Coachman Solar Panel

[MHOLLY]

A little bit of background: we bought a brand new Coachman Lusso I in June 2023. We had to have a tracker fitted as a condition of insurance, which meant that we had to keep the battery on. We thought that the solar panel would generate around 20 volts to recharge the battery so we were surprised when 3 weeks later, we had a call from the tracker company that our tracker was off. Having run the battery down we had to buy a new one, and again, put it on the caravan. And again, 3 weeks later, another call, tracker was off. So this time we bought two batteries and alternated. Due to my husband‘s ill health we have not used the caravan since we bought it. This week we met up with a friend of my husband who also parks his caravan in the same site, his coachman generates 21 volts, and checking ours, we got 0 volts.

We have taken the caravan back to the dealers Tuesday 12th December, and have had a phone call asking us to collect it. But the solar panel is not fixed.
My question is : what are our options? Do we take the caravan back to storage and keep changing the battery? Do we insist the dealer keeps it until fixed? Do we return the caravan back to coachman and ask for a full refund?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Martin_E]

When you say your solar is producing 0 is this with a fully charged battery, or are you checking it with your flat battery attached?

If the latter then the solar controller wouldn’t show an output as it can’t see your battery, once the battery gets below a certain voltage the controller effectively shuts down

 

[Paullus1959]

I bought my Coachman VIP 575/4 new in 2016. The caravan has the factory-fitted 80w solar panel and the original leisure battery it came with. Although my caravan doesn't have a tracker, it does have an alarm and I have never suffered a flat battery in all these years.
I believe Coachman now fit 100w panels so, you should have no problems at all keeping the battery fully charged.
Firstly, have you checked that the inline fuse in the cable from the solar panel control box to the battery is fitted and pushed firmly home? The fuse is there to isolate the battery from the solar panel when removing and refitting the battery to avoid electric shock. This is quite often overlooked but, you'd have expected the dealer to know this.
If the fuse is in place then the next likely suspect would be the solar panel control box which should be replaced under warranty.
I don't understand why you have been given the caravan back with the fault not fixed and why you had to replace the leisure battery just because it has been run down. Leisure batteries are specifically designed to cope with deep discharge and recharge cycles, unlike car batteries. I would have tried recharging the original battery with a modern smart battery charger before replacing it.

 

[Buckman]

We have a Phantom Tracker fitted for the past 6 years and no issue with battery being drained unless we forget to turn off the 12v. Are you sure that your 12v is turned off at the main switch as this is the biggest drain on any battery.

Normally a tracker has its own battery which is charged from the leisure 12v battery or it is supplied direct from the 12v leisure battery.

I would have thought that the Lusso came standard with a Tracker? As the Tracker is a third party fit, it is the responsibility of the third party that fitted the tracker to resolve the issue and not the dealer from whom you bought the caravan.

 

[MHOLLY]

When you say your solar is producing 0 is this with a fully charged battery, or are you checking it with your flat battery attached?

If the latter then the solar controller wouldn’t show an output as it can’t see your battery, once the battery gets below a certain voltage the controller effectively shuts down

Good question - we’ve checked it with a fully charged battery.

 

[MHOLLY]

I bought my Coachman VIP 575/4 new in 2016. The caravan has the factory-fitted 80w solar panel and the original leisure battery it came with. Although my caravan doesn't have a tracker, it does have an alarm and I have never suffered a flat battery in all these years.
I believe Coachman now fit 100w panels so, you should have no problems at all keeping the battery fully charged.
Firstly, have you checked that the inline fuse in the cable from the solar panel control box to the battery is fitted and pushed firmly home? The fuse is there to isolate the battery from the solar panel when removing and refitting the battery to avoid electric shock. This is quite often overlooked but, you'd have expected the dealer to know this.
If the fuse is in place then the next likely suspect would be the solar panel control box which should be replaced under warranty.
I don't understand why you have been given the caravan back with the fault not fixed and why you had to replace the leisure battery just because it has been run down. Leisure batteries are specifically designed to cope with deep discharge and recharge cycles, unlike car batteries. I would have tried recharging the original battery with a modern smart battery charger before replacing it.

Fuse - yes the fuse has been checked and its in place.
control box - has been checked at the dealer and is working.
battery - I agree with you. We took the original battery back to the dealer who checked it and it was flat, even after we charged it for 4 days. The battery couldn’t hold the charge as it had been duscharged so much a cell was damaged.

 

[MHOLLY]

We have a Phantom Tracker fitted for the past 6 years and no issue with battery being drained unless we forget to turn off the 12v. Are you sure that your 12v is turned off at the main switch as this is the biggest drain on any battery.

Normally a tracker has its own battery which is charged from the leisure 12v battery or it is supplied direct from the 12v leisure battery.

