Reverse Polarity 2019 Swift with Sargent EC600

[woodsieboy]

Just back from really nice weekend away, nothing went wrong and no rain, then got home , unhitched van connected it up using hook up lead to house, turned the charger on and reverse polarity light came on, checked the 3 pin sockets with my plug in tester, lit up to say all OK.
Tried the trip, worked OK
Turned the charger off, switched on heating, yellow light came on reverse polatity stayed off.
Turned the charger back on, reverse polarity light came back on and stayed on.
So phoned Sargent and was told my call was important to them ,and I must not be abusive, but the phone just kept ringing.
My thoughts are that I have a cherger problem, Swift hand book doesn't even mention reverse polarity other than when on a pitch or abroad, so no joy there.
Any thoughts, sugestions what the problem might be please?
Currently hooked up to mains, but charger turned off

 

[ProfJohnL]

Unless someone has found this previously and got a fix for it, its really virtually impossible to fault find an electronics problem like this over a forum. any suggestions would be pure speculation.

 

[Dustydog]

Unless someone has found this previously and got a fix for it, its really virtually impossible to fault find an electronics problem like this over a forum. any suggestions would be pure speculation.

True but sometimes a suggestion especially to a regular forumite may help solve their problem.
My first suggestion is change or fully check all the cables and connections from the EHU lead into the house, A friend had this problem years ago with a cross wired 3 pin plug to EHU cable adapter.

 

[woodsieboy]

Problem solved, I eventually spoke to Sargent and as usual they were very helpful.
In the hope that it may be useful to others in future;
I had substituted another mains lead, no change, I substituted the house 3 pin socket no change,
After speaking to Sargent they suggested checking the battery charger was charging, which the panel above the door indicated that it was.
The reverse polarity light had gone off, the suggestion from Sargent was that the red RP light can stay on when there is a fluctuation on the mains supply, so even though the light was originally on, it did not indicate polarity reversal, hence my socket tester indicating the sockets were OK
Once the fluctuation in mains sypply cleared the RP light stayed off.
Hope my explanation may be of use to someone else who may post here with a similar problem.

 

[Zorber]

Ok so I have a similar issue on a 2018 swift sprite.
Now I’ve had to disconnect the battery as it would appear to be faulty as it was boiling and giving off hydrogen sulphide smell.
Looked at the Sargent device and it has reverse polarity lit. Have checked the mains and that fine. Can’t check anything else as the battery is probably buggered.
Am I little reassured that this could be a ghost light because the battery is faulty rather then the cause of the battery failure it self.
Guess a new battery and test.
How would I know if I put a new battery on that the Sargent unit isn’t faulty anyhow?

 

[ProfJohnL]

You need to satisfy yourself that your household supply is correctly wired, and the EHU cable should be checked, and if they are known to be good, and the reverse polarity light comes on, then you have to suspect the Sargent unit is faulty.

Even if a caravan receives a reversed polarity 230v ac supply, the caravans mains consumer unit is double pole protected, so even if an appliance or the wiring did become faulty the caravans safety systems should protect you.

Given the detail you describe, I suspect your battery is no longer able to keep a proper charge, but we can't tell if the battery failure was caused by the charger, so I suggest you get the charger checked out. In essence when the battery is fully charged, the charger should not be producing more than 13.8V dc at the battery terminals. If its making more than 13.8V it could be over charging the battery.

 

[Zorber]

You need to satisfy yourself that your household supply is correctly wired, and the EHU cable should be checked, and if they are known to be good, and the reverse polarity light comes on, then you have to suspect the Sargent unit is faulty.

Even if a caravan receives a reversed polarity 230v ac supply, the caravans mains consumer unit is double pole protected, so even if an appliance or the wiring did become faulty the caravans safety systems should protect you.

Given the detail you describe, I suspect your battery is no longer able to keep a proper charge, but we can't tell if the battery failure was caused by the charger, so I suggest you get the charger checked out. In essence when the battery is fully charged, the charger should not be producing more than 13.8V dc at the battery terminals. If its making more than 13.8V it could be over charging the battery.

Thank you for the advise