How hot should the caravans PSU be?

[TV200]

I've a 2014 Bailey caravan and a 2018 battery (I recently brought the caravan and imagine the battery was left unconnected for most of its life). I noticed an increase in my house power consumption through my smart meter. Caravanning that weekend the voltmeter in the caravan dropped to the lowest it would read - 9v.
Upon my return, I did the following;
Measured the voltage at the battery terminals with the caravan connected to 240v - it was 13.8v.
I then disconnected the battery and attached the battery to a CTEK charger and it seems to have charged fine.
The PSU will power the 12v appliances in the caravan with the battery removed.
With nothing on in the caravan (apart from I presume minimal things such as the aerial amplifier and toilet flush pump, the PSU is a hot to the touch. Not burning hot, but hot. I presume its drawing a reasonable current and therefore wonder whether its faulty, or whether they usually feel hot? I'm guessing otherwise its working - I'll see once I reconnect the battery.
Thanks

 

[Hutch]

I would think the PSU in your caravan being a 2014, would be a 3 stage one, for charging the battery, ie it cherges up to 14.?v then drops down to the 13.8 trickle charge, then every now and again goes back upto 14.? . And has a separate power supply for the 12 volt needed inside the caravan. It should have a fan inside the PSU , so when large current is drawn the fan kicks in.
Unfortunatley these units are not placed in the best ventilated areas, and will run hot. It is basically a power transformer , I carry a spare one with us, after getting a full shut down of 12 volt systems.

 

[Buckman]

I've a 2014 Bailey caravan and a 2018 battery (I recently brought the caravan and imagine the battery was left unconnected for most of its life). I noticed an increase in my house power consumption through my smart meter. Caravanning that weekend the voltmeter in the caravan dropped to the lowest it would read - 9v.
Upon my return, I did the following;
Measured the voltage at the battery terminals with the caravan connected to 240v - it was 13.8v.
I then disconnected the battery and attached the battery to a CTEK charger and it seems to have charged fine.
The PSU will power the 12v appliances in the caravan with the battery removed.
With nothing on in the caravan (apart from I presume minimal things such as the aerial amplifier and toilet flush pump, the PSU is a hot to the touch. Not burning hot, but hot. I presume its drawing a reasonable current and therefore wonder whether its faulty, or whether they usually feel hot? I'm guessing otherwise its working - I'll see once I reconnect the battery.
Thanks

Not sure about a 2014 Bailey, but on earlier models the battery was part of the circuit and was required for 12v even when connected up to the mains. The same may apply to the 2014 caravan. do the 12v lights work okay when the battery has been removed from the caravan or are they dim?

What was the reading when the battery was removed from the caravan and prior to being charged? As for the PSU the fridge may be drawing some current even though it is switched off. Heating circuitry may be another issue. However PSU should be warm to touch and not hot.

 

[Woodentop]

We have had Baileys since the mid noughties and all of them have had a BCA switched mode power supply (SMPS) which float charges only.

The issue here is most probably that the fan in the SMPS or its sensing/control circuit has failed and as a result (as someone else pointed out) the ventilation is poor so the box gets hot.

My advice - which I've know several do although I have never had such need - is to get two 12V miniature computer fans e.g. eBay item 172498532899. Wire them in series so that they run slower than normal and make less noise, and fit them to the outside of the power box. Fit one over the grille on the left side panel blowing in, and the other over the grille on the right of the top panel. The object of the exercise is just to move air, not to blast it cool! The direction of rotation and air flow of the fans is embossed on the outside of the fan case. You might consider a discrete switch so it can be switched on and off if necessary.

Much cheaper option than £100++ for a new SMPS!

 

[Hutch]

Thinking about what Woodentop has mentioned, if you turn on all the 12 volt items, that you can lights etc, and all the 230v items, heater on max on electric, and check if the fan runs on the PSU. I think the fan is supposed to kick in when over 8 amps current is being drawn.
I think there is a fuse inside the BCA power unit that protects the fan unit. If the fan doesn't run ( disclaimer coming )and you can't do it yourself get someone qualified to help with it.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Being a 2014 caravan, it should have a Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS) and when these aren't doing much they should idle with a very low power consumption and consequently they should not get hot, even if fans aren't working. As its getting hot, its either running something youv'e missed, or its faulty.

Even when running at full power , the caravan charger is not likely to be drawing more than about 350W, and if this occurring continually it will be adding about 8kwH of consumption daily, But at idle it would be only a few tens of watts , which would barely be noticed in most households.

You obviously have some concerns about the increase in your house power consumption, How much more power was used, and over what time?

You should also consider if the increase in consumption possibly explained by the recent cold spell, or someone forgetting to turn some appliances off? Don't forget that through lockdown, a lot more people are stuck at home and will be using more power for heating, cups of tea and computers.

 

[bertieboy1]

I've a 2014 Bailey caravan and a 2018 battery (I recently brought the caravan and imagine the battery was left unconnected for most of its life). I noticed an increase in my house power consumption through my smart meter. Caravanning that weekend the voltmeter in the caravan dropped to the lowest it would read - 9v.
Upon my return, I did the following;
Measured the voltage at the battery terminals with the caravan connected to 240v - it was 13.8v.
I then disconnected the battery and attached the battery to a CTEK charger and it seems to have charged fine.
The PSU will power the 12v appliances in the caravan with the battery removed.
With nothing on in the caravan (apart from I presume minimal things such as the aerial amplifier and toilet flush pump, the PSU is a hot to the touch. Not burning hot, but hot. I presume its drawing a reasonable current and therefore wonder whether its faulty, or whether they usually feel hot? I'm guessing otherwise its working - I'll see once I reconnect the battery.
Thanks

Rule of thumb is - if you can put your hand on it and keep it there then it's ok,if you have to take your hand off because of the temperature then it's too hot. This applies to anything electrical.

 

[otherclive]

Rule of thumb is - if you can put your hand on it and keep it there then it's ok,if you have to take your hand off because of the temperature then it's too hot. This applies to anything electrical.

Well not our oil filled radiators I hope?

 

[Woodentop]

Thinking about what Woodentop has mentioned, if you turn on all the 12 volt items, that you can lights etc, and all the 230v items, heater on max on electric, and check if the fan runs on the PSU. I think the fan is supposed to kick in when over 8 amps current is being drawn.
I think there is a fuse inside the BCA power unit that protects the fan unit. If the fan doesn't run ( disclaimer coming )and you can't do it yourself get someone qualified to help with it.

Of interest, the fan is integral - inside the SMPS case - so if it fails, given the SMPS case is riveted together, there's not much you can do other than (a) fit external fans as I described or (b) replace the unit (which is only plug-in.

 

[Hutch]

Of interest, the fan is integral - inside the SMPS case - so if it fails, given the SMPS case is riveted together, there's not much you can do other than (a) fit external fans as I described or (b) replace the unit (which is only plug-in.

I sit corrected, I have just checked on my spare PSU, and I had deriveted it, to see if there was a fuse inside, when It blew up. And there isn't. A grey cell moment.
I believe ApuJack does a very good repair to these units, a total upgrade, now.

 

[Dustydog]

My BCA failed over a year ago. I now have an Apuljack replacement which fits perfectly and is a far more technically modern efficient unit than BCAs.

 

[otherclive]

I sit corrected, I have just checked on my spare PSU, and I had deriveted it, to see if there was a fuse inside, when It blew up. And there isn't. A grey cell moment.
I believe ApuJack does a very good repair to these units, a total upgrade, now.

The Apuljack units have a very good reputation for their performance and reliability. Plus the company are very approachable and give excellent customer support. If the OP has any concerns he could contact Apuljack and talk it through.

 

[Beachball]

I thought there was something wrong with Nordelettronica power system (Nord system) l thought it had malfunctioned battery charger is ok We think what was at fault was the hook up cable it was to thin it 1.5 . So we have gone back to this 25m 16A 2.5 Hook up cable so far everything working as it should.

But i will contact Apuljack if any more problems we might need it upgrading .

 

[TV200]

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I didn't measure the battery voltage when removed, however the charger took a day to get it to the point of stating it was 'maintaining' it. I'll switch everything on and see if the fan functions, but whatever happens when I put the consumer unit it lives in together, I'll leave the top plastic cover off for better air flow. I think I'll give the two cpu fans a go too. I'm in NZ, but when borders open I may look at the Apuljack replacement if I have any further issues and get the next visitor to put in it their luggage! I'll measure the current too .

 

[Parksy]

The Apuljack units have a very good reputation for their performance and reliability. Plus the company are very approachable and give excellent customer support. If the OP has any concerns he could contact Apuljack and talk it through.

+1 for an Apauljack replacement unit.
They sorted our Nordellectronica charger out about 7 years ago, and it's given trouble free service ever since.
Not surprising really because they were originally a small company who designed electronic components for guided weapons systems, they started to upgrade caravan and motorhome electrics as a favour to someone and the business really expanded rapidly from that.