Caravanning schoolboy error number 7468

[Steve1962]

Recently had the caravan serviced in readiness for the new season, and had to move it using the motor mover so the engineer could get round both sides of it.



So, using motor mover to move the caravan back up the drive ( on an incline), the motor stopped working.
I only needed to move it a couple of inches further backwards to line up the Alko wheel lock locator do had to do that manually with the assistance of two able bodied wenches ( wife and niece ).
Having done that I then checked the battery in the mm remote control- all ok there.
So, having spoken to an expert ( a mate of mine I met through caravanning) I then found and checked the inline fuse ( no part of the top of my head hurt too much after walloping it on the underside of the bed frame in the process ) and that was fine as well.
So, battery out and found to be low on charge so charged up again and put back in and reconnected.
Motor mover then checked for operation without being in contact with the wheel and all is well.
I had previously moved the caravan a few times up and down the drive incline and it seems that this was enough to reduce the battery power.
I suspect using the battery to haul a 1400kg caravan up an incline a few times is bound to drain it.
Thanks again to my mate for his help too., much appreciated.

All ready now for our first trip out on Thursday when we are off to Old Oaks site near Glastonbury for 9 days.
I'll post a link to photos for the trip in due course.

Captain Chaos.

 

[MattNorthway]

Recently had the caravan serviced in readiness for the new season, and had to move it using the motor mover so the engineer could get round both sides of it.



So, using motor mover to move the caravan back up the drive ( on an incline), the motor stopped working.
I only needed to move it a couple of inches further backwards to line up the Alko wheel lock locator do had to do that manually with the assistance of two able bodied wenches ( wife and niece ).
Having done that I then checked the battery in the mm remote control- all ok there.
So, having spoken to an expert ( a mate of mine I met through caravanning) I then found and checked the inline fuse ( no part of the top of my head hurt too much after walloping it on the underside of the bed frame in the process ) and that was fine as well.
So, battery out and found to be low on charge so charged up again and put back in and reconnected.
Motor mover then checked for operation without being in contact with the wheel and all is well.
I had previously moved the caravan a few times up and down the drive incline and it seems that this was enough to reduce the battery power.
I suspect using the battery to haul a 1400kg caravan up an incline a few times is bound to drain it.
Thanks again to my mate for his help too., much appreciated.

All ready now for our first trip out on Thursday when we are off to Old Oaks site near Glastonbury for 9 days.
I'll post a link to photos for the trip in due course.

Captain Chaos.

Motor mover uses huge amount of battery power so lots of back and forward will do it
But hey nothing like getting the girls involved 🤣🤣
Old oaks is lovely definitely on the agenda for this year have fun

 

[Buckman]

So, battery out and found to be low on charge so charged up again and put back in and reconnected.
Motor mover then checked for operation without being in contact with the wheel and all is well.
I had previously moved the caravan a few times up and down the drive incline and it seems that this was enough to reduce the battery power.
I suspect using the battery to haul a 1400kg caravan up an incline a few times is bound to drain it.
Thanks again to my mate for his help too., much appreciated.
All ready now for our first trip out on Thursday when we are off to Old Oaks site near Glastonbury for 9 days.
I'll post a link to photos for the trip in due course.
Captain Chaos.

I am not much of a DIY person, but the battery is the first thing I would have checked. If the battery went down so quick there is a possibility that it is on its way out especially if there is a solar panel for recharging it during the winter.

 

[Mel]

Also booked Old Oaks for later in April. Looks like a good site. Report back.
Mel

 

[Hutch]

So looks like a nice start to the season for you Cptn Chaos. As long as it's you not me. !!!!
I check all my motor movers connections after an intermittent failure of power getting off a site if France, all connections needed 1/2 a turn, obviously the fitter was scared of stripping the threads.

 

[JTQ]

Whilst it is true the motor mover uses a lot of "power", but in the few minutes shuffling about being discussed, it does not actually use much energy. It is "energy", not power, that the battery stores.

With a reasonably charged battery, what using a lot of power does highlight is if the battery is no longer capable of holding much energy [here typically referred to as its Ah capacity].
If it "dies" quickly with the use of a mover, and had been charged, it's pretty sure the battery is "knackered".

 

[ProfJohnL]

Motor mover uses huge amount of battery power so lots of back and forward will do it
...

Hmmm! Not really.

DC motors always use a lot of current to get them turning, Initially they use what is called the stall current, which is the current it will draw when the motor has not started turning, but once they have started rotating the current drops considerably. Normally the pulse of high current lasts far less than a second! consequently stall current pulses drain on the battery can largely be ignored in terms of total battery drain.

The stall current is determined by the design of the motor, but typically it can be 4 to 5 times the normal running current. When th e motor is slowed down due to loading the begins to rise but only reach the "stall! current when its stopped. The battery should be chosen to cope with the stall current of the motors.

You do have to consider the running current, which is usually more than other appliances in a caravan, but yet again when you look how long a caravan mover is actually running in terms of hours it's a very small fraction, typically it's no more than 5Mins often as little as just 60 seconds to fully position the caravan. Even if the running current of a mover were 24A, if it's only used for 5Min it will only have used a total of 2Ah from the battery

In reality a caravan mover should operate quite happily from a small car starter motor battery provided it is recharged almost immediately.

