Electrical/ battery over charging problem

[Talbot]

We're in France and have a problem with our charging systems. the power won't come on because the display is showing 16 volts again so I put a blanket on the solar panel and then the system will switch on. The drive today was mostly cloudy and some drizzle so can't have been much charge coming from the solar. Can anyone shed some light on this for me.

 

[MF2002]

Similar problem now resolved

Hiya,

We experienced a similar problem with our (under warranty) Autotrail. Sargent unit would cut out for no apparent reason. Leisure battery died - I believed through overcharging- dealer said through age (30 months). Leisure battery was replaced in November and all appeared OK until April when the Sargent unit was cutting out again.

Realised that it was linked to amount of sunshine - system was working ok the clouds cleared and the ECU cut out. Watching the voltage on the control unit it became apparent that when the clouds were out the voltage was steady 13.8v when the clouds cleared the voltage increased to 16.8v and the Sargent unit cut out. Sargent technical (REALLY HELPFUL unlike the dealer) advised that this could be due to faulty solar panel regulator Sargent unit cuts out to prevent solar panel overcharging battery) and advised covering solar panel to verify cause.

Testing confirmed problem was caused by a faulty solar panel regulator. Replacing the solar panel regulator (£29.00) cured the fault.

On our set-up the regulator was a separate unit mounted on the Sargent ECU motherboard. The replacement solar panel regulator was of a different design (original one discontinued) and wouldn't fit in the same place so I had extend the cabling between the new regulator and mount it on the bulkhead.

Straightforward to do if you're reasonably competent DIYer and have some cable, crimps, connectors.

Hope this helps

F

 

[WildThingsKev]

You should also check that the b2b has not been on the equalisation setting.

 

[Admin]

Just a question but has the standard dual charge system been disabled on the Sargent EC500?

My Duetto has a Sargent EC300 and I had to disable the internal dual charge relay when I fitted my battery to battery charger. If you don't then you loop back the charge through the Sargent back to the starter battery and into the input of the B2B charger (and basically cause a problem).

 

[Talbot]

Just a question but has the standard dual charge system been disabled on the Sargent EC500?

My Duetto has a Sargent EC300 and I had to disable the internal dual charge relay when I fitted my battery to battery charger. If you don't then you loop back the charge through the Sargent back to the starter battery and into the input of the B2B charger (and basically cause a problem).

No this won't have been disconnected. Any chance you can tell me how to do this please.

 

[Talbot]

Just a question but has the standard dual charge system been disabled on the Sargent EC500?

My Duetto has a Sargent EC300 and I had to disable the internal dual charge relay when I fitted my battery to battery charger. If you don't then you loop back the charge through the Sargent back to the starter battery and into the input of the B2B charger (and basically cause a problem).

I'm just thinking, I had the same setup on previous Motorhome and I didn't disable the standard charging system from and it all worked fine. The only difference was the solar panel regulator was heavy duty German make.