For The Attention of 2010 Swift and Sterling Owners

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi All. just incase you havnt picked up on my thread for the draining battery I can assure the alarm or tracker is not draining your battery enough to worry about.

My battery was going dead in a matter of 5 days .

I followed the book and the salesmans instructions to find they were not exaclty correct.

Our Sterling Elite has the Sargant 4000 floor level box you must kill the power to it or any other box that maybe fitted I actually phoned Sargant and they put me wise to this issue.

I now have no problem with battery draining at all , I obviously monitor it whilst in storage but no noticeable drop

I hope this will reassure Sterling and Swift owners

Sir Roger.

 

[BillD.]

I must be in thick mode today. I have read threads several times and do not understand. Is it or is it not the alarm draining the battery. It is difficault to believe it is to be honest, if you have to 'kill the power to the Sargent box' then the alarm is serving no purpose at all just when you need it (ie van unused for a period of time) Obviously it will drain the battery eventually but not a few days, mine doesn't.

I think I have missed the point somewhere.

Bill D.

 

[Oldsalt49]

Sir Roger,

Thanks for the tip, but alas I discovered that myself after killing my battery on my 2010 Swift Challenger. My battery was found at 3.3 volts after a month. Think my problem was the Sargent 4000 unit left powered up and my Truma motor mover control box searching for the remote control.

David

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Bill D

To answer your question. No your not in thick mode our Stirling above the entry door we have system check water level check battery check etc . and also the read out on the floor level Sargant box.

and dont forget the radio ,it was advised to remove the front so that the memory doesnt take any use from battery as it does until you kill the box.

The Alarm is active I can only guess this that it is able to recharge from battery somewhere and also know the alarm works well without battery conncted to van so its own battery must stay charged for a cosiderable time .

The phone call I made to Sargant advised the box to be switched so they must know that the above Items must pull power down quite a lot.

Best I can do for you Bill D I hope that helps in someway

Sir Roger

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Sorry Bill No its not the alarm pulling battery down

 

[BillD.]

Think I'm on the right wavelength now. I do know from experience that if you leave the electrical control switched on in van mode it will drain the battery fairly quickly (I'm talking about days not hours) I realised that the radio was in standby mode and the aerial booster was also on, maybe other items as well drawing a standby current. I believe the alarm takes a direct supply off the battery so that it is still operational with van control off.

Bill D.

 

[BillD.]

I try not to give misleading information or express opinion as fact so having checked my van last night realise that I was thinking of the cable from the power mover that goes straight to the battery. The alarm cable goes into the fuseboard but may well be connected to the battery so that it bypasses the van switch, I don't know for sure.

Bill D.

 

[RonD]

I emailed Sargent with my findings regarding current drain and Dave Chapman replied saying their box under the seat must have the shutdown switch switched off to isolate all electrics except the alarm. If not around 100mA is being taken from the leisure battery and will discharge it pretty quickly. The alarm takes a very small current and is not the problem. So that's the answer! I wish the dealer had told me this when I picked up my van...

 

[Karina_374530710]

Thanks everyone for this - I collected my new Sterling Europa a couple of weeks ago and switching off the power unit wasn't mentioned.

I really find this forum brilliant for exactly this type of thing.

Thanks all

 

[RonD]

Hello Karina,

As you look at the Sargent box it's the switch on the left marked 'isolate'. Sargent tell me it has to be enabled while towing if you want your fridge and split charge to work.

Regards,

Ron

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Ron D .

No need to switch box back on while towing fridge comes down the other side of the van and will work independant of Sargant Box.

What we found was the on the 4000 box there is a computer read out that drains the power down. ,the read out above the door and of course the radio.

Have spent hours trying to to sort this one out but as I have said the box switched off cures all problems .

Sir Roger

 

[RonD]

Ron D .

No need to switch box back on while towing fridge comes down the other side of the van and will work independant of Sargant Box.

What we found was the on the 4000 box there is a computer read out that drains the power down. ,the read out above the door and of course the radio.

Have spent hours trying to to sort this one out but as I have said the box switched off cures all problems .

Sir Roger

Mmh...Dave Chapman from Sargent told me I'd have to enable the box to be able to run the fridge and charge the leisure battery while towing.

Ron