Power Qs - help for a newbie!

[Willsher614]

Apologies for what are probably silly Qs covered countless times before however I have tried to find the answers myself, though google and also forums on here (seeing various power, battery and fridge topics inc on the page below).

After both enjoying caravan holidays in our own youths and as a family ourselves in a large frame tent we decided to get our own and are going away for our first trip.

We purchased an Adria Altea 542DK and have discovered most answers to initial Qs but still have a few i would appreciate help with:-

(1) How do i switch between battery and main power (or is it automatic?) There is what i assume to be an isolatioon switch (pictured below if i have added link correctly) however the internal lights work with in switched either way, without any external power added so what does this switch do?
(2) How do i charge the battery (if/when needed) - does it do this automatically when towing/plugged into mains or should there be a selector switch somewhere? (as some advice/guides suggest)
(3) I was looking for a panel with battery levels and some other info (such as a charging selector maybe?) but all I can find is the image below - I'm assuming the switch on the left (Volts) is to show the battery level and this looks good as it shows around 13 when I switch it - do I leave the switch off and just switch it on briefly to check the levels, or do I need to leave it on in use as a kind of master power switch? I know the switch on the right is for the water pump (and assume I leave that on when in use, perhaps turning off overnight)
(4) Advice online suggests leaving the fridge plugged in the day before going to allow it to cool down on mains power rather the draining the battery on start up - i have turned it on and left a can in there to see if it gets cold but is there a way to know its on? It doesn't seem to have any LED or similar (its a Thetford N80) - i have turned the selector from off (0) to the mains powers symbol (battery and gas symbols also available).

Thank you in advance for any advice - i'm sure someone here will know all of this and be able to easily adbvise, for which i will be grateful. I am working my way through a Haynes Carravaning handbook as well as online advice but thought asking here would be more focused.

 

[Parksy]

Hi Wilsher, welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately it's not possible to post pictures directly to our message boards, you will need to upload them to a photo hosting website first.
Click Here for instructions on how to post pictures, thanks to Craig Young for his original post.

 

[Craigyoung]

Hi there , like Parksy says and has beaten me to it for my link , it's a doddle to do .

Welcome to the forum questions will be answered pretty soon I would have thought so but you should have a control screen as you enter , mains isolation switch could be under your seat or something like that it could be somewhere else in your caravan , put all the power on hook it up and that's you all on .

Only some of your lights will work if you are not hooked up , everything should work when you are hooked up .
Your battery should charge when it is on-site or at the house and whilst towing , unless it is a dodgy battery you shouldn't have to take out to charge , i don't .

I only check my levels when I first set up and are all you fine like yours , I don't give it a second thought and just get on with my trip and enjoy myself away .
Once your powered up and all doing what you need to do in the caravan , for your switches on , I don't switch nothing off like when you mention the pump through the night ; it stays on nothing gets switched off .

Like you say if you were going away I normally do my fridge for a few days before just to get it going and still ok by time I get to site an hour or two down the road if you go any further try putting some ice blocks in to keep it cold for longer.
There should be some kind of illumination LED blue light / white light inside the fridge when you open the door but make sure you put your power on that you look at your fridge and press the plug symbol which will swith the fridge on meaning you are on electric hook-up ; press the battery symbol for when you are towing and it will keep it cool off your battery on the car when driving.

Enjoy reading your handbook but you will probably learn just as much on here ( like I have over the years and still am ) when other people start giving you answers to your questions , good luck with sorting your links out for the pictures , if it's any better all my links and postings are done from my mobile phone so if you can take a picture on your mobile phone off what you need to post and come back onto the forum via your mobile go through my link and go into your camera roll and post it like that if it's any easier.

Good luck .

Craig .

 

[Willsher614]

Hopefully this works - power switch?

 

[Willsher614]

Hopefully this works - isolator switch? (this is in the external battery cupboard, with the battery to its right and mains power connection above)

 

[Gagakev]

Apologies for what are probably silly Qs covered countless times before however I have tried to find the answers myself, though google and also forums on here (seeing various power, battery and fridge topics inc on the page below).

