Obscure Coachman electrical fault

DaveT
DaveT Forum Participant Posts: 174
100 Comments
edited September 2019 in Caravans #1

I have a 2019 Coachman Laser which has just gone back for some warranty work. Unfortunately, we have experienced a bizarre power supply problem. It usually happens when the heating is on, the lights and DC television is connected. The cooker or other heavy usage items are not connected at the time. 

The problem is that the lights, Alde control panel, master control panel, tv shut down for perhaps 5 seconds and then return to normal. Once this has started, the frequency between power outages increases. Turning all the power off for an hour seems to reset it. This has happened on a number of sites, so I am confident that the site supply is not a problem. Annoyingly, it doesn't happen every trip, so it has a random nature to it. In addition, it can even happen during the night when the lights are out and the tv is connected, although not switched on. We are usually woken by lights flashing and the television switching itself on and off.

My dealer has had the caravan connected with everything running and cannot replicate the problem - as I feared would be the case.

Although my gut feeling is that the 12V charger is overheating, I wondered whether any other Coachman owners do or have suffered the same problem in the past.

Comments

  • Oneputt
    Oneputt Club Member Posts: 9,144 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2019 #2

    I have am electrical fault on the master, not as bad as yours. When on EHU and switch the master on it tells me the car engine is running I then run through a number settings until it clears. As I say not serious but a pain especially as the dealer reset it once

  • DaveT
    DaveT Forum Participant Posts: 174
    100 Comments
    edited September 2019 #3

    Thanks Oneputt.

  • lornalou1
    lornalou1 Forum Participant Posts: 2,169
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    edited September 2019 #4

    Has the van got a limiter on the control panel that you set for the incoming amps, ie- most sites are 16amp but if your limiter has been set to say 10 then when the charger/fridge/heater clicks in it's cutting things out to save power.

  • DaveT
    DaveT Forum Participant Posts: 174
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    edited September 2019 #5

    Thanks Lornalou. Have tried it on both 2Kw and 3Kw settings with the same result. 

  • stephen p
    stephen p Forum Participant Posts: 194
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    edited September 2019 #6

    The fault you describe is on the 12V DC powered equipment only? and it sounds like ALL of the 12V equipment is affected.

    What warranty work was done electrical??

    It is not likely to be the charger, if this failed it would just leave you running on battery and all would stay working.

    It could be your battery, if it can not hold charge and is putting excessive load on the charger the charger may trip (thermal) leaving you (not) running on a dead battery. I think this is unlikely as you said it could happen when there is minimal load on the system.

    You need to be looking at a common point in the 12V wiring, poor connections can overheat and dis/re-connect intermittently. I would be looking inside the DC fuse box look for loose connections to and from the main switch (DC) and check any in line fuse holders, also check the wiring to any main ON/OFF switch in the caravan.

    Please disconnect your battery and EHU before investigating. (not shouting)

  • lornalou1
    lornalou1 Forum Participant Posts: 2,169
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    edited September 2019 #7

    No, not what the heating is set at but the total limit. 2kw is 8.3 amp so if your limiter is set at 10 amp then that gives you 1.7amp to play with and when the charger kicks in or the fridge the surge could take you over the limit. cutting out the power till drops below that total limit. Sorry I'm not very good at explaining thing on paper.

  • DaveT
    DaveT Forum Participant Posts: 174
    100 Comments
    edited September 2019 #8

    Thanks for all your comments. I will try to make some sense of the circuit diagram. I note your good advice regarding the removal of power sources before I go poking around, you are absolutely right.

  • Waffler
    Waffler Forum Participant Posts: 149
    edited October 2019 #9

    I would try a few things.  Next time it happens remove the solar panel fuse. If that controller is faulty it might over charge.  Switch off master and switch on again. If not that disconnect the battery and reconnect.  If that fixes it the problem might be software. When it is at the dealer is the load the same as when you have the fault. Is the heating up to temperature? We had a problem with the bathroom lights that wouldn’t work at night. Turned out to be a dodgy connection. One thought is that the mains input might be loose. If it is the usual kettle connector it can slip out but still make a poor connection.

  • Toby Keith
    Toby Keith Forum Participant Posts: 4
    edited October 2020 #10

    Hello

    I have just purchased a new Coachman caravan and have experienced the same problems cover a long weekend. Did you or the dealer find the solution. As my dealer is also struggling to replicate, but I did manage the video the issue.

     

  • Toby Keith
    Toby Keith Forum Participant Posts: 4
    edited October 2020 #11

    Hello Dave T

    I have just taken delivery of a Coachman 545 VIP and experienced the same problems. Did you or the dealer find a solution? Thanks in advance.

    Keith

  • Bryn01
    Bryn01 Forum Participant Posts: 1
    edited May 2021 #12

    We have a 2019 Laser with the same intermittent issue, our lights have now also randomly started switching on, not all at once, just one (but different ones) now and again… did anyone manage to find the source of the issue..? Many thanks

  • Wherenext
    Wherenext Club Member Posts: 10,607 ✭✭✭
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    edited May 2021 #13

     As Dave has not been in touch I would suggest you email Rowenna and ask her to send your post to Dave in the hope he replies.

  • filey
    filey Forum Participant Posts: 3
    edited July 2021 #14

    Hi 

    Did anyone get any info on what the issue was to the problem on the electrics we are also having issues and dealer cannot replicate.

    Many thanks 

  • filey
    filey Forum Participant Posts: 3
    edited July 2021 #15

    Hi Keith

    We have a coachman with the same problem did you get it sorted at all. 

    kind regards 

    Jayne 

  • Toby Keith
    Toby Keith Forum Participant Posts: 4
    edited July 2021 #16

    Hi Jayne

    The dealer changed the relay switches, and the mobile phone charger. This did sort the problems, but whether it was the relays or charger or both I do not know. I know it was very frustrating trying to solve. Good luck.

    Keith

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