and probably the best solution is to buy a 3 way switch like below for £2.45.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heavy-Dut...al_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item3f132c022a

Wire the permanent live to the leisure battery.

Wire the ignition feed to one side of the switch, wire a feed from the leisure battery to the other side (use the same wire as the permanent don't bother running a new wire). Connect the output from the switch to your stereo switched supply in.

Normal driving and the stereo behaves like factory and will switch on and off when you stick the keys in.

When camping just flick the switch and you can remove the keys for security and the stereo runs totally off the leisure battery. Can be used to supply other ICE like monitors etcT:

You will not lose radio stations and all you settings will be saved. If you need more info search my posts, I've explained this setup about 10 times now should be a stickyLOL:

Jay
 
#14 ·
The main power comes from the permanent live which keeps the radio presets stored as well,, the switched live is just used to switch head unit on and off. A very simple, cheap and probably the best solution is to buy a 3 way switch like below for £2.45.

Wire the permanent live to the leisure battery.

Wire the ignition feed to one side of the switch, wire a feed from the leisure battery to the other side (use the same wire as the permanent don't bother running a new wire). Connect the output from the switch to your stereo switched supply in.

Normal driving and the stereo behaves like factory

When camping just flick the switch and you can remove the keys for security and the stereo runs totally off the leisure battery. Can be used to supply other ICE like monitors etcT:

You will not lose radio stations and all you settings will be saved. If you need more info search my posts, I've explained this setup about 10 times now should be a stickyLOL:

PS don't,bother with relays really no need

Jay
 
#19 ·
I guess having a switch is useful for people who dont have a split charge system.

Since I have a split charge relay, my leisure battery gets charged as I drive, so I dont mind my radio living completly off the leisure battery; handy for when your parked up.

Having a switch for me is of no use since I can turn the head unit off directly at the unit, where as with a switch you would need to flick that over and remove the keys...same effort really!
 
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