After both enjoying caravan holidays in our own youths and as a family ourselves in a large frame tent we decided to get our own and are going away for our first trip.

We purchased an Adria Altea 542DK and have discovered most answers to initial Qs but still have a few i would appreciate help with:-

(1) How do i switch between battery and main power (or is it automatic?)There is no switch on the Adria There is what i assume to be an isolatioon switch (pictured below if i have added link correctly) however the internal lights work with in switched either way, without any external power added so what does this switch do? That switch is or was for a motor mover do you have one fitted?
(2) How do i charge the battery (if/when needed) - does it do this automatically when towing/plugged into mains or should there be a selector switch somewhere? (as some advice/guides suggest) Again no switch Charges when plugged in
(3) I was looking for a panel with battery levels and some other info (such as a charging selector maybe?) but all I can find is the image below Thats all you have - I'm assuming the switch on the left (Volts) is to show the battery level Correct although not accurate 100% and this looks good as it shows around 13 when I switch it - do I leave the switch off and just switch it on briefly to check the levels, or do I need to leave it on in use as a kind of master power switch? Not a power switch use as you like I know the switch on the right is for the water pump (and assume I leave that on when in use, perhaps turning off overnight) Correct
(4) Advice online suggests leaving the fridge plugged in the day before going to allow it to cool down on mains power rather the draining the battery on start up - i have turned it on and left a can in there to see if it gets cold but is there a way to know its on? It doesn't seem to have any LED or similar (its a Thetford N80) - i have turned the selector from off (0) to the mains powers symbol (battery and gas symbols also available).Not quite sure,mine has an LED panel with buttons to control power selected so probably a different model

Thank you in advance for any advice - i'm sure someone here will know all of this and be able to easily adbvise, for which i will be grateful. I am working my way through a Haynes Carravaning handbook as well as online advice but thought asking here would be more focused.

 

[Craigyoung]

Good pictures !!
Nicely answered kev !!

 

[Damian]

The item in the photo is an isolation switch for a motor mover.

The voltage switch on the first photo is simply there to check the battery voltage, it should be sprung loaded to return to off after pressing to check the voltage, and by the way, those gauges are very inaccurate, best using a multimeter.

 

[Gagakev]

The item in the photo is an isolation switch for a motor mover.

The voltage switch on the first photo is simply there to check the battery voltage, it should be sprung loaded to return to off after pressing to check the voltage, and by the way, those gauges are very inaccurate, best using a multimeter.

That's interesting Damien, my switch isn't spring loaded. Turn on, turn off. Now you got me thinking, off into the van tomorrow. !

 

[Beehpee]

The way you answered those questions Kev made it so clear as to what each answer was for, couldn’t have been better.

BP

 

[Craigyoung]

So regarding a motor mover have you got a key that looks like this amongst your keys for the caravan....

....and a mover behind each wheel ?

 

[Gagakev]

The item in the photo is an isolation switch for a motor mover.

The voltage switch on the first photo is simply there to check the battery voltage, it should be sprung loaded to return to off after pressing to check the voltage, and by the way, those gauges are very inaccurate, best using a multimeter.

That's interesting Damien, my switch isn't spring loaded. Turn on, turn off. Now you got me thinking, off into the van tomorrow. !

Popped into the van, defo not sprung loaded, (could it be broke?)

 

[Dustydog]

Excellent articulate post Kev,
Please can I have you on our Woosie Quiz team :cheer:

 

[Gagakev]

Excellent articulate post Kev,
Please can I have you on our Woosie Quiz team :cheer:

Thanks Dusty, but i would have to decline my membership to your Woosie quiz team.

It would have to be Lady Elaine me and Mags where we would again come joint top :woohoo: :lol: Or maybe even take top spot. B) :lol:

Thats is if we could attend of course

 

[thosoneill]

The image of the isolator switch may not necessarily be for a motor mover it could just be a stand alone battery isolator switch for which he will require a key