Changing entertainment system to leisure battery

[mccamper]

Hi,
1st post in the forum which has been excellent in answering many of my questions without even having to ask them!

Anyway, we are on our 3rd outing with our new T6 ocean. (As yet un-named by the children but they're working on it) and the workings of the radio are slightly frustrating.

We have the upgraded dynaudio entertainment system but I'm a bit frustrated/disappointed in the fact that it switches off after 20 minutes when the ignition is off. Yes, I understand that in front of the B pillar the electrics are automotive and designed to protect the battery but surely in this situation it could have a switch system to move to the leisure battery when stationary (or when on a hook up at least).
Even if switched on at the power/volume button there is no Bluetooth/ wifi support if the ignition is off.
We didn't specifically spec the wifi stuff but I thought the whole point of having the wifi hotspot facility in the van was to be able to boost a weak campsite signal through the better antenna of the van, but I won't be using it if the ignition needs to be on all of the time.

The lack of electric parking brake to make turning the drivers seat easier could also surely be improved....

Don't get me wrong, these are minor irritations and we love our Campervan!!

I wondered if anybody had a solution to the radio/wifi issues.

Any thoughts?

mccamper

 

[Hotel California]

Hi and welcome on your first post , good to hear the forum been usefull and you are enjoying your brandnew T6.

I do believe i seen a posting of someone who changed the power to the radio to the lesurebatteries , i think it was on a T5 .....

But most who want radio use a separate system or a soundsystem playing music from the Iphone,...
Some use tv or dvd players (not my cup of thee)

 

[WelshGas]

Hi,
1st post in the forum which has been excellent in answering many of my questions without even having to ask them!

Anyway, we are on our 3rd outing with our new T6 ocean. (As yet un-named by the children but they're working on it) and the workings of the radio are slightly frustrating.

We have the upgraded dynaudio entertainment system but I'm a bit frustrated/disappointed in the fact that it switches off after 20 minutes when the ignition is off. Yes, I understand that in front of the B pillar the electrics are automotive and designed to protect the battery but surely in this situation it could have a switch system to move to the leisure battery when stationary (or when on a hook up at least).
Even if switched on at the power/volume button there is no Bluetooth/ wifi support if the ignition is off.
We didn't specifically spec the wifi stuff but I thought the whole point of having the wifi hotspot facility in the van was to be able to boost a weak campsite signal through the better antenna of the van, but I won't be using it if the ignition needs to be on all of the time.

The lack of electric parking brake to make turning the drivers seat easier could also surely be improved....

Don't get me wrong, these are minor irritations and we love our Campervan!!

I wondered if anybody had a solution to the radio/wifi issues.

Any thoughts?

mccamper

Powering the Head Unit from the Leisure Battery will not alter it switching off after 20 minutes as this is a function of the Canbus/ECU system.
The head unit is wired exactly the same way as the Commercial Van. No one at VW thought about Camper owners wanting to use the system when camping. Most use a Bluetooth Speaker system. I have a USB rechargeable speaker that acts as a radio and plays MP3 files on a USB memory stick.
One day VW or anyone in fact, I think the Mercedes offering is the same, will make a vehicle that has the Camper owner in mind.
On my RNS510 head unit I can play a DVD without the ignition on and it doesn't switch off.

 

[Freeley]

Hi and welcome on your first post , good to hear the forum been usefull and you are enjoying your brandnew T6.

I do believe i seen a posting of someone who changed the power to the radio to the lesurebatteries , i think it was on a T5 .....

But most who want radio use a separate system or a soundsystem playing music from the Iphone,...
Some use tv or dvd players (not my cup of thee)

Yes it was me I believe!
I had my new pioneer head unit wired to the leisure battery, with a switch fitted on the base of the passenger seat which allows me to switch the power between the engine or leisure batteries.
Once I've switched it over to the leisure battery it stays on until I turn it off, so no more having to turn it back on every 20 minutes.
It only cost about £100 at my local auto engineer so I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[WelshGas]

Yes it was me I believe!
I had my new pioneer head unit wired to the leisure battery, with a switch fitted on the base of the passenger seat which allows me to switch the power between the engine or leisure batteries.
Once I've switched it over to the leisure battery it stays on until I turn it off, so no more having to turn it back on every 20 minutes.
It only cost about £100 at my local auto engineer so I would recommend it to anyone.

Could you find out exactly what he did as my local Autoelectrician said it would still switch off after 20 mins.
It would be very useful if you could, in fact a game changer.

 

[sidepod]

A head unit requires two power inputs. One, a permanent supply, the other a supply switched via the ignition (ACC).

The permanent supply allows the head unit to store the settings you input. The ACC is the supply it uses to function when you switch it on.

If you transfer the supply to the leisure cct then you'll need to common these two inputs.
I believe it's the CANBUS that times out not the head unit.

 

[WelshGas]

A head unit requires two power inputs. One, a permanent supply, the other a supply switched via the ignition (ACC).

