swift tech help or advice urgent

[starlightdj]

Hi All can anyone especially swift HELP.

Have a new sterling europa 650 van, brought it to a site in north wales for the weekend.

On hooking up yesterday all systems seemed to work fine but by late evening the 12v system died, I have changed battery and all ok again looks like battery flattened.

The 240v system is all working fine as is the 12v system but second battery is slowly draining, I dont think the charger is working.

I have checked all flick swithches on 240v plus all blade fuses on 12v. all seems OK

The NE190 panel leds Van battery Lit, Pump lit, mains plug led not lit.

also once battery goes flat the fridge turns off even though powered by the mains, it seems to need battery power to power the lcd display.

The second battery I dont think will last the day, It looks like my weekend and food in the freezer are going to be ruined unless I hope somebody can give any help or advice.

Thanking you all for any guidance.

John

 

[Heethers]

John have a look at earlier posts sure their is a problem with chargers fitted to swift vans made between acertain date.

Andy of swift has posted what you need to do , l think you need to give him your vin number and he will tell you if you have one of the faulty chargers.

NigelH

 

[starlightdj]

John have a look at earlier posts sure their is a problem with chargers fitted to swift vans made between acertain date.

Andy of swift has posted what you need to do , l think you need to give him your vin number and he will tell you if you have one of the faulty chargers.

NigelH

Hi Nigel, Just read the thread on the chargers.

It seams they are saying it only affects vans built between 010508 - Aug 08

Although our van is new, from the books it was actually built in Feb 08, so i should hope it falls outside the problem area but it does seem to have all the same symptoms.

Thanks john

 

[starlightdj]

Hi quick update just spoke to dealer, they say it sounds like the charger has gone as 12v system wont work if you disconnect battery.

All they can suggest is phone on tuesday nxt week and arrange a date to book it in for them to have a look at it.

Thats this weekend spoilt and look forward to a round trip of 150 miles just to have it confirmed prior to them even ordering any parts and the susequent waiting period therafter.

Also got a site booked for a weekend break in two weeks, Guess I might as well cancel that one too.

Cant believe you have to go to this much trouble, why is there not mobile units that can come to you and fix items covered by warranty issues afterall have just spent

 

[ed1]

hello john

i know exactly how you feel, the same happened to us on our first trip with new compass last sept. we came home the day after, drove straight to the dealers, after informing them we were going to do so. when we arrived, we stated that we were not leaving until they fixed it and they had to take bits off another van that had just arrived from the factory. not a good day that one. but its been fine since and the dealer did do as was asked, so we were happy bunnys again. the only down side was it was another 5 months before we coud get away again. hope the next trip of yours makes up for this one, just look forward. ED

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

John,

Sorry to hear about your issue with the charger. If you charger has broken (which from the symptoms you describe sounds like it has), you will loose all 12V in the van, including the fridge electronics.

There are a couple of things you can do to save your weekend:

1) If you can let me know where you are or your closest dealer, we can try to get in touch with someone close by who may have a "spare" charger. They are easy to change (10 minute job), and you can do it yourself.

2) You can use a separate charger (i.e. a Halfords / Argos) charger, plugged into your 230V sockets, connected directly to your leisure battery. While this is not a permanent fix, it will get you through the weekend by keeping your battery topped up.

With regards to your next trip, we can try to get a charger to you (assuming a local dealer doesn't have one) on Tuesday, so that you can carry on with your plans.

If you want, drop me an e-mail on: adhir@swiftleisure.co.uk, with your phone number, and I'll give you a call back to talk through your options.

Sorry, once again, we will do everything we can to rescue your holiday.

Thanks,

Ash

 

[Parksy]

Hi John

According to Swift a batch of faulty battery chargers were fitted to some Swift Group caravans which were manufactured between 01/05/08 and31/08/08. The date of manufacture should be on the electrical certificate of your caravan.

Swift have said that they've had difficulties with the supply of replacement chargers but those who have faulty chargers are a priority.

If you are facing undue delays it might be worth emailing Andy Spacey who is the design and developement director at Swifts.

aspacey@swiftleisure.co.uk

Is it worth you buying a cheap battery charger to tide you over?

There's a comprehensive thread on Caravan Talk which may provide more information

http://www.caravantalk.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=24246

 

[Parksy]

Oops, I must have been writing when Ash ( The man who never sleeps :0) ) replied.

Bank Holiday weekend too, well done Ash.

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

John,

Just to add, a very short term option is to use the tow car battery to keep 12V running in the van, by selecting "CAR" on the control panel.

You could also use the tow car (with the engine running) to charge the leisure battery, although while the tow car is running, nothing apart from the fridge will work in the caravan.

I would only suggest doing this if a solution can be found very quickly, as running only from the tow car will dicharge the engine battery very quickly.

Ash

 

[paul_374410560]

worth just to check that the inline yellow cartridge 20 amp fuse behind the battery box INSIDE the caravan is ok, its on the wiring loom

 

[starlightdj]

Hi all A quick update and Special Thanks to Ash at Swift.

Our battery charger stopped working on the saturday of the bank holiday weekend, I posted a comment on here for help.

After the dealer basically dismised my problems and told me to contact them after the holiday you could say I was rather annoyed.

However Ash from swift replied to my help request within 3 hours.

After taking his advice and swopping details he took the time to call me after six pm on the saturday evening to check I could manage through the weekend with his remedies in place.

A very big relief to have someone whom cared on the other end of the phone.

On returning home on Tuesday once again Ash called to check we were ok and had managed with his temporary fixes and advice, He then informed me a replacement charger had been sourced and would be fed exed to me asap.

Two working days later a new replacement charger was received, a five minute job to change the unit over and I now have a fully working van again.

We are away again this weekend thanks only to quick and thoughtfull actions of Ash and the team from swift.

Credit where its due, I am now so glad I bought from this company, The customer care offered I think goes well beyond the call of duty.

Thanks once again.

John

 

[trucker]

Nice one john. I too think the customer care from Swift is second to none. Andy has helped me out via this forum and within 2 days of what was just a query turned into action and resolution.

Well done to Swift

Kevin