Onboard 12v Charging

[Part-time Northumbrian]

Hi All. There are probably threads on here that relate to my query but I cant seem to find any so I'll save time and ask.

Can anyone tell me how to check if my onboard 12v battery charger is working when plugged into the site mains?
i have a 2007 Elddis Avante which just has the Red/Amber/Green indicator led lamp.

When switching on the 12v system the light shows Green for a few seconds then changes to Red and no matter how long I leave it on the mains it will not revert to Green.

I have charged the battery up using a mains charger at home and my charger indicated that the battery was nearly 3/4 full, so I am suspecting that there mat be another fault being indicated that I am not aware of.

The only things that I am running at the moment that may be powered by my 12v system is the water pump an occasional light and the spark igniter on my cooker

I am trying to eliminate faults one by one and the charger seems a good place to start All fuses in the panel I have are OK but I am not sure if there may be a hidden one somewhere.

Any help would be grateful.
.

 

[otherclive]

Are your battery terminal clean and tight, and are the cable wires firmly clamped into the terminals. As you say start with the simple things first.

 

[Part-time Northumbrian]

Are your battery terminal clean and tight, and are the cable wires firmly clamped into the terminals. As you say start with the simple things first.

Yes done that

 

[bertieboy1]

Hi All. There are probably threads on here that relate to my query but I cant seem to find any so I'll save time and ask.

Can anyone tell me how to check if my onboard 12v battery charger is working when plugged into the site mains?
i have a 2007 Elddis Avante which just has the Red/Amber/Green indicator led lamp.

When switching on the 12v system the light shows Green for a few seconds then changes to Red and no matter how long I leave it on the mains it will not revert to Green.

I have charged the battery up using a mains charger at home and my charger indicated that the battery was nearly 3/4 full, so I am suspecting that there mat be another fault being indicated that I am not aware of.

The only things that I am running at the moment that may be powered by my 12v system is the water pump an occasional light and the spark igniter on my cooker

I am trying to eliminate faults one by one and the charger seems a good place to start All fuses in the panel I have are OK but I am not sure if there may be a hidden one somewhere.

Any help would be grateful.
.

If you have a multimeter or voltmeter,stick it across the battery terminals,note the voltage then switch on the charger,the voltage should rise,if you can also check the charging current.

 

[Part-time Northumbrian]

Thanks Bertie boy1, I will give it a go tomorrow.

 

[Part-time Northumbrian]

Update to my problem and a request for more help.

It appears that my battery was worn out and I have replaced it with a new one. After installing the Status indicator stayed Green for about 5 minutes and the reverted straight to Red again (No Amber).

I have a voltage of 13.25 volts on the battery which, was fully charged before installing, and this increases to 14.5 when the van is connected to the mains, so I assume the charger is working, but after leaving on charge for over an hour there is no change to the LED.

Is changing the power supply the next step?

 

[Damian]

The indicator you refer to is probably the most useless bit of rubbish ever put in a caravan.
It gives no real indication of anything.
If your voltage levels are as you posted then everything is working as it should do, regardless of the indicator.

If you really want to see what is happening get a decent indicator , something like this:

DC 12V 24V 36V 48V 72V Battery Capacity Voltage Meter with Alarm, Battery Capacity Gauge Indicator, Battery Gauge Monitors, Lead-Acid and Lithium ion Battery Tester for Car Vehicle (Green Light) : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

DC 12V 24V 36V 48V 72V Battery Capacity Voltage Meter with Alarm, Battery Capacity Gauge Indicator, Battery Gauge Monitors, Lead-Acid and Lithium ion Battery Tester for Car Vehicle (Green Light) : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Woodentop]

Inverter? What inverter?

Do you mean the device that converts 240Vac to (nominal) 12Vdc? That is called a power supply or charger. Many such devices are actually a special type of power supply (PSU) known as a Switched Mode Power Supply or SMPS. Typically they are about the size of a thick and largish paperback book but are capable of over 20A at 12V (actually and usually 13.6V)
I think anyone here would need much more advice before advising you to lash out the better part of £200 to change the PSU which may not be faulty. If you haven't got a voltmeter (or better still a digital multimeter - DVM) you should get one. Screwfix do a very useful kit (95426) that has a DVM, a contactless mains sensor, and a 13A polarity plug for £19.95 - you will never regret buying it.

 

[Part-time Northumbrian]

Thanks for the advise everyone.

I have checked things again. Things work as they should whilst running on 12v and the mains completely disconnected.
When the battery is removed and the mains switched on everything works fine, the same as when the battery is also hooked up.

Guess there's a glitch somewhere but as long as things seem to work Okay I'll just live with it. It is just rather perplexing that everything was working fine until last week.

Again thanks to all that replied.

 

[Damian]

The way the electrics work is that when not connected to the mains, only 12v items will work, pump, lights, etc.
When connected to the mains the power supply in the consumer unit delivers 12v to all 12v items and with the charger switched on, charges the battery.
In almost every caravan it is important to have the battery connected at all times as it acts as a smoothing reservoir for the power supply.

 

[Part-time Northumbrian]

Damian thanks for getting in touch,

I gather that the battery is required to be fitted at all times, I am just reporting that all things seem to work independently and together but the LED is still showing a fault.

 

[bertieboy1]

Inverter? What inverter?

Do you mean the device that converts 240Vac to (nominal) 12Vdc? That is called a power supply or charger. Many such devices are actually a special type of power supply (PSU) known as a Switched Mode Power Supply or SMPS. Typically they are about the size of a thick and largish paperback book but are capable of over 20A at 12V (actually and usually 13.6V)
I think anyone here would need much more advice before advising you to lash out the better part of £200 to change the PSU which may not be faulty. If you haven't got a voltmeter (or better still a digital multimeter - DVM) you should get one. Screwfix do a very useful kit (95426) that has a DVM, a contactless mains sensor, and a 13A polarity plug for £19.95 - you will never regret buying it.

An "inverter" converts dc to ac,a "converter "converts dc to dc a device that converts ac to dc is called a transformer rectifier

 

[ProfJohnL]

a device that converts ac to dc is called a transformer rectifier

No - Just a "rectifier" to be technical.
A transformer is used to isolate different AC voltages to AC voltages and often includes step or step down depending on its application, and transfers constant power.

 

[Woodentop]

An "inverter" converts dc to ac,a "converter "converts dc to dc a device that converts ac to dc is called a transformer rectifier

I have a sneaking suspicion that my reply shown above was actually to another thread - how that happened I know not but what the questioner was asking is not in this thread!
D'oh!