How do you know if your Bailey BCA Charger is working correctly

May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
I have been trying to establish if the PS276 (Powershot P0120) 20 amp charger fitted to our 2011 Pegasus Genoa is functioning correctly. I have listed below the information I have gathered by testing and would appreciate any thoughts :-

1) At first it was thought to be the battery and this was replaced with a YUasa 110 ah Leisure battery

2) Testing the system with the new battery (measured at 12.6 volts} on hook up with all 12 volt appliances on - van voltmeter ran at 13.45 volts and after about 25 minutes the charger cooling fan was heard to come on. Based on this I thought the charger must be working okay but.........

3) Next time out voltmeter shows 12.7 v without EHU and increased to 13.75 v when plugged in to the 240 volts . The 13.75 v on the van voltmeter remained fairly constant for about 24 hours irrespective of the 12 volt usage. However after 24 hours the voltmeter had reduced to 13v and maybe a day later 12.75 ( both still on EHU) . This seemed to suggest that the charger was not working ?. After a while I decided to switch off at the RCD and then back on - this immediately resulted in the voltmeter increasing to the 13.75 volts . I do not know if these chargers have voltage sensors that switch the charger on and off ( relays?) but wonder whether there is a fault in another part of the consumer unit that is resulting inconsistent operation
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
Let me first say I am not specifically familiar with BCA unit, I do wonder if your charger is young enough to have some smart capability which does adjust the charge current and voltage over time so that especially when its been on for an extended period and little charge has been taken by the battery the charger switches to a trickle charge maintenance rate. The voltages do suggest this to me.

The proof of the pudding will be if the battery flattens much more quickly that you might expect.
 
May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
Let me first say I am not specifically familiar with BCA unit, I do wonder if your charger is young enough to have some smart capability which does adjust the charge current and voltage over time so that especially when its been on for an extended period and little charge has been taken by the battery the charger switches to a trickle charge maintenance rate. The voltages do suggest this to me.

The proof of the pudding will be if the battery flattens much more quickly that you might expect.
Thanks ProfJohnL
Not being "electrical" but I am wondering whether the problem is actually with the PCB that controls the charger - I can see that the charger output 13.75, fan comes on etc - but it seems that after a while it goes off but is then easily restarted by switching RCD off and on - does that make any sense to you ?
RKBailey
 
May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
Let me first say I am not specifically familiar with BCA unit, I do wonder if your charger is young enough to have some smart capability which does adjust the charge current and voltage over time so that especially when its been on for an extended period and little charge has been taken by the battery the charger switches to a trickle charge maintenance rate. The voltages do suggest this to me.

The proof of the pudding will be if the battery flattens much more quickly that you might expect.
Should have mentioned the charger is BCA PS276 ( Powerpart P0120) and the control board is PS184 - the van is 2011
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
Thank you for the update,

But I'm still not familiar with the BCA unit, As I am sure you will appreciate the only way of getting a full diagnosis is to have the unit checked, and realistically that can never happen through a forum.

You wold be best to to either contact BCA, or possibly Apuljack Engineering who have an excellent reputation for revitalising or replacing faulty caravan charging systems.

www.apuljackelectronics.co.uk
 
May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
Thank you for the update,

But I'm still not familiar with the BCA unit, As I am sure you will appreciate the only way of getting a full diagnosis is to have the unit checked, and realistically that can never happen through a forum.

You wold be best to to either contact BCA, or possibly Apuljack Engineering who have an excellent reputation for revitalising or replacing faulty caravan charging systems.

www.apuljackelectronics.co.uk
Thanks - I have tried both but they have been able to explain the role of the pcb in the unit i.e does it switch the charger on/off at all - as my fault seems intermittent it will be more difficult to diagnose if the pcb is designed to carry out any switching e.g if the battery is flat
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
I'm sorry you are no further forward.

Just for clarity:- What did you exactly ask both companies, becasue I'm surprised at the responses you have reported to us, Perhaps a different set of questions may have elicited a more informative response.
 
May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
I'm sorry you are no further forward.

Just for clarity:- What did you exactly ask both companies, becasue I'm surprised at the responses you have reported to us, Perhaps a different set of questions may have elicited a more informative response.

Thanks
I just asked if they could explain the role of thePS/AE184 Fuse/Control board in the PDU with regards to any switching ON/OFF of the charger so that I could eliminate it as a ( much lower cost!) possibility - as I am definitely seeing 13.75 volts on the van display on initial EHU and when switching the RCD OFF/ON when the voltage got down to about 12.8 volts ( suggesting the charger had stopped working) . I had not been able to find out anything about the PS184 functionality other than as a fuseboard but believe it may also have relays which carry out switching functions
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
I do not realistically think any manufacturer of that type of equipment is likely to agree to describe the detailed function of a PCB in the equipment they have supplied to an end user. Unfortunately I suspect that unless you are experienced in electronics to a component level, the most realistic solution is to remove teh entire BCA unit and arrange to return it to BCA for checking, or possibly to Apuljack.

I should make it clear I have no connection or obligation to either company.
 
May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
I do not realistically think any manufacturer of that type of equipment is likely to agree to describe the detailed function of a PCB in the equipment they have supplied to an end user. Unfortunately I suspect that unless you are experienced in electronics to a component level, the most realistic solution is to remove teh entire BCA unit and arrange to return it to BCA for checking, or possibly to Apuljack.

I should make it clear I have no connection or obligation to either company.

