EC400 Control Panel LED when towing

[Grovester]

Hi,

When towing and the engine running, on the caravan control panel. the leisure battery LED is green and the vehicle battery LED amber

Should they both be green? why is the car LED amber?

 

[otherclive]

Hi,

When towing and the engine running, on the caravan control panel. the leisure battery LED is green and the vehicle battery LED amber

Should they both be green? why is the car LED amber?

Could it be that at tickover the car alternator/battery is not putting out sufficient volts. What car model is it? Try increasing the cars engine speed and have someone look at the control panel. Another thing would be to clean the 13 pin plug and socket and reconnect then start the engine again.

 

[Grovester]

I have a BMW 520D.

Difficult to know if the fridge is on or not

 

[Thingy]

When set to battery, the frdige should have a telltale light on it. On mine, with the EC400 control panel, if the car is idling the fridge light flashes, as soon as revs are applied, the light becomes solid.

When you say the Leisure battery light is amber, how do you know this when you are towing. As others have said, at idle you may not be supplying enough juice.

I did have a similar issue to this, but it affected my fridge rather than leisure battery. In the end, the towbar fitter bypassed the dedicated wiring kit and ran a supply direct to the corresponding cable in the 13 pin setup. In my case, Canbus was restricting the power.

 

[Grovester]

The leisure LED is green, It is the car LED that is amber. When I next hook up I will rev to see if it turns green.

 

[Thingy]

AH, so you have a telltale in the car itself. Has it suddenly gone amber or is this something new to you. I wonder if its a different colour to differentiate between the two?
A picture would help.

If the leisure battery on the ec400 is green, the ec400 is telling you the battery is charging.

 

[Grovester]

Does this help. With the car engine running the LED's are as below.

 

[otherclive]

Does this help. With the car engine running the LED's are as below.
View attachment 2237

Same as I had without internal tank display, but my fridge had no indicator lights at all. I could only tell if it worked when set to “ battery” mode was if the food kept cool during the journey. But my overdoor panel was the same as yours. Try the simple things first. Rev the car and have someone check the panel.

 

[Jcloughie]

A possibility is this, the leisure battery shows green as it is well charged. But the car only shows amber due to either, you are on tick over as already said, or, perhaps it is due to the voltage drop due to distance from the engine and/or inadequately specified feed cable.

When I have wired my own, I have used 8-10mm wire through to the boot, just in case.

John

 

[Thingy]

I have just re read the manual and it is a little vague but seems to suggest that the light is not showing charging status or condition, simply that it is selected.

 

[Grovester]

Thanks for the tips. Next time I hook up I will check the panel in idle and when revved.

 

[GD485]

Maybe it's how the car's alternator is designed. Some car have "part time" alternators that only feed power into the system on the overrun and not during tick-over unless the car's battery condition requires it. Heavy loads like the heating fan or window de-mister can force the alternator to switch on. Its's an attempt to squeeze a few more inches to the gallon and cut emmisions.