Read Your Manuals

[bobj808]

We have had a Chausson motorhome for a year now - we normally use it for travelling to motocross and use a Honda genny as our 240 power source. We don't use much 12v on these weekends. Anyway, my wife and I stayed 4 days on a site couple of weeks ago and were hooked up but used a lot of 12v power - no bother thinks me as we are on a hook up. MH then would hardly turn over and had to get a jump. Away this weekend in similar circumstances and again MH wouldn't turn over. Decided to read some instruction manuals and found that a light should be displayed on switch board confirming hook up. No light. Then got book out for charger to find there is a push on/off button down near the bottom. Naturally it was off. Pushed it in, left it a wee while and leisure and van batteries went from red to green on display and light for 240 lit up. Van started instantly. So we've run a year without the charger ever being switched on. Lesson learned! Bob.

 

[delicagirl]

my van did the same thing.... - but i didn't have a manual !!!! still cant find one....

 

[molly 2]

Find it a bit strange. Your Jenny ran electrics ok on 240. But mains hook up did not work .perhaps the switch was accidentally throne, your engine battery should not go flat with leisure use , unless it is switched to run on engine battery .RTFM as they say .

 

[Nabsim]

Sounds like mine Molly, runs on starter so much will run off the starter battery on 12v, I have a switch on control panel to turn over to leisure batteries and enable all 12v kit.

I haven’t got manuals for anything either DG, has been a bit interesting at times trying to figure bits out as I haven’t had a motorhome or camper before. All adds to the fun though eh? Ha ha

 

[bobj808]

Well the 240v hook up/genny has always powered the fridge and 13a sockets. It should also have powered the charger to charge the batteries. According to my handbook it charges the leisure battery then has a look at the van battery and charges if necessary. I presume (only presume to be fair) that the reverse applies and once the leisure battery has dropped it then eats the van battery. Maybe it's not meant to but obviously does. Maybe the French don't have very good relays. However, happy with it as it is now that I've switched on the charger. It deffo has never had the light on the switch panel confirming the 240 is connected displayed before as I would have noticed over the course of a year. It only displays when the 12v charger is switched on. Bob.

 

[Nabsim]

Sorry I misunderstood, once the charger is switched on and NOT on 240 do you have to press a button on the control panel to switch to leisure batteries?

If it works like mine my chargers go through an EBL, that has to be switched on to get anything to work through it or it would stay on the starter battery. If I connect EHU then the chargers will kick in as needed and charge both leisure and starter batteries, alternatively when I run the engine the alternator will charge the starter and leisure batteries.

 

[bobj808]

Hi, I don't know if the push button trips when you disconnect the 240v power source as I didn't try it. It's now an easy check to make sure the associated green light is illuminated on my switch panel inside the hab door when I connect it. I just presumed (wrongly) it would be charging the 12v batteries as the fridge was working fine on 240V. My campervan was obviously different as the charger always came on automatically without having to check any buton, just another lesson I've learned about motor homing. Bob.

 

[Nabsim]

The fridge usually has power no matter what, along with the electric step and a light. Yours is different to mine but makes sense what you are saying, it is probably a little more than just a charger, probably contains relays and routes charge to different places as well. You would normally turn this on when you install leisure batteries though so I would have thought it should have been done by the dealer.

 

[delicagirl]

Sounds like mine Molly, runs on starter so much will run off the starter battery on 12v, I have a switch on control panel to turn over to leisure batteries and enable all 12v kit.

I haven’t got manuals for anything either DG, has been a bit interesting at times trying to figure bits out as I haven’t had a motorhome or camper before. All adds to the fun though eh? Ha ha

Fun ??? Every darned switch, fuse, socket, device is beautifully labelled in my van - in either japanese or german !!!! Twern't fun at first, but when i look back at how little i knew, i am very knowledgeable now !!!