NE 190 Control Panel

[Grey13]

Hi On the NE 190 Control Panel there are 3 buttons in a row on the panel.
Connect to Car battery, Connect to Van battery, Water pump switch

I could not get my "connect to Van battery" to work without a mains plug connection.
Reading in the manual it says: If the charger is not working and the van battery is not connected this system will not switch.

However I cannot help wondering why the "charger" must be working in order for this to work as simple logic tells you would only need van battery power for lights etc when you have no mains connection.

Are there any hidden 12v switches or fuses I should be checking for this to work.
Both the other switches work fine.

 

[Craigyoung]

hi Grey ,
I don't know if you is the same as mine but on my control panel in ours the caravan is dead unless the charger is switched on as my 12 volt button is at the charger if that makes any sense

 

[otherclive]

On mine you look at the power units under the locker. Facing them you see the 240 v section on the right. It has coloured press switches for battery charging, water heating and space heating. To the left is the 12v section with fuses. At the top left of that section is a small indistinct push switch. That should be in to use 12v which powers lights, cooker ignition, water pump etc.

 

[Grey13]

Hi I can only find the following:

Circuit breaker box (240V)
http://www.qis-uk.co.uk/Pics/CB_Box.JPG
NE190 Panel
http://www.qis-uk.co.uk/Pics/Elec_Control_Pnl.jpg
Fuse Box (All 12 V)
http://www.qis-uk.co.uk/Pics/Fuse-Box.JPG

No other switch to my knowledge

 

[Craigyoung]

There should be another one opposite ? have a look under your seats not on the front of your seats , mine is at the front of the van under my seat beside the water dump valve .

 

[otherclive]

Mines the same as Craig’s too.

 

[Craigyoung]

Grey , where's your battery housing , my mains charger is right where my battery is , obviously on the inside , so wherever your battery is be it at the front of your van left nearside or offside that's where you need to look under the seats . Just lift both seats up and have a look. You will not miss it . mine is black with three or four buttons on it and believe it not it gives you a clue it says "mains charger"

 

[Grey13]

Hi Craig
I take it you mean this battery charger http://www.qis-uk.co.uk/Pics/Battery%20charger.JPG
or this for my solar panel http://www.qis-uk.co.uk/Pics/Solar%20charger.JPG
Whichever there are no other boxes or switches I can see.
Certainly not under that seat or others for that matter.

Can someone describe just what it is I should be looking for, a box or a hidden switch or what?

 

[otherclive]

Not knowing your caravan model makes it more difficult as other owners of the same van are in the dark. You could try the owners club or maker tech support. Swift have an active Swifttalk site were owners and Swift tech staff interact.

 

[Eyesplice]

Hi Grey13,
I have the same problem in my 2008 Swift Alpine II.
Just up-graded my house battery and now unable to switch to 12v DC after disconnecting mains supply.
It was operating perfectly before.
(and before anyone asks - Yes, I did make sure that the Un-install/Re-install battery procedure was adhered to)
To get 12v to any light/appliance the 230v battery charger needs to be running. (Seems strange that it even needs to be in this circuitry)
It appears that when pressing the "Van'" switch on the NE190 control panel a retaining circuit should hold the battery supply on via the NE 189 Fuseboard to energise the system .
As you have discussed previously - there are no additional buttons to push/reset.
Would be nice if someone from Swift could give us some guidance on how to rectify this..

 

[Anseo]

Hi Eyesplice and welcome.

You are responding to a 2 year old thread, perhaps Grey 13 will be along with a definitive answer for you.

In the meantime this may help :
NE 190 Control Panel
Ref: Page 46

The topic was also discussed here:
Understanding the NE190 Control Panel

 

[bikeruk]

Hi. New to having a leisure battery but we are having the same problem. Leisure battery was working but we had to have the charge switch on. Switched over to mains power and we had full van power. Took the mains off and no 12v at all. Checked in line fuse. All good. Battery connected correctly. Turned charge switch off and on but still nothing. Am i missing anymore fuses? When mains is plugged in the panel reads 14.2 so i guess the battery is charging but have no idea really. Any help would really be appreciated. Paul.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi. New to having a leisure battery but we are having the same problem. Leisure battery was working but we had to have the charge switch on. Switched over to mains power and we had full van power. Took the mains off and no 12v at all. Checked in line fuse. All good. Battery connected correctly. Turned charge switch off and on but still nothing. Am i missing anymore fuses? When mains is plugged in the panel reads 14.2 so i guess the battery is charging but have no idea really. Any help would really be appreciated. Paul.

You mention the panel reads 14.2V when you have the mains supply connected, and this is higher than I would expect. Normally chargers will settle to about 13.8V which is usually the safe continuous charge voltage for Lead Acid Batteries. This lead me to suspect the battery is not connected to the charger.

I suggest you double check you have the battery connected the right way round ( Red to +Ve and Black to -ve) AND follow the positive wire from the battery as often there is an inline fuse (typically 15 or 20A rated) in the positive cable which will blow almost instantaneously if the battery is mis connected by accident.

Replace the fuse with same value.

 

[bikeruk]

You mention the panel reads 14.2V when you have the mains supply connected, and this is higher than I would expect. Normally chargers will settle to about 13.8V which is usually the safe continuous charge voltage for Lead Acid Batteries. This lead me to suspect the battery is not connected to the charger.

I suggest you double check you have the battery connected the right way round ( Red to +Ve and Black to -ve) AND follow the positive wire from the battery as often there is an inline fuse (typically 15 or 20A rated) in the positive cable which will blow almost instantaneously if the battery is mis connected by accident.

Replace the fuse with same value.

Hi and thanks for the reply. We haven't had the mains hooked up for long so i suppose the 14.2 reading on the panel is like it says in the manual. Apparently after a while the charge drops and the battery is topped up slowly. The one thing i can't find anywhere is that you have to hold the car battery button in the same time as the middle button. We have done this and the van is now running on the leisure battery. Lights,fridge and spark on the cooker. So I'm assuming that everything is correct.