Sargent 328 query

[molly 2]

My van has a sargent 328 control system , I understand they are a little power hungry even switched off , my battery monitor tells me ithat it discharges around .060 MAH when controle panel is switched off rising to , 250 MAH when the controle panel is switched on ,readings taken with no solar outputand nothing left on , any Comment's frome more knowledgeable people than me .thanks .

 

[izwozral]

I guess nobody knows Baz?

 

[wildebus]

My van has a sargent 328 control system , I understand they are a little power hungry even switched off , my battery monitor tells me ithat it discharges around .060 MAH when controle panel is switched off rising to , 250 MAH when the controle panel is switched on ,readings taken with no solar outputand nothing left on , any Comment's frome more knowledgeable people than me .thanks .

When you turn off the system with the button on the control panel, there is still a permanent 12V output live from it. This will feed the Fridge electronics and potentially other systems as well depending on how the van is wired (some have the cab radio connected to that line).
To see if the draw is from that, pull the fuse for it from the EC328 (will be the 5A fuse 3rd from the left I think) and see if the draw drops to nothing.

It is also possible your monitor needs current calibration - to do that you would need to disconnect the battery from the load physically and check it reads 0.00 Amps.


Anothe little test you could do for curiosity ... Turn on the control panel and you get the 250mA reading. Switch to vehicle battery on the control panel and see if the monitor drops to zero amps. This will confirm all the draw is from the Ec328 and circuits attached to it, and not something else connected directly to the leisure battery.

 

[molly 2]

I guess nobody knows Baz?

Just waiting .. for widebus ral

 

[izwozral]

I was just bumping your post Baz before it disappeared

 

[molly 2]

Wildebus , controler turned on 250 mah ,battery switch turned on set to LB 125 mah , turned to leisure 125 mha . All readings on battery monitor , aili .and shunt about 18 inch from LB. ,cant see how engine battery can go through shunt .???hope that makes sense,

 

[wildebus]

Wildebus , controler turned on 250 mah ,battery switch turned on set to LB 125 mah , turned to leisure 125 mha . All readings on battery monitor , aili .and shunt about 18 inch from LB. ,cant see how engine battery can go through shunt .???hope that makes sense,

sounds like you have something connected to the leisure battery apart from the Sargent Unit? Originally it wouldn't have been the case, but changes get made as vans get tweaked by the owners ....
Got a battery master fitted?
On the EC328, pull the fuse for permanent fuse and check the current
Also you could pull the fuse for the Leisure In (20A Fuse) on the EC328 and check the current (that will cut the power to the EC328 from Leisure). From what you are saying it should be zero.
Do the above in the daytime!

 

[molly 2]

sounds like you have something connected to the leisure battery apart from the Sargent Unit? Originally it wouldn't have been the case, but changes get made as vans get tweaked by the owners ....
Got a battery master fitted?
On the EC328, pull the fuse for permanent fuse and check the current
Also you could pull the fuse for the Leisure In (20A Fuse) on the EC328 and check the current (that will cut the power to the EC328 from Leisure). From what you are saying it should be zero.
Do the above in the daytime!

Ups I made typo I quoted lB twice second time I should quoted engine battery, dose the battery drain sound excessive ie 250 mah control panel on 60 mah off , no additional wiring to battery as factory, except feed Pos to shunt , not sure how to check, could it be blocking diode in solar panel , presuming it is high drain

 

[wildebus]

Ups I made typo I quoted lB twice second time I should quoted engine battery, dose the battery drain sound excessive ie 250 mah control panel on 60 mah off , no additional wiring to battery as factory, except feed Pos to shunt , not sure how to check, could it be blocking diode in solar panel , presuming it is high drain

It depends on your setup really. Hard to say. My own setup is not typical but I will post some numbers later so you can get a comparison.

What could be using power?
Well, with panel OFF, the only load should be from permanent +12V lines. One fuse, but a number of potential circuits - fridge electronics, radio, alarm, etc. The kind of things you would expect to be 24/7.

With the panel ON, you have all the things that are ready to be used.
So USB Sockets... They are voltage converters (12V to 5V) so are always using some power even if nothing plugged into them.
TV plugged in to 12V socket and on standby;. TV Ariel Booster (this is one that is easy to forget about as tucked away in a cupboard and often left switched on)
Other devices (e.g in my van I have a pair of Amazon Echo Dots connected to 12V. They are always on when hab electrics are on)
Internet MiFi Router maybe?

