EMOVE Motor Mover stopped work, but works perfectly again (apparently)

[djdd]

Hey I'm hoping someone can help me. I've recently bought my first caravan, a Swift Siena 6 Berth 2020, and I went away for the first time to Mablethorpe last weekend. We had a great time, but when I went to drop it off at the storage yard at home I had a hiccup with my motor mover.

It's an emove motor mover and the caravan is a Grantham Caravan's dealer special version of the Major 6 (I think) so it came fitted at the factory. (I didn't buy it from Grantham caravans, that's just the dealer whose special derivative it is.)

Basically I got unhitched from the car, engaged the motor mover, removed the hand brake and turned the isolation switch to on for the mover (6 o clock position on mine with a red key by the battery). I turned on the remote and successfully turned the caravan 45 degrees across the lane... and then it just stopped. The remote started flashing green which implied it had lost sync with the control unit and wouldn't resync no matter how many times I turned it on or off or turned the unit on or off.

I tried turning off the mover at the isolation switch, waiting a few minutes and repeating but the control just flashed green. When powering on the mover the control box itself had a flashing green light, then when I turned on the remote (whose light was flashing) and pressed any button the light on the control box just went off.

I followed the instructions in the manual and tried to re-pair the remote, but whenever I pressed the reset button and the top and bottom arrow of the remote, the lights just went off on the control unit and the remote green light just kept flashing.

My immediate thought was it was the battery, but the Swift Command screen showed the battery had 14.2V and was charging from the solar panel.

As my reversing skills are... lacking... I couldn't get it into my tight space at the yard so I just took it back to the dealer I got it from (they're a proper Swift approved dealer) and left it with them. It had the same issue when I got there; I showed the salesman and he said I wasn't doing anything wrong but none of the tech team were there as it was a Sunday.

Now last night their tech guys called and said everything is working perfectly and they've tried it 2/3 times through the day. They said they'll try again today and get back to me. But I'm not particularly happy to accept it "just magically started working". I'm planning on a trip to France next year, so I don't want to be caught out on the continent if it decides to die again.

What could have caused this? I checked all the visible wiring to the controller I could see and everything seemed sound. I guess if a fuse had gone it wouldn't have powed on with the green flashing light on the control unit or would it magically be working again now.

Is there an overheat lockout or something that could have locked it out for a few hours for whatever reason? Not that it should have overheated within 5 seconds of usage.

 

[Buckman]

If their tech guys cannot duplicate the issue, I doubt if any of us may be able to help? Does read as if though there is an intermittent connection somewhere. I think most people opt for the Powertouch motor movers.

You most definitely will need a motor mover on many sites on the continent as some can be quite tight as we found out with a twin axle which only had the motor mover on one axle. Soon changed it to a AWD motor mover.

 

[trevormonty]

Did you check remotes battery?.
Other possibility is radio interference from device on you, your car, caravan or at storage place. Make sure all caravan systems are off, turn master switch off.

 

[Beachball]

We had emove motor mover on our caravan it was fitted by a caravan engineer in the three years of owning it performed great in storage and on a service pitch but if the tech guys says it working and you still not happy like what someone says have a look at upgrading it .

 

[Buckman]

Did you check remotes battery?.
Other possibility is radio interference from device on you, your car, caravan or at storage place. Make sure all caravan systems are off, turn master switch off.

I think the OP stated that he took it back to the dealer for them to check by their technicians so that should eliminate all of the above?

 

[djdd]

Yep, I changed the remote battery at the storage yard, no luck. And the radio interference would be eliminated by the change of location. Plus I tend to leave my phone in the car plugged in for Android Auto and the car was off. I tried with and without the main panel turned on, but there was no electric hookup connected anyway.

I don't know much about electrics, but it's the original battery by the looks of it. The dealer gave me a starter pack that included a new 95ah battery but said to just leave the new one in my garage until the current one failed. Could it be that the voltage was showing as >14v, but the power draw from the mover was still somehow too much for it? Then over the last few days of leaving it at the dealer the solar panel has done something which means that the battery is now able to handle it?

 

[Raywood]

Never heard of there being a problem with 14 amps and we never had that problem when our caravan had this type of mover. Possibly a loose connection though if the problem is intermittent.
I think the maker has a help line, so ringing that might solve it.

