Motor mover keeps cutting out

[Roger Chatfield]

Evening all, quick question for you.
I've just got myself a nice new van, a 1999 Avondale Rialto 550/4. This van came fitted with a motor mover, it's the first van I've had with a mover, it's a Euromover made by Carver, it works fine but does have a habit of 'cutting out' whilst moving, if I repress one of the buttons it works fine for a awhile then cuts out again... can anyone shed some light on this??

Rog.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Roger,

Most movers will be sensitive to the ability of the battery to supply enough current to run them. If you battery is not well charged or is old and has some less than good cells, the mover may cut-out as the battery voltage drops under load. Once the mover has cut-out, the battery may recover a bit and allow you to start again, only to cut-out a little further on.

There are other possible causes, but get the battery checked out first.

 

[Roger Chatfield]

Cheers John, TBH I did suspect the battery, whats the best way to check the battery out??

Rog.

 

[waffler]

Difficult to test a battery- your dealer or battery place will be able to check it. For low loads it might be OK but as the Prof says the mover on start up draws about 60 amps which is a real test. One thing is to check the connections to the battery. I'd give them a clean and refit to see if that is the case.

 

[mullsy1]

Just a thought,but mine does that if I'm right on the distance that the remote works.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

Just a thought,but mine does that if I'm right on the distance that the remote works.

spot on, mine does this it is a old truma se it works perfectly but if I walk round the van to check clearances (like when entring the garage) it cuts out when the signal is blocked by the garage wall.
ps, one little tip "learned from watson "john G" a couple of years ago keep the hand set control the same way round as the van ie in orientation then you know exactly which button activates the van movement via the rollers. sounds simple but is not obvious,
the last thing you need it for the van to go left instead of right in a confined space,
as the Prof suggested however get the batteries checked just in case not only the van battery but the ones in the remote too,
colin

 

[birdman101]

I suggest you take the battery and have a load drop test done.Testing with a multi-meter will only show the level of charge not the capacity of the battery if the plates have deteriorated.

 

[Sproket]

When we bought our van in 2008 it came fitted with this type of gel battery the battery is date stamped 2001, we had a powrtouch heavy duty motor mover fitted in April 2008 & i was told that we needed a 110 amp battery as this one was not big enough.

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/technical/gel-batteries-weight

So out i went & bought a new 110amp sealed for life battery ( the one with the green eye to check if it's ok ) & put the older one in the shed & kept it charged up via a halfords automatic charger, for if we ever needed it.......

Last month the new four year old sealed for life battery died ( you can't check the water levels in the one that i had bought ) another lesson learned........

So I dug the old battery out & charged it up & then coupled a 100w headlight bulb up to see how long it would last ( 100w = about 8amp ) after four cycles of doing this, ( over about three days ) i worked out it was still good for about 50amp .........

The test was will it get the 1600kg van up the drive & out of the garden & turn it round in the road ok.

Well it did it

remember this battery is now 11 years old & only about half of of the original capacity,

Would it get us on to our pitch ok ........ yep

Would it put the van back in the garden ........ yep

My remote stops & starts when i get too far from the van...

I have a drop tester & it was showing the sealed for life battery was ok,
( what a load of rubbish, as you are only testing it for 15 - 20 seconds with one of those)
Even after five goes

it was still showing it was ok.....

.
But it would not get the van out of the garden........

When this battery totally fails i will be buying another of this type..... lesson learned

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Quote from Colin - "ps, one little tip "learned from watson "john G" a couple of years ago keep the hand set control the same way round as the van ie in orientation then you know exactly which button activates the van movement via the rollers. sounds simple but is not obvious,"
I've had a Truma (Carver originally) from very early on of production (10 years ish) and in the original instructions (handset shaped as a caravan and still is) it says exactly that, ie hold handset in relation to where you are stood driving the van and correct orientation to the van.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi sir Gab, thats the beauty of having the original instructions, I had none not even the wiring diagram when I bought it second hand from a guy up the street "who had taken it off when he changed to a T/A" .
the natural inclination is to use it like a TV remote and point it at the van ok if your behind but when you get in front "erm" it goes the wrong way

.
A thread was running at the time about movers and John G came up with the suggestion ie orentation that was brilliant, I certainly had not thought of it, like I said simple but not obvious.
as an aside and off topic for a minute does anyone know what happend to "john G" not seen a post from him for a long time just wondered if he was ok,

colin

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

also following on from sproket's post I have just changed the 110amp leisure battery also about 4 years old that died, for a small car type Heavy duty battery it's a about a third of the size and weight of the old one, it has a cranking amp of 180 and seems ideal for the mover, I have had the van out of the garage down the side road to the front turned it round and put it back in the garage " about 20mins use" if it will do that it's good enough for me and at £35 a bargain,

 

[malcolm1945]

hi rog i had a problem with my mover and found it was the battery in the hand set replaced it and worked a lot better.

malc

 

[RogerB]

My old carver was exactly the same.Nothing to do with battery.Apparently the signal sysyem is susceptible to interference which causes it to keep stopping.It was much better when it was away from any buildings.New systems use a different signal ,I believe,which is not affected.My present van has no problems in the exact same places as where the old one used to keep stopping.