 

[wildebus]

As I said earlier, different vans will have different setups, but this is a view of mine which might help give an idea of what to expect between Control Panel OFF and ON?
I run all the Hab Electrics though the Load Output of one of the MPPT Controllers, so I can get a very clear view of Current draw (this shows to the nearest 100mA)

• Control Panel OFF - Draw is 600mA. I have a Security Camera and Alarm System powered by the Permanent 12V, as well as a DC-DC Regulator that feeds the Hab Electrics, so I have a relatively large draw compared to the draw on a typical Sargent system when the Control Panel is off.
• HAB ELECTRICS ON - NO 'Precautions' - Current draw is 1.7A. "No 'Precautions'" means I have taken no real steps to reduce power use when leaving the Motorhome. So lights turned off; TV off on remote but still on standby; TV Booster on
• HAB ELECTRICS ON - 'Stuff' Off - Current draw is 1.1A - so an extra 500mA compared to Control Panel OFF. All appliances off (so TV Booster off, TV switched off on the physical button, Amazon Echos unplugged). What is still on are the USB Sockets, maybe bit of recharging for torch (always left on charger), that kind of thing. Plus whatever power the EC325 uses when control panel is ON.
• HAB ELECTRICS ON - As Usually Left - Current draw now is 1.3A, so a 700mA overhead over switching off via the control panel. This is maybe how I would typically leave the motorhome when in use and being out and about and forgetting to turn the Hab Electrics off via the Control Panel. So we have Amazon Echos plugged in, TV and Booster off, random things like torch left on recharger to be always ready.

That might be of some help? I think your current draw is pretty low, especially compared to mine!

 

[molly 2]

As I said earlier, different vans will have different setups, but this is a view of mine which might help give an idea of what to expect between Control Panel OFF and ON?
I run all the Hab Electrics though the Load Output of one of the MPPT Controllers, so I can get a very clear view of Current draw (this shows to the nearest 100mA)

• Control Panel OFF - Draw is 600mA. I have a Security Camera and Alarm System powered by the Permanent 12V, as well as a DC-DC Regulator that feeds the Hab Electrics, so I have a relatively large draw compared to the draw on a typical Sargent system when the Control Panel is off.
• HAB ELECTRICS ON - NO 'Precautions' - Current draw is 1.7A. "No 'Precautions'" means I have taken no real steps to reduce power use when leaving the Motorhome. So lights turned off; TV off on remote but still on standby; TV Booster on
• HAB ELECTRICS ON - 'Stuff' Off - Current draw is 1.1A - so an extra 500mA compared to Control Panel OFF. All appliances off (so TV Booster off, TV switched off on the physical button, Amazon Echos unplugged). What is still on are the USB Sockets, maybe bit of recharging for torch (always left on charger), that kind of thing. Plus whatever power the EC325 uses when control panel is ON.
• HAB ELECTRICS ON - As Usually Left - Current draw now is 1.3A, so a 700mA overhead over switching off via the control panel. This is maybe how I would typically leave the motorhome when in use and being out and about and forgetting to turn the Hab Electrics off via the Control Panel. So we have Amazon Echos plugged in, TV and Booster off, random things like torch left on recharger to be always ready.

View attachment 106214

That might be of some help? I think your current draw is pretty low, especially compared to mine!

Thanks David that answers my question

 

[wildebus]

Thanks David that answers my question

I have a bit of a correction to my numbers .... (a postive correction )

My Alarm system has a rechargable battery and I was doing some wiring tidying a few days ago and it was not connected to the supply and so the battery had been run down over time.
When I did my current testing today show in those graphs, it also included the power needed to recharge the battery. As the battery recharged, the current dropped and here is a new chart showing that drop (nothing was changed and van was locked up), followed by the current when the Control Panel is off. Very similar to your current with your Control Panel off, I think.

 

[Stanski]

Hi both, good info, interesting.
I would like to take the opportunity for a few non techy people possibly reading this to be an interloper and offer some perspective to the tehnical value language used.

I will make some assumptions also.
First, the value of current has been written in different ways.
The unit of current is Amperes, often called amps and is identified by the letter (A).
I notice MA, mah and mA used.
1 Amp, = 1A
1mAmp = 1 mA = 1 thousandth of an Amp.
So 600 mA is same as 0.6A (0.6Amps)

For me 250mA = 1/4Amp = small amount of energy being used.

600mA = 6/10Amp = small amount of energy being used.

WHY both considered small, in my opinion, is that they are less than 1Amp.

With a normal van Battery, it is designed to function at 12V, (Volts), this is the force (electro motive force) that is created to push current (measured in Amps) around an electrical circuit, when connected.
An average battery will have, 100Ah, (Amp hours), meaning in theory, over 1 hour it can push 100Amps, until flat, or 2 Amps continuously for 50 hrs.
Realistically this is not good to do for the battery.
And ideally we only abuse the battery for night hours, of approx, 4 to 6 hrs.
Generally a good challenge is to have enough battery capacity that allows 1/4 of total Ah available, to be used in 1 nights use.
Thus, if the system is using 5Amps for 4hrs (watching tv & lights), that is 20Ah used, then add 1.5Amps for 6 hrs (night heater, phone charger, alarm) then another 9Ah to add.
Over 1 night 29Ahr used suggests a Battery with 126Ah capacity is needed.

Often 110Ah or 120Ah are used.

A final consideration has to be how strong the battery is. Age, poor charging regulation, abuse in storage, and poor manufacturer/materials used will also impact the ability to provide Ah.

So good on Molly and Wildebus for sharing their values and operating systems.

me = I have 2× 110Ah, 18mth old, with 2×80 Watt (Power Generation) solar, feeding a SWMBO phone, Trump heater system, LED lights, and occasionally a 4A TV, that I just obtained from a sister, need to bastardise the power socket/plug to get it directly fed off the battery.

Hope this helps a few who are a little uncertain of electrics.