 

[djdd]

14v, not 14amps. I'll try and give them a call.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Its very unlikely that even a disconnected but fully charged battery will have a terminal voltage of 14.2 V A good 12V battery when fully charged will normally on have a standing voltage of only 12.8V, so 14.2V looks suspicious.

But apart from that discrepancy, the symptoms you have described is typical of loss of power. There have been a number of reports of battery connections which have become poor. It is certainly worth checking the connections are clean and good.

 

[djdd]

I guess the solar panel charging gives it a higher reading than what it was actually at then? The same way when a car is running the battery voltage shows around ~14v when the alternator is working properly.

I guess without throwing a rug over the panel the voltage on the command system isn't a true reflection?

It does sound to me like it's worth me chucking the new battery in or at least asking them to clean the battery terminals.

 

[Seblo]

I think you're on the right track. Disregard the 14.2v as it's being charged by the solar panel. To get any idea of the health of the battery you need to disconnect it, leave for a few hours and then test the voltage

My guess would be the battery is on the way out, esp as the dealer has given you a new battery out of the goodness of his / her heart "until the fitted one fails". Movers need a healthy battery as they draw so much.

As you have a known good battery I would charge that up with a smart charger (I know they're supposed to be charged off the shelf) and try that on your caravan. If it works then great. Check it again a few days later to make sure there isn't something draining the battery

 

[ProfJohnL]

I had missed the fact you have a solar panel, so it's possible that was producing the 14.2V.

Despite that the symptoms you describe still suggest a battery or connection problem.

As batteries age, they have a tendency to increase their internal resistance, and that will cause the batteries output terminal voltage to fall as the rate of current draw increases. With the amount of current movers might require, could cause the battery voltage to fall below the low voltage threshold of the mover causing it to drop out of action.

 

[Buckman]

Most new caravans have a battery monitor. Engage the motor movers to see what sort of drain is shown on the monitor.

As the caravan was purchased very recently probably within the past 6 months, remember that the battery is still under warranty and it is the responsibility of the dealer to replace the battery.

 

[Mel]

As the caravan was purchased very recently probably within the past 6 months, remember that the battery is still under warranty and it is the responsibility of the dealer to replace the battery.

According to the OP the dealer did supply a new battery but left the old one connected as it appeared to be still working. Advised OP to keep the new battery until the old one failed.

This is probably not the cause but our motor mover is not keen if you are standing in the wrong place 😂That is, on the near side and sort of opposite the battery locker. Everywhere else it is fine.
Mel

 

[Sam Vimes]

One possibility that I've had personal experience of and many others if you search across the web.....though none on this forum......is that modern cars with Smart Alternators can discharge caravan batteries.

This is what happened to me. Old car towed caravan no problems. Newer car with Smart Alternator, same caravan, got home, engaged mover and it went a few centimetres then stopped.

After some investigation it happens on my Nissan that when the Alternator goes into Smart mode the output is reduced and the cars electrics are powered by the car battery until the Alternator kicks in again.

Due to lack of foresight on Nisssans part and possibly the towing kit manufacturer, this also means that the caravan battery will also feed the car but won't get properly charged when traveling.

The other symptom is that the fridge doesn't get enough power to be kept running all the time when towing.

So on my first trip, no working mover. Hooked up to EHU and at end of stay mover ok. Got home mover not working.

So it's possible that when you took your caravan back to the dealer the solar panel had charged the battery just enough for a quick test to show the mover motors spinning.

 

[jca]

We have a new 2023 Swift Siena fitted with a new Emove,this stopped working. If left for a few minutes it would restart again then stop. Phoned the help line and the rep called and tested the battery,told me it was at fault so £143 later still the same problem. Turned out to be the handset battery,this was on a brand new mover. I’ve emailed Emove to ask for a comment but haven’t received any reply.

 

[djdd]

We have a new 2023 Swift Siena fitted with a new Emove,this stopped working. If left for a few minutes it would restart again then stop. Phoned the help line and the rep called and tested the battery,told me it was at fault so £143 later still the same problem. Turned out to be the handset battery,this was on a brand new mover. I’ve emailed Emove to ask for a comment but haven’t received any reply.

It's definitely not the battery, I changed it.

 

[djdd]

One possibility that I've had personal experience of and many others if you search across the web.....though none on this forum......is that modern cars with Smart Alternators can discharge caravan batteries.