 

[Dustydog]

Ten years ago I needed to move the TA some 60 yards to a front pitch at Scourie.The ground was hard compacted gravel so little resistance on the jockey wheel. No issues at all. The motor works through a gear reduction system which obviously reduces the actual load on the motor. Powrtouch recommend using a battery of 100AH or more. I suspect a 80AH will be more than adequate but won’t provide the same travel range.

 

[otherclive]

On three occasions I had to use the mover to exit a flooded, or very wet/muddy CL pitch. By moving the van in reverse and reducing noseweight the battery coped superbly for far longer than I would normally use the mover for.

 

[Buckman]

Ten years ago I needed to move the TA some 60 yards to a front pitch at Scourie.The ground was hard compacted gravel so little resistance on the jockey wheel. No issues at all. The motor works through a gear reduction system which obviously reduces the actual load on the motor. Powrtouch recommend using a battery of 100AH or more. I suspect a 80AH will be more than adequate but won’t provide the same travel range.

Our AGM battery is only 95ah and is quite adequate for our needs.

 

[Raywood]

Moving a caravan up a slope does use a lot of power. Our drive is narrow and fairly steep although not long. To get the caravan up I needed to move each side separately in short bursts. It did not quite flatten the battery but left it very low on power. The other time the mover failed me was the battery in the control unit.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Once, arriving back home I discovered the caravan battery was dead. The motor mover is essential to get it up our driveway. It's about 25m of gravel and in places a 25% gradient.

Just took the battery out of the car and used that. It's a 70ah EFB battery. It had no problems and hardly lost much charge. Car restarted ok and I never bothered to charge it before the next car journey.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Moving a caravan up a slope does use a lot of power. Our drive is narrow and fairly steep although not long. To get the caravan up I needed to move each side separately in short bursts. It did not quite flatten the battery but left it very low on power. The other time the mover failed me was the battery in the control unit.

There are so many questions that you posting begs to be asked;-
How heavy is your caravan?,
Is your mover rated for the weight of your caravan?,
What is the capacity of your battery
Was it fully charged?
How old is the battery?
How steep is your driveway?
How long is your driveway?

It would be unusual for a driveway to be steeper than 1:4 But issues such as pot holes could produce local difficulties.

The symptoms you describe strongly suggest either the caravan was too heavy for the mover, or the battery was too small, or not adequately charged.

Or there is a fault of some sort that is reducing the movers capability.

 

[Steve1962]

Motor mover uses huge amount of battery power so lots of back and forward will do it
But hey nothing like getting the girls involved 🤣🤣
Old oaks is lovely definitely on the agenda for this year have fun

Thanks,
I contacted the dealer where we got the caravan from, Webbs in Salisbury........they told me that any incline saps the power out of the battery pretty quickly so lesson learned.
Girl power........now I will be constantly reminded.

 

[Steve1962]

Having just been back in the caravan, I've checked the voltage on the battery and it's fine, so I'll have to remember not to play up and down the drive like a kid on a sledge.

My grandson Noah lives just round the corner and he loves watching the caravan "move on it's own".

Steve

 

[Dustydog]

Thanks,
I contacted the dealer where we got the caravan from, Webbs in Salisbury........they told me that any incline saps the power out of the battery pretty quickly so lesson learned.
Girl power........now I will be constantly reminded.

Do you know the charge state of your battery before you started this exercise? My own first hand experiences are certainly not aligned with your Dealer’s statement. A mover in good condition being used on say very rough steep ground will be unlikely to use more than 20 amps. So a leisure battery in good condition should last a while.

 

[Steve1962]

Do you know the charge state of your battery before you started this exercise? My own first hand experiences are certainly not aligned with your Dealer’s statement. A mover in good condition being used on say very rough steep ground will be unlikely to use more than 20 amps. So a leisure battery in good condition should last a while.

Not sure what it was so cannot say for sure - I will be keeping an eye on it though.

Thanks

 

[Buckman]

Having just been back in the caravan, I've checked the voltage on the battery and it's fine, so I'll have to remember not to play up and down the drive like a kid on a sledge.
Steve

Did you measure the voltage when the mover was being used as that is what counts.

 

[Ferrodo]

Are movers protected by thermal overload? I have experienced a similar situation when trying to get off a very rough uneven pitch in France. Movers would run for a couple of minutes then stop. Waiting for a while then trying again and the movers would respond again. I have never had problems again on grass or gravel .

 

[Steve1962]

Did you measure the voltage when the mover was being used as that is what counts.

No I didn’t do that but another point to remember.

Also looked at replacement batteries and found that for my caravan ( Bailey Unicorn Valencia 2017), only batteries up to 110ah should be used.

 

[Buckman]

No I didn’t do that but another point to remember.

Also looked at replacement batteries and found that for my caravan ( Bailey Unicorn Valencia 2017), only batteries up to 110ah should be used.

Although we do not have a Bailey that is a the first I have heard of an AH restriction?

 

[Dustydog]

Although we do not have a Bailey that is a the first I have heard of an AH restriction?

Only the physical size to fit in the battery box not the AH.

 

[Buckman]

Only the physical size to fit in the battery box not the AH.

That is what i thought because lithium batteries the same size could have a much higher AH.