We are just about through our winter here and starting to plan ahead for the coming caravanning season. We have a 2008 Swift Challenger 510 which I tow with a VW Touareg and am very pleased with both. I am in the process to upgrading the current battery system to LifeP04 Lithium which I have been thinking about for a while but never quite wanted to deal with converting the rest of the caravan electronics to make it all work. So far so good however I would like to replace the lead acid charger in the NE2006 CWS controller with a Lithium charger but have not been able to find good info on how to do this, hence me joining your group. I would greatly appreciate any pointers or links to discussions that might assist. Thanks for having me, regards Mike
Greetings from Auckland, New Zealand.
- Thread starter JafaJones
- Start date
- Jun 20, 2005
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Thanks everyone, I have done an initial search of the forum re upgrading the charger to support lithium and found some posts, no doubt there are more when I dig deeper. The caravan uses a NE2006 CWS electronic controller which apparently didn’t perform as well as expected and Swift moved to another. Documentation on the internet is scarce and I may find myself dismantling to try to identify the charger and replacing that with a lithium capable controller. Obviously I want to retain the other functionality so I am going to look around some more to try to find the info.
I have already installed a DC DC controller to manage solar and charging while towing and this supports lithium. One thought is to just take the existing charging feed from the existing charger and feeding into the DC DC tug charging line…..needs more investigation.
Cheers
Mike
I have already installed a DC DC controller to manage solar and charging while towing and this supports lithium. One thought is to just take the existing charging feed from the existing charger and feeding into the DC DC tug charging line…..needs more investigation.
Cheers
Mike
A lithium battery will charge off your current charger , but may not reach full capacity as the Li PO4 requires a slightly higher voltage (14.8V)than the lead acid battery charger which is 14.2V . I don't know if Farnell electronics are present in new Zealand they do a 20A charger/PSU from Meanwell (Korean) called a a NPB-360-12TB which will charge a lithium Battery upto 100% , there maybe distributors for Meanwell in NZ who will supply the same unit . I just bought a 280A.hr battery from Eco Worthy ( to power a 3kW inverter for testing caravan systems and used the above unit to charge it . It took eight hours and only got marginally warm. its relatively small and will fit in your EDU no problem. I can come and install one for you , if you'll pay my airfare and accommodation 
. I love NZ, having worked out there in the eighties and spent a month in south island for our 60th, touring round. I love your 'can do' attitude
. I love NZ, having worked out there in the eighties and spent a month in south island for our 60th, touring round. I love your 'can do' attitudeThanks for your response Ian, great info and based on the assurances of my battery supplier, the batteries are installed and currently charging off the old charger…but seems oh so slow up to 13.6v from 13.1 when I started. My car battery charger does not have a lithium option so will buy one, I will check out your Meanwell suggestion, thanks for that.A lithium battery will charge off your current charger , but may not reach full capacity as the Li PO4 requires a slightly higher voltage (14.8V)than the lead acid battery charger which is 14.2V . I don't know if Farnell electronics are present in new Zealand they do a 20A charger/PSU from Meanwell (Korean) called a a NPB-360-12TB which will charge a lithium Battery upto 100% , there maybe distributors for Meanwell in NZ who will supply the same unit . I just bought a 280A.hr battery from Eco Worthy ( to power a 3kW inverter for testing caravan systems and used the above unit to charge it . It took eight hours and only got marginally warm. its relatively small and will fit in your EDU no problem. I can come and install one for you , if you'll pay my airfare and accommodation
I would like to hook the new charger up to the current NE206 CWS controller and not disturb the other functionality, this may be a challenge as I have not been able to find any documentation on the web. Seems Swift used this for a short period but went to a new brand shaving discovered some shortcomings, has worked fine for me since we bought the van but I suspect everything is pretty tightly integrated.
Your airfares and hotel bookings in the post 😂
Cheers
Mike
Open up the EDU and you will see the charger module inside. It's a simple matter of taking it out and replacing it with a new charger of your choice , I have done several times this on earlier versions of the Nordelettronica units , with the above mentioned unit or a Victron Blue smart charger /PSU ( with bluetooth)
Thanks for your great info Ian, I will include an upgraded charger to my list but in the meantime as I understand things, my solarand DC DC charger should bring the batteries up to full charge. I have installed a Juntek BMS which includes a Shunt and useful battery status display so that I can track power useage however I would appreciate your feedback on how the Lithium charger manages charging without access to to info that the shunt and power input/output calculations that it facilitates. Cheers Mike
Hello again Ian and any other Nord experts, I have taken the consumer unit out of the wooden case and disconnected the cabling. The attached pic is (obv) the rear view and I now see the entire unit is labeled "Charger", is this what you refer to above as needing to be replaced. I was imagining (hoping) plugging a LifeP04 compatible charger into this unit to preserve all of the other supported features???
I contacted Sargent re their harness that was apparently produced to allow attachment of a LifeP04 charger but so far no response - time zones etc I guess.
Does anyone have any documentation re the connections, again hopefully thinking that the power input to and +/- outputs from the new charger could just be inserted into the appropriate circuit.
Thanks very much
Mike
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@JafaJones your picture is of the rear of the EDU you need to remove the side cover (it might be pop-riveted on) , it will reveal the charger PCB assembly, see photo. this is the part you need to remove and replace , the RCD. MCBs and 12V fuses all get to stay. In the attached photo the pcb isn't the correct one, I have just placed an old dead one ( I have several lying around the workshop) to show you what they look like. It will be mounted either on metal or plastic pillars and will the mains wires ( brown,Blue and G/Y on one side and the output wires on the other (red and Black) and fit the charger of your choice and rebuild and refit the ESM 2006 . If you want you can extend the wires and fit the charger in a more open position( they tended to cram the ESM units into tight spaces and that was one of the reasons the chargers overheated and died.The second photo show the NBP-360 12-TB in position , its a tight fit and I think on the last one I had to move the earth block and cut a hole/slot in the lid to allow the IEC mains connector to connect into the module.
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Thanks so much Ian, you are correct re pop rivets and I was reluctant to drill these out before confirming that the charger is a discrete module vs a board. Your response is gold
@JafaJones your welcome I love fixing things and the forum is here to share our knowledge , I would make an offer to buy your dead charger , but unfortunately the postage would be astronomical back to the UK. Once you open up the EDU take a couple of pictures of the charger PCB I keep library of pictures for future reference.
you can pick it up when you come to visit Ian, BTW it is working fine just has no LifeP04 option. I have seen varying comments on use with Lithium from no probs just will not charge to 100% - it will wreck your batteries.
Thanks again Mike
Thanks again Mike
I have full confidence in the battery chargers , they may not charge a LIPO4 to it full capacity as the battery voltage is slightly higher than a lead acid battery , but the difference is minimal and I bought a 280A.hr Li-PO4 battery with internal BMS ( for testing caravan fridges on 12V )and connected up my NBP-360-12V-TB I keep around and it charged up the battery no problem, A caravan lithium battery with an internal BMS(battery management system) will sort out the charge ,and protect the cells from overcharging , too much current , low temperature e.t.c
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