The permanent supply allows the head unit to store the settings you input. The ACC is the supply it uses to function when you switch it on.

If you transfer the supply to the leisure cct then you'll need to common these two inputs.
I believe it's the CANBUS that times out not the head unit.

Thats what I thought and have been told. So I wonder what @Freeley has had done if his unit doesn't switch off when on Leisure Battery?

 

[Joker 1299]

On my RNS510 head unit I can play a DVD without the ignition on and it doesn't switch off.

The head unit on my T6 doesn't play DVDs, it's described as a CD player My T5 Caravelle played DVDs, same as yours.

 

[Hotel California]

Yes it was me I believe!
I had my new pioneer head unit wired to the leisure battery, with a switch fitted on the base of the passenger seat which allows me to switch the power between the engine or leisure batteries.
Once I've switched it over to the leisure battery it stays on until I turn it off, so no more having to turn it back on every 20 minutes.
It only cost about £100 at my local auto engineer so I would recommend it to anyone.

Am i glad my memory is still ok , or else i'll be burning my status of forum nerd ....

 

[Freeley]

Thats what I thought and have been told. So I wonder what @Freeley has had done if his unit doesn't switch off when on Leisure Battery?

I'll try and find out as this seems to keep cropping up.
Maybe the T5 canbus system is slightly less complicated and easier to bypass than the T6?

 

[Amarillo]

The head unit on my T6 doesn't play DVDs, it's described as a CD player My T5 Caravelle played DVDs, same as yours.

Similarly, we were informed that our head unit on our T6 would play DVDs. We were disappointed to find that it doesn't.

 

[sidepod]

Similarly, we were informed that our head unit on our T6 would play DVDs. We were disappointed to find that it doesn't.

It will only do so when the engine is off and the handbrake applied.
The head unit is wired that way to stop you watching stuff whilst driving.

 

[Sp0_0k]

What's the amp draw of the multimedia system?
I can't imagine how long you should run it to drain the battery.
We used it for 2-3 hours with the battery not caring at all. Auto shut down feature is actually nice.

 

[sidepod]

The other issue with swapping the supply to the leisure battery is auto switch on/off with ignition.

The only way to achieve this so it behaves the same is to use a relay driven off the original ignition supplies to control a supply from the leisure battery. Fairly simple for any half decent auto spark.

I guess it's a toss up which battery you flatten when you leave the radio on, starter or leisure.

 

[Amarillo]

It will only do so when the engine is off and the handbrake applied.
The head unit is wired that way to stop you watching stuff whilst driving.

Just tried it again, it doesn't work: "unable to read CD" error message given. I tried:

• handbrake on, ignition on, engine off
• handbrake on, ignition off, key in
• handbrake on, ignition off, key out

All returned the same error message.

 

[Joker 1299]

It's a CD player. It won't play dvds.

 

[briwy]

A guide in this thread on how I changed the feed to the leisure batteries. As mentioned it still goes off after 20 minutes. I've got a plan for altering this involving a relay which will disconnect the canbus when parked up. I dont want to disconnect it permanently as it would disable the MFS and the display in the dash.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/flat-battery-and-4-motion.8554/

 

[ArunAlec]

Powering the Head Unit from the Leisure Battery will not alter it switching off after 20 minutes as this is a function of the Canbus/ECU system.
The head unit is wired exactly the same way as the Commercial Van. No one at VW thought about Camper owners wanting to use the system when camping. Most use a Bluetooth Speaker system. I have a USB rechargeable speaker that acts as a radio and plays MP3 files on a USB memory stick.
One day VW or anyone in fact, I think the Mercedes offering is the same, will make a vehicle that has the Camper owner in mind.
On my RNS510 head unit I can play a DVD without the ignition on and it doesn't switch off.

My RNS510 plays DVDs with engine running and in Drive! It also plays them when in "camping mode" but switches off ever 20 minutes!!

 

[Verity]

We just use a Bose mini speaker. It's fab and once charged lasts for ages and ages, connects to all our devices. Can't help with the handbrake I'm afraid. My husband used to have an Audi with a fancy handbrake arrangement and I could never work out how to use the damn thing! I'm oldskool!

 

[briwy]

There's a hack to enable it play DVDs while moving so if yours does that may be why.

 

[ArunAlec]

There's a hack to enable it play DVDs while moving so if yours does that may be why.

Thanks, not that I'm likely to use it on the move!

 

[sidepod]

There's a hack to enable it play DVDs while moving so if yours does that may be why.

Earth out the handbrake input to the headunit.

 

[briwy]

Earth out the handbrake input to the headunit.

No it's a software hack

 

[mccamper]

Thank you to everybody for the help.

As it's not looking like a quick fix I think I'll leave it alone until the van is at least out of warranty before I start digging about too much!

I'll find a good Bluetooth speaker in the meantime.

Thanks again


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[coolhandluke]

This is what you need, apparently - although I have not fitted myself

Drive/Camping Switch Wiring Kit – Wildebus

wildebus.com