Hi guys I need some help please. I bought a brand new coachman 675 last May and after our season had finished the van sat in the outside compound. By December the battery was flat and unable to keep the tracker up and running. Has anyone had an issue with the coachman’s draining batteries ? I am told they don’t completely shut down
Solar panels
- Thread starter Paul69
- Start date
If you have a tracker it's continuously draining power from the battery.
When did your season finish?
Do you have a solar panel (as per the thread title)?
When did your season finish?
Do you have a solar panel (as per the thread title)?
Tracker takes minimal power according to the supplier. Yes I have a soar panel that they fit before we had the van. I think it’s a 100 watt
The Phantom Tracker fitted to our Lunar Clubman flattened the battery in 2 weeks - so I found it, took it out and paid the extra insurance premium.
I've got a similar setup on a 2024 Swift. The tracker has its own battery which is supposed to be good for 3 months, and I imagined that the solar panel would be enough to keep the leisure battery charged over winter, maintain the alarm and so on. The tracker is also maintained by the leisure battery, but given that it has its own battery as well I didn't expect it to consume much.
I put in storage at the end of October, and checked the battery state of charge every so often (as reported by my tracker app).
In December I noticed the tracker battery level starting to come down from 100%, which surprised me a bit. By January it was reporting about 60% and so I went to check physically. I found that the leisure battery was almost completely discharged (and the tracker was functioning from its own battery only)
I recharged the battery and replaced it, and decided to experiment.
In October, I left the power control unit in the caravan switched 'on' (assuming that I needed that for the solar panel and alarm etc). When battery re-installed in January I switched the power control unit 'off', since it seems that might be what I was supposed to do.
A month has gone by and my tracker is still reporting 100%. I can't go and physically check the leisure battery at the moment (will do so in a couple of weeks) but I'm hoping that the rapid discharge was mainly my mistake to leave the power control unit switched on.
I put in storage at the end of October, and checked the battery state of charge every so often (as reported by my tracker app).
In December I noticed the tracker battery level starting to come down from 100%, which surprised me a bit. By January it was reporting about 60% and so I went to check physically. I found that the leisure battery was almost completely discharged (and the tracker was functioning from its own battery only)
I recharged the battery and replaced it, and decided to experiment.
In October, I left the power control unit in the caravan switched 'on' (assuming that I needed that for the solar panel and alarm etc). When battery re-installed in January I switched the power control unit 'off', since it seems that might be what I was supposed to do.
A month has gone by and my tracker is still reporting 100%. I can't go and physically check the leisure battery at the moment (will do so in a couple of weeks) but I'm hoping that the rapid discharge was mainly my mistake to leave the power control unit switched on.
- Jun 20, 2005
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I wonder if something else other than the Tracker is draining the leisure battery?
I have no idea how your Coachman is wired. On my Bailey if the fridge is not completely switched off the interior light stays on when the door is left ajar in storage. Thus my battery flattened.
You need to check all the circuits and establish what is causing the drain. With such a new caravan I am sure your Dealer will check it foc for you.
I have no idea how your Coachman is wired. On my Bailey if the fridge is not completely switched off the interior light stays on when the door is left ajar in storage. Thus my battery flattened.
You need to check all the circuits and establish what is causing the drain. With such a new caravan I am sure your Dealer will check it foc for you.
- Jul 18, 2017
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Our batterey would last about 2 months and not two weeks. We fitted a solar panel on the Lunar and no more issues.
- Jul 18, 2017
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Are you sure that the master 12v switch is in the off position as that is the most common cause for a battery drain where a solar panel has been fitted.
To be honest the dealer is not the most helpful unfortunately. I think they’ve had my 40k and moved on
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