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Topic: 12 volt system.problem/ battery?

hawaiisteveo

04/7/2018 at 2:16pm
Location: Northern Ireland
Outfit: Swift Corvette Diamond 93 94

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Not sure where problem source is?

Have had a new battery for past four years. When I return from touring I connect mains to caravan with battery connected to the caravan on the charge to keep it topped up.

I took the caravan on tour yesterday 2 hr journey connected to car no problems, then a two and half HR ferry disconnected from car and finally a 1hr 30 min journey connected to car where I had two engine malfunctions, resulting in car going into limp mode. Switched engine off and on each time and car returned to driving normally, with full power but a little bit stuttery.

Since connecting up to the mains at the caravan site my caravan is registering no charge on the battery in the caravan system and the internal lights are not switching on. All 240volt electrics are working.

I took the caravan off the mains and connected the car again to both grey and black 7 pins - all internal lights and external lights are working and is a battery charge reading in the caravan main system. I'm thinking this reading might be coming from the car battery as opposed to the caravan.

On the journey over only had the black 7 pin connected and not the grey 7 pin.

So:
Could the battery be dead and that had an influence on the cars engine malfunction?
Could not connecting the grey 7 pin have caused any of the above issues i.e. cars engine malfunction, possible draining of caravan battery, possible 12 volt system problem?
Could the battery have been dead before I started off due to the way I have keeping it the past 4 years?

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Steve

Opensauce

04/7/2018 at 5:47pm
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If battery is charging ok from car but not from caravan & 12v is not working when plugged into ehu then suspect failed transformer/charger in caravan but first check fuses & also that trip switches are in the up on position.

Your car trouble will have nothing to do with caravan.

To test battery remove from caravan & fully charge with separate charger. After removing from charger for half a day check voltage should be 12.5v ie fully charged but off charge. If it holds that full charge then battery ok.

hawaiisteveo

04/7/2018 at 6:20pm
Location: Northern Ireland
Outfit: Swift Corvette Diamond 93 94

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Thanks. Update. Battery appears to be okay. Connected at halfords recording of good battery. Orange light displayed on battery showing good battery with a good charge.

Trip switches are all on.

I will check all fuses but it does look like transformer / charger. How would i go about fixing this?

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Steve

hawaiisteveo

04/7/2018 at 6:21pm
Location: Northern Ireland
Outfit: Swift Corvette Diamond 93 94

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Or could it be a loose connection somewhere?

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Steve

Opensauce

05/7/2018 at 11:14am
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Caravan transformer/chargers start at around £100. Ebay suppliers or your local caravan shop have them. Check amps of existing one & get same rating. Diy fitting if you can do wiring otherwise repair man would probably charge an hrs labour. Obviously as pointed out check all wirings & connections first.

hawaiisteveo

05/7/2018 at 1:05pm
Location: Northern Ireland
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Got lucky, found a broken connection behind the main console and then there was light.

Also, roadside assistance just so happened to be passing by yesterday and I flagged them down asked the guy to have a look at my car. No codes came back. Suggested it could be egr valve or airflow meter, both are digital however and should send back codes and hold a history. No further forward with it but more confident it will get me home. Have been driving it unhitched and no problems. Could the loose wire have been knocking on a wire in the main console that was feeding back to the car? E.g indicator lights etc. I would imagine the main console also is wired to the caravans external lights. Hopeful that the issue is just minor blip rather than a major piece of work.

Thanks for the feedback guys

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Steve

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