Fridge not working on 12v

vanseeker

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I have an Autosleeper Nuevo 2003 based on 1997cc TDi Peugeot Boxer.

The fridge does not work on 12v nor does the leisure battery charge from the alternator. The fridge circuitry is ok and the leisure battery is new.

At the moment the feed to the fridge and leisure battery relays is taken from the ignition lead terminal on the alternator.
This looks strange because the wire crosses the whole width of the engine from offside to nearside then passes through the bulkhead on the nearside only to crosss the vehicle again to the relays under the driver's seat.
When the engine is started the ignition light stays on. When the relays are removed from their sockets the ignition light goes out.
Can anyone help? Where is the feed to the relays supposed to come from?
 
There are two, maybe three ways that the fridge can be wired up.

1. The fridge is wired to the leisure battery.
1.1 The fridge is wired to the leisure battery but a solenoid controls the power and only allows the battery to supply power when the engine/alternator are running.
2. The fridge is wired directly to the alternator and can only have power when the engine is running, solenoids control the circuit to make sure the fridge does not pull power until the engine is running.

Step one would be to diagnose the charge light not going off - this maybe the problem. There are little electronic doodads that for a few quid will do the hard work - battery/alternator/charge indicators, alligator clips to attach to the battery. Always handy to have with a campervan. If it indicates a bad alternator then problem solved.

If the alt is OK, then next step will be to chase down where the circuits are broken - new leisure battery?? check all the connections around that first. The simple leisure battery recharge circuit is to have a positive cable running from the vehicle battery to the lesiure battery with a solenoid controlling on/off - when the dash charge light goes out the solenoid should allow power to the leisure battery to recharge. A rough guess this is your problem.

The solenoids receive power from the charge "indicator or signal" wire, usually a fairly light guage wire coming from the alternator. This wire only becomes active when the alternator is producing power, its the wire that eventually turns the dash charge light off.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Roger said:
There are two, maybe three ways that the fridge can be wired up.

1. The fridge is wired to the leisure battery.
1.1 The fridge is wired to the leisure battery but a solenoid controls the power and only allows the battery to supply power when the engine/alternator are running.
2. The fridge is wired directly to the alternator and can only have power when the engine is running, solenoids control the circuit to make sure the fridge does not pull power until the engine is running.

Step one would be to diagnose the charge light not going off - this maybe the problem. There are little electronic doodads that for a few quid will do the hard work - battery/alternator/charge indicators, alligator clips to attach to the battery. Always handy to have with a campervan. If it indicates a bad alternator then problem solved.

If the alt is OK, then next step will be to chase down where the circuits are broken - new leisure battery?? check all the connections around that first. The simple leisure battery recharge circuit is to have a positive cable running from the vehicle battery to the lesiure battery with a solenoid controlling on/off - when the dash charge light goes out the solenoid should allow power to the leisure battery to recharge. A rough guess this is your problem.

The solenoids receive power from the charge "indicator or signal" wire, usually a fairly light guage wire coming from the alternator. This wire only becomes active when the alternator is producing power, its the wire that eventually turns the dash charge light off.
Click to expand...

Nice one :D:D

God I hate problems with motorhomes:mad:
 
vanseeker said:
I have an Autosleeper Nuevo 2003 based on 1997cc TDi Peugeot Boxer.

The fridge does not work on 12v nor does the leisure battery charge from the alternator. The fridge circuitry is ok and the leisure battery is new.

At the moment the feed to the fridge and leisure battery relays is taken from the ignition lead terminal on the alternator.
This looks strange because the wire crosses the whole width of the engine from offside to nearside then passes through the bulkhead on the nearside only to crosss the vehicle again to the relays under the driver's seat.
When the engine is started the ignition light stays on. When the relays are removed from their sockets the ignition light goes out.
Can anyone help? Where is the feed to the relays supposed to come from?
Click to expand...

Hi I would say you need to do some basic tests then report back, if you do this we can give some more precise help


  • Check when the engine is running you have power coming from the alternator
  • If you have power from alternator is it getting to the van battery
  • Is it getting to the relays
  • Is it getting out the other side of the relays
  • There are normally some fuses just past the relays, do you have power on both sides of the fuses
  • If there are connection blocks again check power both sides.
  • then trace your wires to the fridge and leisure battery check for joins or connection blocks and check.
When the engine is running if you have power fro the alternator to the leisure battery you should see the power lift a couple of volts at least to indicate charging.

good luck
 
re Fridge not working on 12v

Many thanks for all the responses so far.

The following have all been checked.

1. The fridge and its wiring have been checked and all found to be working. This was done by directly connecting the wiring from the relay to the fridge to 12V.

