Electrical Problems
Hello All,
We are having major electrical problems with our Autotrail Scout SE and hoping that someone out there can give us some help!
We went touring Europe for 8 weeks at the back end of last year. On the first night away our electrics tripped and we discovered that it was one circuit that was causing the problem, and we could still use the electrics on the other two circuits (thankfully!).
On our return home we took it to a motorhome technician and they tested the seargent 365 power unit and found no faults with the unit, but weren't prepared to do any work to the 24v system. (we since have reservations about their abilities!)
The three components on the circuit which is not working are fridge, water heater and battery recharge system, after isolating the fridge and water heater the system is still tripping. Also on a couple of occasions the third circuit didn't trip but as soon as we plugged an appliance in or switched on the cooker the system would trip.
The only work that has been done on the motorhome was to fit a security lock next to the main door frame, could this have damaged something?
We are totally at a loss and getting quite frustrated with the problem. Can anyone please give us any indication of what the problem might be and a way to move forward.
Kind Regards
Hans & Claire
Comments
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Not an electrician but it sounds to me like an earthing fault?
Do you mean 12v system as not heard of 24volt, in a motor caravan that i think is in HGVs
I do not think the security lock fitting would affect anything as most mains cables would i think be run at floor level
sorry but thats all i can think of ,i am sure someone will post before long with more technical knowledge
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Quite possibilly the trip itself, however, I'd try to identify if it is just one 'appliance' on the circuit causing the issue rather than assuming it's the circuit itself. I'd be very surprised if it's the Sargeant Unit at fault but that too is a possibility. Sargent are a very good company, they sorted an issue on one of our previous vans. It turned out not to be their unit but the main feed wire into the RCD working itself loose. Not unheard of I'm told on caravans, motorised or otherwise.
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Thanks for your replies, we have contacted seargent and they couldn't help unfortunately.
The 24V was supposed to be 240V, typo error!
I think the next step will be to get an electrician to look at the problem, hopefully that will work.
I'll keep you updated on our progress
Kind Regards.
Hans & Claire
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As has been said an electrician is the best bet as he should have the equipment to test the circuits plus give you piece of mind and paper work that all is safe. I would not think the work you had done has caused the problem as far as I'm aware mains cables are run inside cupboards,beds, etc
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the 240v system is 'generally' sperate from the 12v one and its not unheard of for 12v to be out of action (flat batteries, or components 'fused') yet the 240v continues without issue...though possibly missing the 'control panel' functions.
however, we have a 12v system working OK, but some heavy duty 'mains' appliances not working....not only that, something there on a specific circuit thats causing the 'trip' and as you've isolated the heater and fridge this points to the charger...
its not unknown for MH chargers to fail as a result of leisure batteries failing and the charger having to over work before failing itself...
try plugging in the mains but not till youve turned off the charger (button on the Sargen PSU probably), reset any 'trips' and then check if the fridge, water heater, sockets etc all work from 230v.
failing that, its back to the electrician.
good luck.
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