New Sprinter Owner

Hello all,

Well I'm now the new owner of a 2004 T1N.
Ex St John Ambulance vehicle (and before that a State Ambulance vehicle)
Vehicle is totally complete apart from one top light bar.
Though I did have to rejoin 37 wires for the control box....So my soldering skills have improved.
The plan is to strip out the internal stretcher rack and chair and fit a bed and sink for a very simple weekender when we travel around the state.

One thing has me perplexed however.
The vehicle has an auxiliary battery which when the engine is running does charge (according to the multimeter).

The vehicle also has an external 240v inlet (see image), which runs down to an RCD which is labelled as 'Battery Charger'. There is also a 240v outlet in the oxygen compartment.
When I connect power to the outlet their is power at the outlet and a light on the RCD.
BUT.... even if I leave this connected all night it doesn't seem to charge the battery.
The Battery Charger meter in the dash does not change.

I would have thought a trickle charger would have been attached via the 240v outlet but there is no wires where it would have hooked in. And the boys at St John are adamant they haven't removed a charger.

Any ideas of anything I have overlooked or should be checking???
I really want to be able to plug in and keep the batteries charged.

Phil

I have an ex 4x4 ambulance T1N, with the same 240V inlet mounted up at the top of the drivers door, mine connects to a ctek charger...

Gentlemen.
I have this situation cumming up repeatedly. My experience shows it is best to remove every trace of the Ambo wiring and then rewire it the way you want it to work. This removes a lot of problems as well as reducing the weight and clutter from the vehicle. The way these vehicles are wired is appalling and cut of wires are a fire hazard. The most urgent is the wiring behind the instrument cluster and ignition switch. Eric.

Thanks rpo83 - sounds like similar vehicle. Be interested to see how it is wired in etc.

Eric Experience - many thanks. I am fortunate in that the only cut wiring is the radios they removed and I will be terminating those wires. All else appears to be ok.

Phil

UPDATE - pulled off the inside covers today and seems that the inlet runs direct to RCD and then from RCD down to the 240V outlet.
So no inline charger.
Near the outlet I can see where something has been screwed to the flooring previously.
So now I need to work out where i can attach the positive and negative wires from a trickle charger that will be plugged into the outlet.

Excuse my auto electrical ignorance but would a positive have been attached in the area indicated on the photo previously (or not possible).

Phil

Phil,
You can not say that all the rest is OK, its not, please do not ignore my suggestion, just for a reality check remove the front bumper and look at the mess there that can short out if you bump something. I have done about 20 of that model. Eric.

Eric - I do appreciate your reply. I guess the problem for a novice like myself is determining what is ambo wiring as distinct from Mercedes factory wiring.
We may well go down the route of returning the vehicle back to standard as at the end of the day the only extra we need for our simple camper is a trickle charger to maintain batteries and some interior lighting.

Phil

Phil.
It is very easy to pick the wiring difference, The MB wiring is enclosed in black cloth and the ambo wiring is bound in plastic tape. Eric.

On the 3 2008 exambos I've have/had, the battery chargers are plugged into the 240V outlet.
If nothing is plugged into this 240V outlet, then I would assume the ambo battery charger has been removed before you purchased the vehicle.
The big concern is the how the battery charger 12V outlets were connected to the batteries, and how the remover of the charger disconnected them.
If he simply cut the wires, then there is the potential for a massive short happening.

phiblack said:

UPDATE - pulled off the inside covers today and seems that the inlet runs direct to RCD and then from RCD down to the 240V outlet.
So no inline charger.
Near the outlet I can see where something has been screwed to the flooring previously.
So now I need to work out where i can attach the positive and negative wires from a trickle charger that will be plugged into the outlet.

Excuse my auto electrical ignorance but would a positive have been attached in the area indicated on the photo previously (or not possible).

Phil

Click to expand...

If the 240V outlet in the picture is the one from the RCD, then that would be the one the battery charger was plugged into.

The positives could have been attached to the area indicated on the photo.

The upper wire is connected to a battery feed, probably the aux battery. If the measured voltage matches the aux battery voltage, then I'm probably right.

The lower wire disappears into the loom, probably the main battery. If the measured voltage matches the main battery voltage, then I'm probably right.

Note, there maybe inline fuses that have been blown from the poor removal of the charger.

The charger model used in your exambo depends on which company built your ambo.
The 3 Aus companies that built ambos are Mader, ETT & Varley.
Being a tassie ambo, my first guess is that it is a Mader built ambo.

If your setup has the alternator charge the Auxiliary battery via the standard Mercedes ignition operated relay then connecting a charger to one of your batteries will only charge that battery when the ignition is off.

You will need two chargers or a voltage sensing relay (VSR) to charge both batteries and be sure you chose a multistage charger so you do not overcharge your battery.

I second Erics concern, extraneous wires especially still connected at one end can be a disaster waiting to happen.

Time for this pic again? Many were live and simply cut...including a hefty unfused one under the passenger seat

Aussie 2002 4x4 said:

Time for this pic again? Many were live and simply cut...including a hefty unfused one under the passenger seat

Click to expand...

Be interesting to know how many kilograms of copper that represents.