I’ve only purchased a Pennine Fiesta 2009 model yesterday. The battery is completely dead. I’ve hook the hook up from the plug into the trailer. But how do I charge the battery? There’s a switch says van or car? The light on the main is on. Please help we’re off on Thursday without any hook up. Will the fridge work on the battery as well as the lights and the socket?
Fridge will only work on gas or via mains EHU not on 12 volt.
I charge my battery after removing from the camper using a smart charger from Aldi. Smart chargers allow you to leave the battery on charge and it charges in cycles and prevents over charging.
You can charge the battery with it in place using an adapter to convert the end of your EHU into a 3 pin plug but I always thought that this didn’t give the battery a full charge but was ok for a top up.
If the battery has been left uncharged for a while, you may find that it doesn’t hold the charge and you need a new one. My unit is similar to yours and my battery box is quite small so I would measure current battery to make sure you don’t buy one that is too big. I find fitting the battery fiddly, as it’s such a snug fit, but after a few attempts you will get the hang of it. I had to rule out several batteries due to size when I purchased my battery.
Someone else may come along and explain things better but in the meantime there is lots of useful info on this website, including copies of the relevant manual which will explain re the “car / van” switch.
Quote: Originally posted by Chloe23 on 19/8/2019
I’ve only purchased a Pennine Fiesta 2009 model yesterday. The battery is completely dead. I’ve hook the hook up from the plug into the trailer. But how do I charge the battery? There’s a switch says van or car? The light on the main is on. Please help we’re off on Thursday without any hook up. Will the fridge work on the battery as well as the lights and the socket?
You will need to run the fridge on gas. The 12 volt option is only for when you are connected to the car with engine running.
If battery is completely dead it may never recover. All you can do is try and charge it but it might take a few days. Best is to replace it.
Without hook up, you will need to run the fridge on gas. The 12 volt option is only for when you are connected to the car with engine running. With hookup it should run on mains 230 volt.
Not sure on Car or Van switch. I suspect on Van, lights and pump will run from leisure battery.
On Car, (most likely without the engine running) they will run from your car battery if you are plugged in with the grey 7 pin if you have one or the 13 pin if you have one. Be careful because car battery won't last long. With engine running they shouldn't run at all.