Zig or not?

[monkeyboysee]

Hi guys, in the previous van I had a zig unit, leisure battery and 240v hook up, all worked sound for me.

Now I have a panel van that is slowly getting kitted out, I want the same availability ie leisure batt charging while driving, 240v hook up use / charge. If go the split charge relay route, how do I connect up for the 240v hook up?

[ghost123uk]

Do you want to use any 240 Volt equipment in your van?

The answer to that makes all the difference to how to approach it.

The simplest way forward is to make sure everything runs of 12 Volts and use the mains hook up to feed a decent "hard wired in" smart charger, of say 20 Amp rating, feeding your leisure battery. Also, that way your fridge can be left on it's 12 Volt setting, though you could connect the 240 Volt input to it to the hook up socket if you wished. If you need 240 Volts for say a laptop etc, a modern inverter is a cost effective and efficient way to go. No good for heating though.

If you need a 240 Volt socket (say for an oil filled radiator) it would be simple enough to wire one in from the hook up socket, taking all the necessary precautions when dealing with the mains of course.

All simple, easy to understand, reliable, fool proof, unlike the complication of wiring up a Zig, and takes up virtual no space.

[CJH]

I've got to agree - my van came with a ZIG CF8 fitted, but if it hadn't I doubt that I'd have fitted one. Various ZIG models provide different functions, but most of what the CF8 does can be done better:

1) AC-to-DC conversion, to give a) battery charging, and b) 12V supply even without a leisure battery. The battery charger is an old style 'dumb' charger, and I wouldn't be as confident about leaving it permanently connected as I would with a newer smart charger. In mine, I've bypassed the ZIG AC-to-DC converter, and wired in a CTEK MXS10 instead - a modern multi-stage smart charger that even has a 'supply' mode to replicate the ZIG's ability to provide 12V even without a leisure battery attached.

2) A split-charge facility - i.e. a switch that I had to remember to put in the 'Touring' position so that the leisure battery would charge from the alternator while driving. There are better ways to do this - a split charge relay triggered by the alternator is easy to fit, and doesn't rely on you remembering to flick a switch before driving off.

3) A convenient switch/fuse panel to give you control over the mains and various 12V circuits, as well as easy access to fuses. This is a matter of personal preference, and could be seen as the most attractive part of the ZIG, but there are other good ways to provide fused feeds for the 12V circuits, such as a dedicated fuse box.

Picking up on Ghost's point about 240V operation - the ZIG doesn't do anything with the mains, other than provide conversion to DC. It doesn't power up your mains sockets from your battery (as John mentioned, you need a separate inverter for this), and it doesn't act as a fuse box/distribution unit for the hook-up - you'll need to install that separately.