I would have thought that the Lusso came standard with a Tracker? As the Tracker is a third party fit, it is the responsibility of the third party that fitted the tracker to resolve the issue and not the dealer from whom you bought the caravan.

yes, the 12v is turned off.
ni the lusso diesnt come with a tracker fitted as standard but we did have the dealer fit one.

 

[ProfJohnL]

An active tracker that alerts you or a control center when it's moved will need access to power when ever it is turned on. How it gets power, and how much it uses will depend on the make and model of the tracker, and how it's been installed, but realistically any tracker that can flatten a healthy fully charged caravan battery in just three weeks especially when there is a solar charger also installed, is indicative of something being wrong.

There are a lot of unknowns in this instance, so identifying what might be wrong could be difficult, so here are some general points which might apply.

Mholly openly admits they are new to caravanning. There is a possibility they have misunderstood how to set up and use the tracker, or the caravan, and maybe they have not set the caravans power switches correctly to turn off all the caravans other 12V equipment. ?

The tracker was not a standard item in the caravan, so Mholly had it fitted. Perhaps it has not been fitted correctly?

Perhaps, some other piece of equipment in the caravan is malfunctioning, and is causing a continual drain on the caravans battery?

Whether it's a fitting or system failure needing a repair, or leading the customer through the correct way of using the caravans electrics the dealer should be able to do all of this as that is their job as a dealer.

What has the dealer said about the solar panel, and why they haven't repaired it?

I can't help wondering if there is more background to these events which might explain why the dealer is asking if you want to have the caravan back now. Does the dealer want to clear his site of customer caravans over Christmas?

There are too many unknowns to be able to offer a focused solution at this stage.

 

[Buckman]

yes, the 12v is turned off.
ni the lusso diesnt come with a tracker fitted as standard but we did have the dealer fit one.

Which tracker did they fit? In order to offer better help, the brand name would help. Different trackers have different ways of being charged. The original Tracker and Phantom trackers are well known.

Although the unit may have been fitted at the dealership, there is a possibility that it was fitted by a third party working for the tracking company.

There should have been no necessity to buy another battery as the first one would have been under warranty. Claim that money back from the dealership as without a working tracker, your insurance would have been invalid.

 

[Buckman]

Reading up on the caravan it comes standard with Phantom VanGuard remote control alarm system so there is a probability that a Phantom tracker was fitted.

These units work mainly off the 12v leisure battery and also have a back up battery. I now suspect that the system has not been connected to the main 12v leisure battery and is only working off the backup battery hence the backup battery failing so quick as it is not charged from the solar panel.

Phantom have their own fitters and the dealer probably does not have a clue on installing the system. Contact the supplier of the system direct and speak with them. If it is a Phantom unit they are generally very helpful.

 

[MHOLLY]

thanks for all the suggestions, however I do believe you’ve missed the point . . .
In my original post I mentioned that we had a friend check the solar panel output, which was 0.
we have taken it back to the dealers who have stated the solar panel is faulty.
my original question still stands - do we insist that the dealer keeps the caravan until the solar panel is replaced or do we insist that the caravan is returned and ask for a refund.

 

[Hutch]

thanks for all the suggestions, however I do believe you’ve missed the point . . .
In my original post I mentioned that we had a friend check the solar panel output, which was 0.
we have taken it back to the dealers who have stated the solar panel is faulty.
my original question still stands - do we insist that the dealer keeps the caravan until the solar panel is replaced or do we insist that the caravan is returned and ask for a refund.

As always the forum has wandered away from your request.
I would leave the van with the dealer, that is if he is going to fix it. If not threaten to request your money back.
Your contract is with the dealer not Coachman.
Good luck.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I don't think I missed your point. In my earlier reply, I asked why was the dealer suggesting you have the caravan back. Why aren't they repairing it immediately?

I suggest you talk to your dealer. There is a risk that if you take the caravan from the dealership, your repair job will not have the same urgency as customers caravans held at the dealership.

As for refunds, If the panel is repaired under the manufacturer's warranty you probably have no rights to any compensation. See the T&C's of the manufacturer's warranty

If you prefer to use your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act (CRA)then the picture is not quite as clear, as you would need to reject the caravan under one or more of the CRA criteria, and because the fault is more of an inconvenience and does not adversely affect the functional enjoyment of the caravan, your scope of redress is limited.

Whilst it will not hurt to let the dealer know that you know about the CRA, its better to keep things amicable. If the dealer is telling you something you don't understand, ask them to explain.

 

[Mandarin]

I agree with Hutch, leave the caravan with the dealer and tell them they have to fix it.

 

[MHOLLY]

I want to post an update on this thread, so that others may benefit from it.
we took our caravan back to the dealers and asked for the solar panel to be tested which showed no charge generating from the panel. This resulted in 3 batteries being run down and replaced.
After much discussion between the dealer and coachman the solar panel is being replaced, at their cost. So fellow caravanners, please check your caravan and if in doubt get it back to the dealers.