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.
I just run a wire with a spade connector from the L/battery to the fuse box, remove fuse for the radio, then plug the spade connector into where the fuse would of been. Just make sure you put a fuse close to the L/battery.
Cheers so is this method a permanent feature in your van or do you have to swap it out when camping? Sorry I work in IT so I know very little about how this stuff works
Cheers Ped, though I am a bit tight and want to use the existing one as I have already spent a small fortune on the van. Who knew they could get so expensive!!
I just left mine connected to my L/battery. You could just pull it out and put the fuse back in when you want to power the radio from the main battery.
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:
Same principle for me, but the permanent live wire and yellow ignition feed on the back of the radio iso loom is wired to my leisure battery fusebox. That way it can be left on without keys in the ignition.
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 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:
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:
Sounds like a lot of bother when you can simply join the ignition live from radio and permanent live from radio to one live from leisure! I then turn radio off and on from the radio and dont loose any stations either.
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!
Not really as you have to switch your headunit on and off everytime you get in and out of the vehicle - with the switch mod you only do it once when you park up for camping then flick it back when you drive offT:
I use my T4 as my daily drive so prefer the radio to come on and off on its own
yes I have to turn my head unit on and off irrespective of where keys are and dont drive mine daily!
Just handy to see another way without any messy wiring, holes cutting for switches or making any extra purchases T:
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