Hi ProfJohnL
I have attached an image of the PCB from the consumer unit - one of the relays interacts with the battery charger - what I am trying to establish is if failure of the relay might cause intermittent switching off of the charger when it should not. I get 13.8 volts when first hooked up and it continues for quite a while at that level ( monitored for over an hour) and then slowly reduces indicating the charger has stopped working - however I have proved that switching the 240 off via the RCD and then immediately switching it back on sets the charger back on at 13.8 volts . If I can find out what the relay for the charger is doing it may suggest the PCB could be the issue
 

Attachments

  • PS184.png
    PS184.png
    351.1 KB · Views: 11
May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
Thanks
I did monitor the PSU /PDU Fan and casing over a approx. 90 minutes while it was definitely giving 13.75 v and although the fan was working the casing was not at all "hot" to touch - just warm- whether it would get much hotter with extended periods I do not know. My reason for suspecting the PCB might be switching it off is that this saga started about 4 weeks ago when there was a "ticking" sound from the PDU are for about a minute and then it stopped with no obvious issues - about 5 hours later the 12 volt appliances failed even though 240 volts was connected - the next morning the voltmeter in the van was back up at 13.75 volts !!
 
Mar 10, 2006
3,258
44
20,685
Visit site
Hi ProfJohnL
I have attached an image of the PCB from the consumer unit - one of the relays interacts with the battery charger - what I am trying to establish is if failure of the relay might cause intermittent switching off of the charger when it should not. I get 13.8 volts when first hooked up and it continues for quite a while at that level ( monitored for over an hour) and then slowly reduces indicating the charger has stopped working - however I have proved that switching the 240 off via the RCD and then immediately switching it back on sets the charger back on at 13.8 volts . If I can find out what the relay for the charger is doing it may suggest the PCB could be the issue
That image looks like the relay board for the fridge etc, so nothing to do with the charger?

It sounds like you have a charger that has a cooling fan that is either temperature operated, or current operated.

I found the fan noise annoying when I had our senator and had the dealer change it for one with no fan.

I suspect the charger is working as it should.
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
As I have already said, I'm not familiar with the unit you have, so I don't even recognise what that PCB precisely does, though the fact it has 6 relays and 14 fuse connectors, no apparent control logic integrated circuits or transistors suggests it to be a switching module. Judging by the width of some of the tracks on the PCB it is designed for switching 12V systems.

It's a long shot but it could be one of the relays has failed. and I would expect a faulty relay to become quite hot when in use. But it could equally be the part of the system that tells the particular relay to operate has failed.

One thing you can check now its accessible, and that is the security of all the solder joints on the PCB. If one of teh relays or other components is getting too hot it might well damage a solder joint by thermal expansion and contraction eventually breaking the solder.
 
Oct 3, 2013
890
90
18,935
Visit site
I have been trying to establish if the PS276 (Powershot P0120) 20 amp charger fitted to our 2011 Pegasus Genoa is functioning correctly. I have listed below the information I have gathered by testing and would appreciate any thoughts :-

1) At first it was thought to be the battery and this was replaced with a YUasa 110 ah Leisure battery

2) Testing the system with the new battery (measured at 12.6 volts} on hook up with all 12 volt appliances on - van voltmeter ran at 13.45 volts and after about 25 minutes the charger cooling fan was heard to come on. Based on this I thought the charger must be working okay but.........

3) Next time out voltmeter shows 12.7 v without EHU and increased to 13.75 v when plugged in to the 240 volts . The 13.75 v on the van voltmeter remained fairly constant for about 24 hours irrespective of the 12 volt usage. However after 24 hours the voltmeter had reduced to 13v and maybe a day later 12.75 ( both still on EHU) . This seemed to suggest that the charger was not working ?. After a while I decided to switch off at the RCD and then back on - this immediately resulted in the voltmeter increasing to the 13.75 volts . I do not know if these chargers have voltage sensors that switch the charger on and off ( relays?) but wonder whether there is a fault in another part of the consumer unit that is resulting inconsistent operation
If you can,connect a voltmeter to the battery,then switch on charger,voltage should rise,if it does then charger is working.Another way would be to measure the charging current.
 
May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
If you can,connect a voltmeter to the battery,then switch on charger,voltage should rise,if it does then charger is working.Another way would be to measure the charging current.
Thanks - I have done that and it did rise from approx. 12.6 to 13.45 ( with 12 v load) . I monitored for about 90 minutes and it was consistent-the fan came on after about 20 minutes and stayed on. The problem is that , having convinced myself that this was okay , the next time out it started up fine on EHU at 13.75 v and stayed that for maybe a day when I notice gradual reduction on van voltmeter suggesting charger had stopped - switching off RCD and back on resulted in a return to 13.75 volts - it seems that something is stopping the charger "intermittently" - I believe this type of charger has switching relays and this is why I wonder whether the Fuse/Relay PCB is the issue rather than the charger itself.
Hope that makes sense
 
May 10, 2022
12
0
10
Visit site
By the way I cannot get a clear image of a BCA184 but have attached an image of the Apuljack version - you can see 2 labels - 1 for "Charger" and 1 for "Charger Link" - what I am trying to establish is what these do !!!s-l500.jpg
 
Mar 14, 2005
17,557
3,051
50,935
Visit site
Without having the possibility of investigating the circuit with test gear, or full circuit diagram or an intimate knowledge of the system I cant answer your question. But the fact that Apuljack have a replacement PCB for the system suggests to me the BCA system has a history of failures requiring these boards.

From memory there have been several previous caravanners who have had problems with BCA units of various ages, and Apuljack have been praised for both the speed and the effectiveness of their repairs I suggest shipping the complete BCA unit to Apujack for it to be repaired/replaced.
 
Mar 10, 2006
3,258
44
20,685
Visit site
It's very rare for the relay board to fail IME having had two Bailey caravans over 13 years.

These charges can overheat which is why I always modified the mounting to ensure good air circulation, even then the unit runs hot...
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts