Leisure battery and factory fitted solar panel

[chrispy22]

Hi there fellow caravaners ,

I am hoping that someone can help me. We have just purchased a 2016 Bailey Unicorn Vigo with a factory fitted solar panel. I also purchased a new leisure battery at the same time.

I have collected the van from storage this morning, where it has only been for three weeks. On arrival at home I engaged the motor mover only to discover that the battery was totally flat. The solar panel display wasn't blinking so I assume it isn't charging the battery.

There was nothing switched on in the van, although the alarm was set and the TV booster was on. In fact I didn't realise it switched off!!

My question is this, do we need to leave the master switch on when the caravan is not in use, or do you switch it off. Clearly, I will ensure that the TV booster is off, but surely the alarm can be set?

The battery is so flat that the green LED light that shows the battery health is not visible, so any advice would be appreciated as I was so fed up to have to ask my neighbours to get the thing back in our driverway!

Please can someone help!

 

[Mr Plodd]

Leave the master switch off.
Was the fridge on? That also needs to be switched off as its NOTisolated when the master switch is off.

 

[chrispy22]

Leave the master switch off.
Was the fridge on? That also needs to be switched off as its NOTisolated when the master switch is off.

Hi There, the fridge was off. I have checked this again to make sure and it was definitely off. To be honest, I am not sure if the master was on or off either as I was so thrown that I can't remember if it was on or off, or whether turned if on or off!!

I was so cross that it had failed on me after I have spent on a new battery and the new to us van too! I have booked the van in tomorrow for a check to see if the solar panel is actually charging.

 

[Mandarin]

The master switch should be off when you leave the van. the Truma solar controller should have a flashing (charging) or solid green (full) light on it. If no light then its not charging, the position of the master switch has no effect on this.

The volt meter is useless as an indication of battery state whilst the panel is charging ( ie in daylight) as it shows the voltage from the solar panel.

We have a factory fitted panel on a 2020 Cabrera and the battery is normally fully charged, even when off grid this summer it was fully charged again by midday.

 

[ProfJohnL]

There is general advice on how the Solar Panel integrates with caravan systems, but each caravan manufacturer may set it up differently, so you really need to review what the caravan manufacture (or the PV installers) say about the system you have installed.

 

[Raywood]

I would look at the alarm. They can flatten a battery in about 2 weeks. I would have thought the solar panel should have kept the battery with some power but if the blue light is not coming on I suspect the panel or the lead. If you bought from a dealer take it back. If you bought privately I would see what the seller says but you have little in the way of legal rights against the seller.

 

[Ferrodo]

Without the van being on hookup and with decent daylight, throw a multimeter set at DC volts across the battery terminals. If the solar panel is functioning you should see around 13.5 volts. Disconnect the battery first. Zero volts means an issue somewhere with the solar panel equipment. Fuse? Leads? Or controller.

 

[Tobes]

Hi there fellow caravaners ,

I am hoping that someone can help me. We have just purchased a 2016 Bailey Unicorn Vigo with a factory fitted solar panel. I also purchased a new leisure battery at the same time.

I have collected the van from storage this morning, where it has only been for three weeks. On arrival at home I engaged the motor mover only to discover that the battery was totally flat. The solar panel display wasn't blinking so I assume it isn't charging the battery.

There was nothing switched on in the van, although the alarm was set and the TV booster was on. In fact I didn't realise it switched off!!

My question is this, do we need to leave the master switch on when the caravan is not in use, or do you switch it off. Clearly, I will ensure that the TV booster is off, but surely the alarm can be set?

The battery is so flat that the green LED light that shows the battery health is not visible, so any advice would be appreciated as I was so fed up to have to ask my neighbours to get the thing back in our driverway!

Please can someone help!

We too have a 2016 Unicorn Vigo. In ours, the solar panel has a separate connection to the battery with its own fuse. The connection point is as the battery terminal clamps.
Our solar controller (Truma branded) failed last year and killed the battery. I replaced it with a different option from Ebay which is working fine.
With a live 12v battery on line, check you are getting 12v at the solar controller battery terminals. Then double check your connections to the panel.

We have found the panel is more than sufficient to keep the 12v fed while supplying the alarm and tracker over winter.