help! in new forest and battery not taking a charge!

[Brian_374234561]

hi, we have a senator carolina series 6 - the lesiure battery isnt taking a charge from the site 240v supply - when we arrived on site i had to change a blown 15a fuse for the van battery (is that relevent?). all 12v appliances were working ok but have switched them all off now and the battery still isnt taking a charge - is the charger built into the consumer unit? is there a hidden fuse perhaps? any help appreciated as i can get the 'van back on the driveway at home without the motor mover working!!
cheers, brian

 

[Brian_374234561]

Oops - meant to write I CAN'T get it on the drive, not can!! forgot to mention the voltage reader is 11volts.

 

[emmerson]

Eleven volts is a flat battery. I'm not familiar with modern electrics, but if all else fails, why not buy yourself a small cheapy charger to keep it charged until you can get it sorted? I have one which cost £12 in Aldi. Good luck.

 

[xtrailman]

hi, we have a senator carolina series 6 - the lesiure battery isnt taking a charge from the site 240v supply - when we arrived on site i had to change a blown 15a fuse for the van battery (is that relevent?). all 12v appliances were working ok but have switched them all off now and the battery still isnt taking a charge - is the charger built into the consumer unit? is there a hidden fuse perhaps? any help appreciated as i can get the 'van back on the driveway at home without the motor mover working!!
cheers, brian

If your car is fully wired for charging try plugging up to the caravan and look for a charge at the battery, if you get one the journey home will probably put enough charge into the battery.
If you get no charge, assuming your towbar electrics are fully wired, check for a inline fuse adjacent the red wire on the battery, sometimes hidden out of sight.

The charger is housed in the top of the consumer unit, unplug the mains lead, remove the screws and check that the kettle plug hasnt dropped out of the charger, if the charger is working the metal box will usually feel quite hot.

Or ask the site warden to charge your battery for you?

 

[TINHUTONWHEELS]

Hi Brian
Hopefully your home safely and managed to get your van up the drive with enough charge from the tow car.
Anyway if the charge unit is duff, like mine went bang one night. Get the model number/type off the side of it and have a look on E-bay for a genuine replacement. As I'm guessing the vans out of warrenty by now.
Do let us all know how you get on.
Cheers
Kev...

 

[Brian_374234561]

Greetings
We made it home and unfortunately there wasnt enough charge from the car to get the motor mover going enough to park it in it's space, but not a problem as it's on the driveway - the cars will have to go out on the road for a night whilst the battery gets a good charge in the garage.

So, battery is on independent charger now. I've taken the 4 screws out around the fuses and can see the charger as described. There isnt another fuse that I can see so it's phone call time to Bailey. The caravan is almost 3 years old, so technically it's covered under warranty - however, we missed a service on it last year as the motor mover broke (it's impossible to get it off the driveway without it) and we couldnt get it to the workshop (should have rebooked it, but never got round to it - doh!).
I'll call the dealership tomorrow to see what they can do. If they wont cover it under warranty, then it's ebay time I suppose. That's assuming of course that is the fault? The battery was taking a charge from the car on the way back, so I'm assuming it can only be the internal charger that is at fault? are they any hidden fuses in the caravan for it? The only one I can find that isnt in the fuse box is the 80A one in the battery box.
Any help or advice is greatly received and thanks for your help so far everyone

thanks

Brian

 

[xtrailman]

First check for mains voltage on the kettle plug, then check for output voltage.

 

[Brian_374234561]

cheers Ray
my old man is a sparkie so is going to pop over tomorrow night once the battery is fully charged and test the charger for me. One thing I forgot to mention is Friday night, when we got to the site, the 15a blade fuse for the "van batt +" was completely melted (and very hot!) - we have a twin motor mover on the caravan and was the first time I've used it since October. The caravan is on permanent hook up to mains at home, so the battery should have been in good condition - we plugged 1 TV in, water pump and lighting for the battery - everything else is 240v.

Could there be a link between this fuse blowing and the charger apparently now not working?

 

[xtrailman]

I think the blown fuse is for the battery, so its possible a faulty battery has drawn excess current from the charger.
Have you checked the battery electrolyte?

At any rate ask your dad to do a current check for the battery charge, once the charger is replaced or repaired, assuming its faulty.

The blown fuse could be a one off, or there may be a problem.
Rather than use a multimeter which is normally only rated at 10 amps, use a claw ammeter, or better still i have one of these.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/automotive-current-tester-217879

Bailey do not recommend that the charger is permanently powered, although i leave ours on for a two week tour, i never leave it permanently powered at home.
These units run hot, and are housed in a poorly vented enclosure IMO.

We take our caravan in shortly for service, the caravan charger will go on power the day before, that other than say a days charge every month is all it gets through the winter, the battery is soon 8 years old, and still performing.

So i would have a word with your dad about your charging schedule, i don't believe in leaving electrical appliances powered up when not required.
PS, a melted fuse implies a overload current rather than a short circuit.

 

[woodsieboy]

Hello Brian
We had exactly the same symptoms you describe on our Wyoming at approx 4 years old, for some reason the charger had melted the circuit board while we were away in the van for a week, new charger cured the problem, easy to fit using the kettle plug. When the problem seemed to occur after a further six months we feared the worst again, but just the plug had worked loose. No more problems and we traded the van in at 5.5 years old.Our Bailey dealer implied that they change the chargers frequently,they keep several in stock, roundabout £85 from memory.

 

[waffler]

I had a similar situation and it was the kettle lead. Have you tried the fuse in the 3 pin mains plug that powers the kettle lead. Also check the pins on the car and van plugs- if they don't fit properly they can cause sparking which can blow a fuse.

 

[Brian_374234561]

Hi, is the plug sat on the floor behind the fuse box?
cheers
Brian

 

[xtrailman]

Not unless the charger is external to the fusebox/PDU.
My 2004 Bailey was external, and never failed in 7 years use, my latest 2011 Valencia is housed at the top of the PDU, its a metal box, with the plug underneath, the plug falling out is a common problem.

 

[Brian_374234561]

evening all
ok, there is a 240v feed from the kettle lead going into the charger, but nothing coming out of it, so suggests the charger is the issue and needs replacing. I've found one on an ebay shop brand new for £93, so going to order one tomorrow, but will first call the phone number on the unit itself to see if they can do it cheaper.

I am assuming this fault is what caused the fuse to melt in the first place and that wont happen again.

all in all, these things happen and I'm very grateful for the assistance given on this forum.

By the way, me missing my service means my local dealer wont fix this issue or any others as it wont be covered under the warranty - important lesson learnt. Saying that, a local mobile guy is £80 cheaper, plus the saving on fuel - so that will ironically pay for the new charger!

cheers

Brian

 

[woodsieboy]

Hello Brian,
Pleased to hear you have found a way to resolve the issue,I have found some of the dealers websites offer good value for spares, just a question of finding the right one. I was looking for a particular wheel clamp and most wanted £100 plus, found one at a dealer up North for £76 including next day delivery.Like you we use a mobile service engineer, he has been excellent,the best thing for me is that I don't have to drag the van to the dealers on the way to work. I have also used the mobile engineer on a couple of occasions when I wanted work done on the gas system, very reasonable and thorough.

 

[Brian_374234561]

evening all
new charger arrived today, just fitted it, powered everything up that runs off the battery and it kicked in absolutely fine - job done!

Got myself a mobile service engineer coming week after next to service it throughout now, saving £80 and 3 months lead time on local dealership (plus fuel costs there and back).

Thanks again for all your comments, great forum

cheers

Brian