Flat battery on hook up

Blessed
Blessed Forum Participant Posts: 21
edited July 2019 in Caravans #1

Please help. Have had no problems before. Just spent 4 days on site moved to another. After five nights on hook up have just discovered our battery has gone flat. Nothing has tripped. We now have no electrics. Novices so haven't much of a clue but very distressed. Can anyone help quickly with any light on the matter. We have a Lunar clubman. Thankyou.

Comments

  • Freddy55
    Freddy55 Club Member Posts: 1,810 ✭
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    edited July 2019 #2

    Is the fridge set for mains?

  • ocsid
    ocsid Forum Participant Posts: 1,395
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    edited July 2019 #3

    If the battery is flat with an EHU supply this indicates that nothing is coming from the built in charger.

    Point one, has a mains plug worked its way out of the charger, or are the chargers mains in DC out fuses blown?

  • Pathfinder
    Pathfinder Forum Participant Posts: 4,446
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    edited July 2019 #4

    1 After inserting hookup lead did you rotate it clockwise approx 10deg

    2 have any of the breakers tripped

     

     

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2019 #5

    Have you got mains power on the fridge and the power sockets?if so it is a "problem" with battery charger side is it switched on?

    If you are on a cc site have a word with the site staff they could very well give good advisewink

     

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2019 #6

    The fridge should not  be able to run on 12volt when not connected to car and engine is running

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited July 2019 #7

    Charger failed perhaps? That's what happened on my Lunar Delta a few years back, we'd to buy AN Other battery charger while away to keep us going.

  • Amesford
    Amesford Club Member Posts: 685 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2019 #8

    The fridge control panel runs off the 12 volt circuit so without it the fridge won't work on mains electric or gas. also on a recent trip to the Hillhead different bollards have been installed were you plug in and there is a switch at the rear you have to turn on 

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2019 #9

    Only if some one had already tripped the EHU as otherwise it should not need "switching on" as the switch is the mcb that has been overloaded previosly,

    our fridge has a manual change over so does not rely on 12volt to work 

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,146 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2019 #10

    0001 is right, JV. Unless you have something very unusual, the fridge control panel has a permanent live feed from the leisure battery. It needs power (12v) to send the correct messages to the appropriate controls. How else could it function when the main control panel is of?

  • rayjsj
    rayjsj Forum Participant Posts: 930
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    edited July 2019 #11

    On some sites with newly installed bollards you DO have to set the mcb to ON. But the wardens usually stick notices on them to tell you that. 

    Could be the battery or the charger has failed or both.

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited July 2019 #12

    Reading the above is confusing me, never mind the novice! What I think various people are trying to say is:-

    Do you have anything in the caravan that runs on the mains supply and can be used to confirm that mains power is getting through. Something that plugs into a domestic type socket, such as an electric kettle, hair dryer, even a computer charger.

    If the chosen item does not work it is probably something to do with the incoming cable supply.  If it does work the problem is likely to be with the power supply unit.

    [The OP states battery is flat, but hasn't mentioned the lights going dim over the days in question, so I guess the PSU is fine and has been running everything off mains supply]

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2019 #13

    Ours is a Dometic tall fridge and it will still work on mains without 12v supply as long as manuel switch is turned to mains the only times it needs 12v is when it is on gas for the igniter, and when switched to 12v hooked up and engine running on car and the supply for that comes from vehicle alternator via a relay in the caravan

    Ps and the internal light which would not come on as we realised the van 12v supply was turned off when the led lighting did not work eitherembarassed so it is still a case of learning or is it ageundecided

  • Pathfinder
    Pathfinder Forum Participant Posts: 4,446
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    edited July 2019 #14

    It would certainly help if Blessed were to come back to us and and give some indication as whether any suggestions have put things right

  • ocsid
    ocsid Forum Participant Posts: 1,395
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    edited July 2019 #15

    Then Dometic have changed the design since they built our 2008 RMT 7655L tower fridge, there the 12 VDC feeds the control electronics.

    The manual states: " Information. For operation, it is compulsory to provide the device with a permanent 12V DC connection at terminals C/D (permanent voltage supply for the functional electronics)" unquote.

    With ours, I can't fathom out how I could set it so it has not a live feed of 12VDC if set on mains, without cutting that compulsory feed off, its wired up that way as per the instructions.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2019 #16

    I think it depends if the fridge is auto change over or manual?i know now that the internal fridge light willnot work until the switches on the c/van control panel are onsurprised

  • ocsid
    ocsid Forum Participant Posts: 1,395
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    edited July 2019 #17

    Ours is one with an "auto-change-over" setting, but I note from the installation manual its thermostat control is electronic, via the same module. Single channel thus controlling any powering source. 

    So if the cooling feature still "worked" it would be unregulated.

  • ErnieJH
    ErnieJH Forum Participant Posts: 114
    edited July 2019 #18

    I had this problem once and it turned out to be a fuse, in addition to the normal trips there are often fuses, so I would check the fuses in the Van to see if any of them have blown. There may be one in the line to the battery from the charger. Best of luck

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited July 2019 #19

    Again re my Lunar a small glass fuse inside the power supply unit blew but to gain access I'd to drill out various pop rivets .... not exactly user friendly. 

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