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 Topic: Swift 12v items not working off mains
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23/10/2016 at 8:20pm
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12v power not running off mains hook up
Hi all,
Hoping someone can help or advise on this issue. Shamefully I'm not particularly handy and relatively new to caravans so would appreciate it if you used basic terminology and treat me like the simpleton that I am!
We recently upgraded our van to a Swift 1998 Capri. Our van before that was an Elddis Typhoon and was very old but we purchased it off a family friend to see if we liked the life - we do so are gradually upgrading to better models.
The old van had a dead battery but this never bothered us as we were always on sites and hooked up to the mains. Everything worked fine off it - 3 pin plugs, fridge, water pump, all lights etc... So we never had any issues with the power and therefore never had any reason to play around with the switches and fuses.
We purchased the newer van a few months ago and it is generally a massive improvement all round. However, the power issues are a little confusing so just want to find out if I am doing something wrong or if there is a problem. I've looked at similar threads that address some of the issue but not exactly the same.
So, we hooked the van up at our site this week, plugged the mains in and switched to 'Van' on the ECM panel. The battery was showing at around 80% full (I.e. Near top of the green bar).
After a few hours I noticed that the battery was draining a little - not hugely but just gradually lower in the green. So at this point I assumed that the power must be working off the battery and not the mains for everything - as I expected from the old van.
I know the battery is working okay as the seller told me it was newly fitted and after unplugging the mains, the strip lights, pump and other lights worked without mains power. However, when plugging mains in and switching the ECM to the middle setting (between Car / Van), none of the 12v items work - only the fridge and plugs work.
Later in the night the battery power had reduced to near bottom of the green bar so I switched most of the lights off and used the pump intermittently, thinking the charger may be broke and I wanted to get through the weekend with full use of all items. This seemed to give the battery chance to re-charge and overnight it was back to high green (though not at the very top for some reason?)
So from looking at other posts I'm assuming that whilst the on board charger seems to be working, there could be a problem with the transporter allowing the 12v items to be powered by mains? Btw on the ESM switches they are all 'On' and the charger is also on and lighting up.
Although the power is fine and the battery seems to be balancing itself out with re-charges, my main concern with this issue is that if for any reason on my next use the battery is flat, the van is currently not working entirely off mains so that means limited lighting but more importantly, no hot or cold water as the pump is running off the battery alone at the moment.
4 questions I have in relation to this issue...
1. Does this sound like it is a problem with the transporter and if so where is it usually located if it needs replacing?
2. Is there actually no problem? Could it be that this is just the way it is with this caravan? I just assumed that in most cases the battery was not needed if you were hooked up to mains.
3. Am I right in assuming that the charger is gradually charging up and down dependent on use? It seems that way but not sure why overnight if it is re-charging, why does it only charge so far? Seems 80%(ish) is as far as it will go.
4. Something I can't work out slightly related to this post - Is the Carver Rapide panel by the ECM for heating the water if you are on battery power only? Assuming this doesn't need to be on at the same time time as the water heater switch in the van (red light switch on the floor panel by couch)? I've got hot water with the Carver switch off.
Thanks in advance for your help
Andrew
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23/10/2016 at 9:15pm
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suggest you take the battery off the caravan and charge it fully with a car charger, also if you can use a multi meter on it, check the voltage on the battery once fully charged it should read nearly 14v, if its reading under 12.5 then the battery has had it and time for a new one.
if you are on hook up, then you are partly correct in your thinking, however, the 240v will charge the battery to run a water pump and your lights, if the tramsformer/charger is knackered then although the pump and lights will still work they will only do so until the battery becomes flat again, this depends on how good the battery actually is as to how long it will last, hence why I said to take the battery off and charge it properly
4. the panel you refer to does need 12v power to run the panel only, the actual water heater is not 12v! red light panel on the floor? looks the same as the one in your house for the cooker? that works the hot water on 240v, if you have hot water with that switch in the off position are you sure you aren't using it on gas?
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23/10/2016 at 10:13pm
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Quote: Originally posted by marg6 on 23/10/2016
suggest you take the battery off the caravan and charge it fully with a car charger, also if you can use a multi meter on it, check the voltage on the battery once fully charged it should read nearly 14v, if its reading under 12.5 then the battery has had it and time for a new one.
if you are on hook up, then you are partly correct in your thinking, however, the 240v will charge the battery to run a water pump and your lights, if the tramsformer/charger is knackered then although the pump and lights will still work they will only do so until the battery becomes flat again, this depends on how good the battery actually is as to how long it will last, hence why I said to take the battery off and charge it properly
4. the panel you refer to does need 12v power to run the panel only, the actual water heater is not 12v! red light panel on the floor? looks the same as the one in your house for the cooker? that works the hot water on 240v, if you have hot water with that switch in the off position are you sure you aren't using it on gas?
Thanks, okay I think that makes sense.
So if I take the battery off and charge it fully, that will presumably take it to 100% if it's working properly?
But in terms of the lack of 'mains only' power for everything so I don't have to be reliant on the battery - any ideas what is causing that issue or is it all related?
A family member suggested there could be a loose earth or something, or possibly a fuse has gone which has knocked something out disconnecting the mains from the transporter? But haven't got a clue what I'm looking for or where.
Also I forgot to mention, the reason family member suggested it could be an earth problem is because the green fridge light is very lightly flickering when on. I thought this might just be the bulb but he thinks it may be some loose connections somewhere? Other than the light flickering the fridge and freezer are working normally.
Sorry to be dumb but also, is the transporter/charger the same thing - as in one piece of kit? I.e if the transporter is dodgy can that be replaced and where is it to even have a look at? You'd think it would be Googlable or Youtubeable but haven't seen anything yet!
Cheers
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