2. The leisure battery wiring is ok.

3. The relays have been checked by removing them and connecting their inputs to 12V.

4. The fuses are all intact.

5. The vehicle battery voltage is ok on the relay terminals.

However when one or both of the relays are in their sockets the vehicle's charge/ignition light stays on and the relays do not operate. The wire going to the relay operating terminals only measures 6V and the vehicle battery voltage does not show an increase above its normal (non charging) 12.6V.

When both relays are removed from their sockets the charge/ignition light goes out and the battery voltage rises to 14.3V showing that the alternator is charging. The relay operating voltage reads 12V.

The vehicle has recently had a new alternator fitted and the additional wire going to the relays was removed.
We have reconnected this wire with these results and are wondering if we have connected it to the correct alternator terminal? Does anybody have any idea where it should be connected? Should it go to the alternator as all the information suggests or should it go to somewhere entirely different?
 
What make/model of alternator?

Does sound as though the signal wire is no longer connected to the alternator, which will then stop the solenoids/charge light from being triggered to enable the leisure battery being charged.

The 6V is a worry. A rough guess is that one of the relays is now incorrectly wired and whilst they work, when in the circuit they are either not opening/closing when they should. 6V in 12V system usually indicates some type of resistance (bad) in the circuit.

Maybe time to see an auto elec, disconnect the solenoids until its sorted out to be on the safe side.
 
vanseeker said:
Many thanks for all the responses so far.

The following have all been checked.

1. The fridge and its wiring have been checked and all found to be working. This was done by directly connecting the wiring from the relay to the fridge to 12V.

2. The leisure battery wiring is ok.

3. The relays have been checked by removing them and connecting their inputs to 12V.

4. The fuses are all intact.

5. The vehicle battery voltage is ok on the relay terminals.

However when one or both of the relays are in their sockets the vehicle's charge/ignition light stays on and the relays do not operate. The wire going to the relay operating terminals only measures 6V and the vehicle battery voltage does not show an increase above its normal (non charging) 12.6V.

When both relays are removed from their sockets the charge/ignition light goes out and the battery voltage rises to 14.3V showing that the alternator is charging. The relay operating voltage reads 12V.

The vehicle has recently had a new alternator fitted and the additional wire going to the relays was removed.
We have reconnected this wire with these results and are wondering if we have connected it to the correct alternator terminal? Does anybody have any idea where it should be connected? Should it go to the alternator as all the information suggests or should it go to somewhere entirely different?
Click to expand...

This page is a pretty perfect drawing of a slitcharge circuit
Split Charge Circuits - MarcleLeisure.co.uk

This picture of the connections on an alterator might help
http://www.softcom.net/users/acnss/image/DelcoSI2wiring.jpg

Sorry I don't really have much I can add without seeing whats connected to what
 
re Fridge not working on 12v

I can see only two terminals on my alternator: one marked B+ to which is connected the heavy gauge cable to the starter battery, and one unmarked terminal, (D+ ?) to which is connected the small gauge ignition lead. The problem arises when the feed to the relays is taken directly from this D+ terminal.
Before I bought the van the seller tried to fix a problem of "the leisure battery not charging" by "adding in a new wire"!
So working backwards from the relays under the drivers seat: The original relay feed cable (purple) travels across the floor pan and up past the fuse box at the nearside (UK) bulkhead. but it then continues through the bulkhead where this "new wire" has been added and which continues down to the D+ terminal on the alternator.
 
vanseeker said:
I can see only two terminals on my alternator: one marked B+ to which is connected the heavy gauge cable to the starter battery, and one unmarked terminal, (D+ ?) to which is connected the small gauge ignition lead. The problem arises when the feed to the relays is taken directly from this D+ terminal.
Before I bought the van the seller tried to fix a problem of "the leisure battery not charging" by "adding in a new wire"!
So working backwards from the relays under the drivers seat: The original relay feed cable (purple) travels across the floor pan and up past the fuse box at the nearside (UK) bulkhead. but it then continues through the bulkhead where this "new wire" has been added and which continues down to the D+ terminal on the alternator.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you have checked the voltage of the D+ terminal and its 12v?

If the ignition lead is running from this wire then I would expecct it to be correct, As per rogers post I am thinking that perhaps this has not been connected to your relays correctly. If you remove this wire from the relays I would expect your ingnition light goes out. If you remove it and then run the engine what is the voltage from this wire, if its 12v you have found the problem is the connection to the relay is at fault. I think :confused::confused:
 
The D+ terminal is the indicator/charge terminal for a few makes of alternator - Bosch, CAV, Lucas come to mind. B+ is the heavy battery cable.
 
Thanks all so far. I am going to test the diodes on the alternator before I go any further because the shorting of the felay feed cable may have blown one or more of them
 
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