Off grid caravanning
I have a Bailey Senator s6 Virginia 2008 mod. I do not intend to always use sites with hook up as there are many nice sites to see in remote places.
I am having a bit of a problem but it may be because I am new at this. My problem is that I can only get the van electrics to work when it is hooked up so a supply. I had thought that if I switch on the main 12v switch at the panel I could run my fridge, lights, igniters and such directly from the battery but not so. it seems that although the lights etc are 12v nothing works unless I am hooked up. pull the hook up out and everything is dead!
So far I have changed the battery in case it was a dud. Both the new one and the old one were Lion 120 deep cycle leisure types. I fitted the new one today but nothing will work on its own but again when the 230v is plugged in everything works.
does anyone know the Bailey van I have well enough to comment. have I bought a van that does not support 12v off grid??? am I missing something? Seems ridiculous to me.
I have checked all the fuses which are fine, looked for hidden fuses which there are none, and the only switches in the van are on the master panel and the RCD power box apart from the heater/water switches which only work off 230v?
How can I find any information/solutions to my problem. The company I bought the van off was closed on early Friday and no technical staff work weekends.
Although I am a newby at caravans I am quite technical & capable being an ex building surveyor but damn but this has got me stumped.
I would appreciate any helpful comments, hints, tips or advice
BR
Mike
Comments
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Certainly no expert myself but your fridge won't work on 12v habitation battery. It's gas or EHU, battery setting only for when on tow. Hope that solves some of your issues.
We are motorhomes and can only yell you how ours works. We have a rocker switch for engine, off in the middle and habitation this has to be activated before we have power. On the same control panel we have a pump switch off and on, it is lit when on. This bit may not help you!
There is a great thread on here 'how to survive without EHU'. Search facility isn't great on here I'll see if I can find it.
Try this
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The thread you need is "Tips For Making Caravanning And Touring Cheaper"
It's the third thread on the list after you log on, Bongonaught.
Its been running for some time now and altho stuff was lost when the Website was improved ( Ha Ha Ha
) the regular contributors will doubtless, give you the guidance you need !!From my point of view the manufacturers don't normally turn the 'vans out capable of existing OFF GRID !!
That's up to us to organise, alas !!
Brian A B M
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Hi
This is all i am looking for really. The fridge & heating/HW will be on gas, & shower, the lights, & radio on battery. if I had this i would be over the moon but as I said I have nothing as it stand.
I have just purchased a brilliant solar panel system for off grid camping so I can get around 8-10 days from the battery & one bottle of gas.
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Yeh, I have all that on my panel also. On the panel there is a amp/voltage meter which again only shows the battery state when on EHU if I unplug it the meter does not register?
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well I had an Elddis 40yrs ago and one could use battery and or gas but leisure batteries were rare then and it had gas lights???
Thanks for the info buddy I will take a look right now.
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In the Owners Manual it clearly states that you are not to power the van up without a battery fitted!
But with the EHU everything is working. Maybe it is not rigged to work on battery alone, maybe I will have to have some adaptions done by a competent person? I have made a start and changed all the lighting to LED's
I am not bothered about a telly as I have a laptop & a charger USB plug end. Must watch the radios tho' cos they really do pull the juice if left on too long. I don't mind paying site fees once in a while but there are thousands of remote sites out there less orderly and regimented and we quite like the remoteness. Paying £16-25 quid a night makes for an expensive stay. Better to pay £3 per night then you can recoup your investment i.e solar panels, gas conversion etc, etc,
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I reckon it's something very simple! But since I am too I can't help 😊. We don't 'flick' any switch in our motorhome to go on 12v but once EHU hooked we turn on the master switches. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you how to........... but I reckon they're all enjoying ghetto sun - like what I am but I'm whiling away on here too.
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If everything works when on electric mains hook up then the problem is......A.....A 3 position switch.marked car.off van. should be in van position....B...12 volt fuse in line at rear of battery box..blown or bad connection....simple! OR..faulty battery or connection....not so simple!
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well I just renewed the battery (free from the company who sold us the van) so it's not that. The only 3 way switch we have is on the fridge which can be set to car/230v/gas
I cannot see any fuse at rear of battery box but will look again tomorrow. The fuses are on the front of the main RCD/Fuse board under the front seat. I already pulled all of these and checked them, nothing wrong there either ?
Thanks for the comments
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It's something very simple/ stupid or I have lost the plot already? only retied last week ish!
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I had an older Bailey Ranger and that ran well off grid. The water heater won't work on gas unless you take the vent cover off. The water heater control for gas is different to the electric switch usually a round one like the heating button but with 30 40 50 60 70 for the degrees I find 40 plenty hot enough.
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There should be a switch or button somewhere to select either van battery or car battery.
Do you have some sort of control panel somewhere, could be on there. Ours (also a 2008 van but not a Bailey) has a panel above the door where we can select which battery, turn 12v off and on, turn on water pump, and check the battery condition. It also has a clock and some switches for lights.
What does your handbook say about how to turn on 12v power?
The fact everything works when you have EHU suggests to me that the power from the battery is not getting through. There will be a fuse near the battery somewhere, it is often hard to find.
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I've just looked at a Bailey user manual online and it says thus:
The 12v system is designed to operate with a
leisure battery in circuit and should not be turned
on without one connected. The 12v supply to the
caravan services can be isolated via the 12v on/off
switch on the control panel.
.........so according to Baileys you should have a 12v on/off switch on the control panel.
If this is not the case I would contact Baileys for advice.
