Nordellectronic charger

[DerekBrad]

Have just spent a (wet) week in Fort William. On arrival last Friday I noticed that the Mains indicator was not on. I phoned my dealer in Warwickshire and was told that the charger had packed up. They agreed to send a replacement by post that same day so I managed to eke out the battery power over the weekend. The post takes at least FIVE days to reach Fort William and I received the charger on Wednesday afternoon, and fitted it in ten minutes. By this time, we were without 12 volt supply so no water on tap, no fridge on mains etc etc. Now this may sound like bad luck but it is the second holiday to be spoilt by the failure of the charger, the first one failed at 9 months and was replaced with a modified unit. It was this one that failed last week. I cannot fault the dealer over this: they did all possible in the circs, but I am now very apprehensive about our trip to France in 3 weeks time.I shall take my Aldi charger with me just in case! These units must have cost an endless amount of time and disappointment to a lot of caravanners, if only Swift had fitted a decent unit in the first place !!
That's off my chest now and I feel better already !
Cheers all
Derek

 

[Martin_E]

Some are asking for the Sergent system to be fitted instead of the Nordel units, they are a direct swap.

 

[DerekBrad]

Hello Martin,
I raised that point with my dealer when I got home, and he said that the Sargent unit was not compatible with the loom and circuitry of the Nordelec. This had been my first thought when mine went down. I don't think Swift would entertain a swap under warranty anyway but I may contact them and find out.
Regards....Derek

 

[RayS]

Having had a couple of charger failures over (many) years, I now cary a CTEK Multi XS 7000 charger which is 'intelligent' and will charge both car and leisure batteries and has 12v output which will replace on-board charger unit if required. These are cheaper than the specialised on-board chargers normally fitted, and this seems to me a better way to take a 'spare' particularly on long european trips.

 

[Martin_E]

Hello Martin,
I raised that point with my dealer when I got home, and he said that the Sargent unit was not compatible with the loom and circuitry of the Nordelec. This had been my first thought when mine went down. I don't think Swift would entertain a swap under warranty anyway but I may contact them and find out.
Regards....Derek

Derek,

Have a look at the Swift talk forum, there was a thread on there a week or so back, this is where I saw about the Sargent System swap.

Found it, look here http://www.swift-talk.co.uk/forum/topics/nordelettronica-charger-unit

This is the adapter kit http://sargentshop.co.uk/epages/eshop328964.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/eshop328964/Products/WB2050

 

[DerekBrad]

Hello Martin,
Thanks for the info. I think that I will trust that the new unit will be ok, at least I now know that a solution is available after warranty period if needed. There is a certain comfort in knowing that you're not the only disgruntled owner of a Swift group van !!
Cheers, regards
Derek