This is what happened to me. Old car towed caravan no problems. Newer car with Smart Alternator, same caravan, got home, engaged mover and it went a few centimetres then stopped.

After some investigation it happens on my Nissan that when the Alternator goes into Smart mode the output is reduced and the cars electrics are powered by the car battery until the Alternator kicks in again.

Due to lack of foresight on Nisssans part and possibly the towing kit manufacturer, this also means that the caravan battery will also feed the car but won't get properly charged when traveling.

The other symptom is that the fridge doesn't get enough power to be kept running all the time when towing.

So on my first trip, no working mover. Hooked up to EHU and at end of stay mover ok. Got home mover not working.

So it's possible that when you took your caravan back to the dealer the solar panel had charged the battery just enough for a quick test to show the mover motors spinning.

This does sound exactly what happened to me. Worked for a few seconds and then died. Didn't work after I towed it back to the yard or the dealer, but then worked fine later when the dealer tested it after it'd had some time to charge up from the solar panel. I

have a 2019 Kia Sportage. Being a more modern car I expect it does have a smart alternator. I guess I'll give the company that fitted the towbar last month a call to see what they think.

 

[djdd]

Most new caravans have a battery monitor. Engage the motor movers to see what sort of drain is shown on the monitor.

As the caravan was purchased very recently probably within the past 6 months, remember that the battery is still under warranty and it is the responsibility of the dealer to replace the battery.

Yeah, it's got the Swift Command system with the full colour screen. It has a section that shows the current voltage on the battery which is where I got the 14.2v from. However it seems fairly obvious to me now that the value was due to the solar panel and wasn't a true reflection of the battery. I guess I'll take a rug and chuck it over the panel unless there's a way to isolate it. Then I'll be able to see what the actual voltage is when I engage the mover.

As someone else replied above as well, the battery isn't under warranty itself, but the dealer gave me a new one as part of the starter pack I got them to throw in with the caravan purchase.

 

[Sam Vimes]

This does sound exactly what happened to me. Worked for a few seconds and then died. Didn't work after I towed it back to the yard or the dealer, but then worked fine later when the dealer tested it after it'd had some time to charge up from the solar panel. I

have a 2019 Kia Sportage. Being a more modern car I expect it does have a smart alternator. I guess I'll give the company that fitted the towbar last month a call to see what they think.

There are add on solutions in the form of DC -DC converters but these cost a couple of hundred pounds.

What I do now is disconnect the battery when towing. We don't go off grid so don't need to worry about charging when towing.

 

[djdd]

There are add on solutions in the form of DC -DC converters but these cost a couple of hundred pounds.

What I do now is disconnect the battery when towing. We don't go off grid so don't need to worry about charging when towing.

That does sound like sensible advice, thank you! We are not going to be off-grid caravaners. Not with my wife anyway who won't go anywhere without her hair straighteners.

We only have a caravan because she refused to come camping with our boys and I .

What about the fridge? Or do you just freeze some ice packs and use a cool box?

 

[Sam Vimes]

That does sound like sensible advice, thank you! We are not going to be off-grid caravaners. Not with my wife anyway who won't go anywhere without her hair straighteners.

We only have a caravan because she refused to come camping with our boys and I .

What about the fridge? Or do you just freeze some ice packs and use a cool box?

We turn the fridge on the night before we leave home with some ice packs in the freezer section. On a 6/7 hour journey it stays cool enough.

 

[Hutch]

As a quick isolation for my battery rather than removing a battery terminal I use one of these . Works very well. But make sure you have enough clearance between the battery door and the terminal.

Amazon.co.uk

 

[djdd]

We turn the fridge on the night before we leave home with some ice packs in the freezer section. On a 6/7 hour journey it stays cool enough.

Thanks, that makes sense. I wasn't intending on storing it at home, but I guess if I collet the caravan the night before we go away I can just charge it in front of the house as you've said.

As a quick isolation for my battery rather than removing a battery terminal I use one of these . Works very well. But make sure you have enough clearance between the battery door and the terminal.

Amazon.co.uk

That's genius. When I get the caravan back I'll check the clearance and get one.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I looked at isolators but haven't got the clearance at the front of the battery box. I just keep a nutdriver alongside the mover controls and it's just a few seconds or so to connect/discount the positive connector.