12 volt system fault on motorhome

[aylasmotorhome]

Hi All,
We just bought a motorhome privately yesterday. It had been in storage for quite a while and the seller replaced the vehcle battery and 2 leasure batterys as they were flat.
However the internal lights and electric step work when the engine is running but when I try to flick the 12v switch above the entrance door to run off the batterys the LED doesnt come on and nothing works.
I think it may be the electric block that from the owners book suggests it controls the 12V appliances.

Its a 4 year old N&B Arto and will get a habitat service as soon as I can get it booked in, but they are all booked for weeks. I just want to get this resolved so we can get away for next weekend.

Does anyone have any other ideas or am I on the right track?

Any guidance appreciated.

 

[guest]

Hi All,
We just bought a motorhome privately yesterday. It had been in storage for quite a while and the seller replaced the vehcle battery and 2 leasure batterys as they were flat.
However the internal lights and electric step work when the engine is running but when I try to flick the 12v switch above the entrance door to run off the batterys the LED doesnt come on and nothing works.
I think it may be the electric block that from the owners book suggests it controls the 12V appliances.

Its a 4 year old N&B Arto and will get a habitat service as soon as I can get it booked in, but they are all booked for weeks. I just want to get this resolved so we can get away for next weekend.

Does anyone have any other ideas or am I on the right track?

Any guidance appreciated.

it needs a permanent feed from the battery,when they replaced them they must have put the wire back onto the ignition wire i.e it turns off when you switch of the ignition,i think you need to feed the wire directly to the battery....i hope this helps....

 

[clarkpeacock]

Also check that both vehicle and leisure batteries are earthed to the same point, i.e. the chassis, as otherwise there can be a difference in earth potential which can confuse the control panel.

 

[aylasmotorhome]

The seller had the batterys changed by the local car garage when they serviced the base vahcle.
I have noted both you guys think it may be wiring, I did look at the leasure battery connections under the floor but I will look under the bonnet tommorrow. The battery is in a tight space and I suppose a lead may have been left unconnected there or something.

Any other thoughts anyone, this is good therapy! I might sleep tonight!

 

[mangothemadmonk]

I think the N & B has the same on board charger as mine. Find where the charger is and check the charger and make sure the 12v button is on at the charger not just at the entrance door.
Johnny F

 

[aylasmotorhome]

New electric block(Lesson on fitting new batterys!)

Spoke to an electrician at a motorhome dealer.
He reckons the garage that changed the leisure batteries has stuck 230V
in the van to charge them blowing the rectifiers in the electric block.

Apparently or allegedly when fitting a new battery you should run the engine for 10 minutes or so to charge them then connect the 230V and switch the engine off after another 10 minutes.

 

[guest]

Spoke to an electrician at a motorhome dealer.
He reckons the garage that changed the leisure batteries has stuck 230V
in the van to charge them blowing the rectifiers in the electric block.

Apparently or allegedly when fitting a new battery you should run the engine for 10 minutes or so to charge them then connect the 230V and switch the engine off after another 10 minutes.

so you can at least chill now and breath a sigh of relief if its something easy to fix,its a bummer when you realise something is up with your new motorhome you will soon be enjoying it though

 

[Nosha]

Battery/Charging

We had a similar problem when we bought our Winnebago, I traced it back to water in the change over relay, so with the enigne running and plenty of current flowing the batteries got a charge, but on switching off the water in the relay stopped the flow of power making it look like a flat battery. Good luck! (I hate electirc faults).

 

[virgil]

(I hate electirc faults).

Me too!

Have you noticed how much smoke Lucas and other wire manufacturing companies manage to pack into the wiring loom!