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Generally speaking it is almost impossible to diagnose this kind of problem on a discussion forum, you have to trace the problem through from the battery to the panel. However, I did have a similar problem on a Bailey where they had fitted a connector in the lead between the battery and control panel. The connector was not far from the battery locker, under the double bed, and had come loose. Somebody on this forum had the same problem and amazingly I was able to diagnose it so it's not always impossible.
Assuming your battery is charged (test with a multimeter) and assuming that the control panel switches are all in the correct position then it is either a problem with the interconnecting wiring or the panel itself. Just last week I had the same problem on my motorhome (zero volts when off EHU) and it turned out to be a blown fuse in a box behind the driver's seat (picked up by the dealer during the service). Certainly you would expect the voltmeter on the panel to give you around 12.7 volts from the battery when not on EHU. If it's blank then it's a problem Houston!
You need the 12volt battery supply for lights, heating controls, water pump and fridge igniter.
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Just to clear things up for us
Do the 12 volt internal lights work when the caravan is not connected to 230 volt hook up. (You may have a couple of lights that are 230 volt).
Does the water heater work on gas when the caravan is not connected to 230 volt hook up.
Does the caravan heater work on gas when the caravan is not connected to 230 volt hook up.
Do the gas cooker igniters work when the glass lid is fully lifted up.
Did you have all the controls explained to you when you bought the van.
Have you studied the hand book0 -
There should be a switch or button somewhere to select either van battery or car battery.
While my last caravan (2002 Lunar) had exactly that, my current 21-3 Coachman has an all electrickery control panel with no such selection option
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If you look hard enough they are easy to find but the facilities are basic. Given your challenge I will post any I find this year with prices.
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It is my understanding that the battery will power your lights (although there might be some lights that are mains only), your water pump and perhaps your radio (type you get in a car). It is unlikely to work your fridge, power points and heating. Generally speaking, gas will power your fridge and heating. This is generally what happens with most 'modern' vans.
Hope this helps.
David
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The direct answer is your van should be capable of running off grid. I quick google indicates there are plenty of fuse hidden away all I can suggest if you haven't solved your problem is have a fiddle with them. Or give Sargent who I think make the electrical system a call for help.
If you have solved the problem please post the answer for future help of others
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The 12v system runs the 12v lights, the water pump, the fridge control panel, the ignition systems for the gas, the fan or pump for the heating system, the radio, and the 12v sockets.
These should all be capable of running off the battery......if the system can access the battery power.
It will never power the actual heat producing part of the heating, or the fridge. The 12v part of the fridge only operates while towing, and is then powered from the car.
When on EHU, the charger works as a transformer and supplies the 12v direct.
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There are various relays in your system to direct the 12v power correctly.
If it does work, this points to either the battery fuse or the (possibly automatic if you have no selector switch) relay that controls the selection of battery, or possibly an associated fuse.
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JUST AN UPDATE
I finally got the time to get stuck into the problem. I had a guy (auto electrician) take a look at it. We started with a fully charged battery and he did a quick test on everything and found that with everything switched off there was a draw on the battery from somewhere.
After various trials it turned out to be the old (supposedly) redundant alarm was actually still connected drawing power. Once this was isolated we charged the battery again and left it overnight. When we came back it still had it's full charge so that problem solved. The next was the 12v system where nothing would work without the EHU, well there was a blown fuse which was not obvious when inspected with the naked eye. A quick meter test identified that and once changed everything all sprung back into life.
At last off Grid is now a possibility and I have ordered the new solar panel 120w folding type.
I now have a different problem, after all said and done the Mazda Bongo is struggling a bit with on the hills and inclines with the auto box getting hot. I took it to the specialist to ask him what could be done to improve it. He said a full flush and new higher temp fluid and an oil cooler. I decided rather than spending around £1500 I will just find me a decent diesel replacement that will do the job nicely.
Anyone want a Mazda Bongo V6 Auto Lpg ? Nice van...
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Hi Bongonaught. The only thing I know about the Mazda Bongo is that they make an excellent conversion to vegetable oil.! Some years ago, I converted my tow car, a Toyota surf 3 L to run on vegetable oil and during that time I happened to be told by the engineer is that the Mazda Bongo was a car that made an excellent conversion. Anyway to get back to your problem, I'm glad to read that you sorted out the fuse that was causing the problem. I agree with you, sometimes, you look at the fuse and it looks perfectly ok but, as proved, sometimes you need to check it with the circuit tester. There is, as you have already been told, the thread called 'how to survive a non-240 V site' . Unfortunately, when the website was changed, the old thread was lost and that was really sad because it was full of very useful information and experiences of non-EHU caravanners. Please, if you are able in the future, add to this thread by telling us anything you feel would be useful to others who-already camp non EHU or those who are thinking about it. I went non-EHU3 years ago and they haven't regretted the day. With the modern technology now, i.e. SPs, inverters, etc, it is just as good as if you had 240v stuck in the side of your van ( for which you will be paying very handsome money for) - we run 240v equipment through our inverter - microwave, toaster, vacuum and blender! You'll certainly not be able to run an absorption fridge off a battery for very long - a compressor fridge would be much more battery friendly. Get a Safefill cylinder and have much cheaper gas to run your heating, hot water and cooking on. Have a great time with non EHU. We are on the Welsh coast at the moment and not an orange cable in sight. The investment we made in the SP, the extra battery and the inverter has been recouped in saved fees. We are paying £8 a night at the moment - but WOW - this site is worth it- £4 next site and £5.50 the site after that. Non EHU rocks!!!
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Hi BN. We do a few off grid CLs as well. Out of peak season, don't be afraid to ask CL owners who provide EHU if you can go hook up free for a few £ off price. Some are very accommodating and flexible. Enjoy!
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