Repairs to Claira charging unit

[Donnie]

Up-date on repairs to Calira charging unit.

I took the advice and tried Apljack Engineering for my repair, very pleased with the results. Not only replaced faulty parts but up graded them, I received my own unit back, not one that could be ten years older. I could pay by credit card thus having a further safety net. The people were very helpful and it cost £209.00 inc. p&p. Saving me over £150.00.
As a precaution for the future I will keep my two 110ah leisure batteries but fit a change over switch so the unit or the alternator can only charge one battery at a time, also I will fit two LCD volt meters to keep an eye on the battery condition. I am also going to fit a solar panel, I think I will be able to connect it to the common of the change over switch via the solar charger control thus feeding main battery and either leisure battery 1 or 2. Any thoughts on this modification. Thanks again. DONNIE

 

[listerdiesel]

It's a heck of a lot of money for a repair.

I know that motorhome electrics are getting more complex, but some of the prices are pretty eye-wateringly high.

We have solar panels with 3-stage controllers, and we use single-stage power supplies as chargers and shore supplies combined.

For £40 you can get a 26A PSU on ebay, for £56 you can get a 50A PSU. We've used these for some years and they have been reliable, but cheap enough to throw away and replace if they go wrong.

For £209 you could have bought a 100W solar panel AND a decent MPPT controller AND a 26A PSU/charger and still had some change.

Peter

 

[trevskoda]

Have to agree with above post,you could have changed to a numax charger and a battery splitter plus new fuse box and rcd for about £150 all in.
W hich if one unit goes down easyer to replace that a whole unit.

 

[Morphology]

Have to agree with above post,you could have changed to a numax charger and a battery splitter plus new fuse box and rcd for about £150 all in.
W hich if one unit goes down easyer to replace that a whole unit.

I have sympathy for this approach and also for @Donnie having the Calira repaired. The Calira EVS charger is a great unit, but it doesn't seem to cope well with unusual charge loads (dead leisure batteries, for example), so they have been known to blow.

Using separates such as this is certainly flexible and probably cheaper than a repair, but you have to have the space to locate them all, and the inclination to do so. Forking out £200 for a plug-compatible replacement can often seem a simpler / quicker to fit / less risky option.

Having said all that, I have a degree in Electronics, so if my Calira went pfutt, my first approach would probably be to try and fix it myself (no guarantees, as my electronics is pretty rusty - I've been a software engineer most of my working life), if I was unable to fix it myself, I'd probably go down the separates route.

My Calira is under a bench seat in the lounge, and takes up very little space. I certainly don't have wall space available such as in your photo. So, I'd have to construct something that kept it all together into an enclosed space.

Morph

 

[Mick H]

Calira Charging Units

Another example of German engineering! Most unreliable!

My Knaus had one of these. After the third repair and upgrade, it failed again. This is NOT unusual, apparently, several motorhomers on the Knaus Owners website have experienced exactly the same.

In my own case, 3 times was far too many. I replaced it with an Amperor 25 watt, 3 stage charger. Not quite as sophisticated, but very robust and extremely reliable. Good old British design, well Scottish, actually. No more problems, for the last 3 years, anyway.

 

[basa99]

Have to agree with above post,you could have changed to a numax charger and a battery splitter plus new fuse box and rcd for about £150 all in.
W hich if one unit goes down easyer to replace that a whole unit.

If you have a lot of space and the necessary experience then individual parts are probably more cost effective.
My charger is under the drivers seat , easy to get to and replace but it would be a nightmare to re run cables and find the additional space- horses for courses i guess.
Glad it was all sorted out though.
Basa