Please help. EHu problem. Going away today!

[Themwerethedays]

Hello,

My first post, apologies for not introducing myself Properly!

I have a Bailey senator Louisiana 5. I had it serviced recently and the dealer said I needed a new battery charger fitted. He eventually fitted it on Tuesday this week. I plugged it in to my house supply to cool the fridge for our departure this morning and I now have no mains power except to the wall lights, the fridge came on for 5 minutes then died as well. All 12v powered items work except the fridge. I've changed plugs in the house and the fact the wall lights work suggests to me there's no fault with the hook up lead??

Everything worked perfectly before the new charger was installed and now I'm left without EHu power and I'm leaving this morning. The dealer is now away himself!

If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it.

Many thanks.

 

[Parksy]

Hi, check the RCD's inside the caravan, these will be underneath the bench near to your charger. The lights that are working are likely to be powered by your battery, try the 230v wall sockets.

 

[Craigyoung]

01748 818666 , hi don't know where you are in the country but this number is for ropers caravan world who are a Bailey's dealer if you ask to speak to a technician and he may be able to advise you.
Good luck.

 

[Themwerethedays]

Hi, check the RCD's inside the caravan, these will be underneath the bench near to your charger. The lights that are working are likely to be powered by your battery, try the 230v wall sockets.

Hi thanks for reply. I've checked all fuses and RCD's and they're all good. The corner lights in the lounge are running off the EHu, when I unplug it they go off. All the spots are off the battery. No power to any sockets, fridge or heater. Although initially I had power to the fridge for 5 minutes.

Everything seemed to working perfectly prior to the mechanic fitting the new charger.

 

[Themwerethedays]

01748 818666 , hi don't know where you are in the country but this number is for ropers caravan world who are a Bailey's dealer if you ask to speak to a technician and he may be able to advise you.
Good luck.

Thank you, I will call them if I can't get hold of a local specialist.

 

[glenno]

I've the same van and fitted a replacement charger myself a few years ago. Does the new charger work? Check the volt meter with and without the EHU coupled up. Should see a +1.5v ish increase in battery volts on when on EHU.
The charger is mounted on the consumer unit in these vans. Sounds like they have disturbed a connection while fitting it. So WITH EHU disconnected you could look at removing the charger mounts and checking for loose wires or plugs under/behind it.
Good Luck.

 

[Themwerethedays]

I've the same van and fitted a replacement charger myself a few years ago. Does the new charger work? Check the volt meter with and without the EHU coupled up. Should see a +1.5v ish increase in battery volts on when on EHU.
The charger is mounted on the consumer unit in these vans. Sounds like they have disturbed a connection while fitting it. So WITH EHU disconnected you could look at removing the charger mounts and checking for loose wires or plugs under/behind it.
Good Luck.

Thanks again!

Volt metre showing 12.5v unplugged and moves to 12.75ishv when plugged in.

He's definitely disturbed or damaged something as with the old 'broken' charger everything worked perfectly.

 

[gravesyt]

welcome Themwerethedays
Some similar happen to me last year when I plugged the van into the mains at home and for the life of me couldn't figure it out then the little lady said "have you checked everything" arrrrr so when over it all again but this time I pulled every fuse out and checked one of the fuse had blown causing all the mains power to cut out but ok on batt 12v .

 

[glenno]

I've the same van and fitted a replacement charger myself a few years ago. Does the new charger work? Check the volt meter with and without the EHU coupled up. Should see a +1.5v ish increase in battery volts on when on EHU.
The charger is mounted on the consumer unit in these vans. Sounds like they have disturbed a connection while fitting it. So WITH EHU disconnected you could look at removing the charger mounts and checking for loose wires or plugs under/behind it.
Good Luck.

Thanks again!

Volt metre showing 12.5v unplugged and moves to 12.75ishv when plugged in.

He's definitely disturbed or damaged something as with the old 'broken' charger everything worked perfectly.

It doesn't sound like the charger is working properly either. Should be more like 13.5v when connected to the EHU

 

[bertieboy1]

Hello Themwerethedays,
Your fridge won't work off 12 volts whilst connected to an EHU,it should work on mains or gas only.The fridge will only work on 12 volts when car is hooked up to van and the engine is running.

 

[ProfJohnL]

On the basis the fault report is accurate, what we know is the EHU cable and connection is working evidenced by the wall lights are working. This also confirms the RCD has not tripped nor the MCB (fuse) for the lighting circuit. All the other mains appliances including the battery charger seem to be inactive. This points to a problem on the other MCB for the mains sockets and or accessories.

I have to recommend the MCBs and wiring needs to be checked. Bearing in mind how lethal mains power can be, this needs to be handled carefully, and preferably by a competent person. If it turns out the problem was caused by the dealer, then you would should have a case to bring a small claims case for the cost of professional assistance and the loss of your holiday.

 

[Dustydog]

Get the Dealer out to fix this for you. His repair / replacement has caused your problem.

 

[Themwerethedays]

On the basis the fault report is accurate, what we know is the EHU cable and connection is working evidenced by the wall lights are working. This also confirms the RCD has not tripped nor the MCB (fuse) for the lighting circuit. All the other mains appliances including the battery charger seem to be inactive. This points to a problem on the other MCB for the mains sockets and or accessories.

I have to recommend the MCBs and wiring needs to be checked. Bearing in mind how lethal mains power can be, this needs to be handled carefully, and preferably by a competent person. If it turns out the problem was caused by the dealer, then you would should have a case to bring a small claims case for the cost of professional assistance and the loss of your holiday.

Thank you, you are spot on!

I took the van to another specialist and after a bit of head scratching they revealed on of the MCB's had been wired in incorrectly. The live and neutral were the wrong way round!! This resulted in reversed polarity and was in a dangerous condition. The big mystery is how everything worked perfectly prior to the new charger going in!? The company that rewired it for me confirmed the old charger was indeed faulty and that the new one was necessary but he was also at a loss to explain how it could of worked with the wiring like it was. He did say that I should never of had it back after its recent service in this condition and the dealer who did service if and fit the charger should of identified the fault and rectified it then.

The outcome, after a bill of £223, is everything is working perfectly. Needless to say, it won't be going back to the original dealer......

Thanks for all your help