No power to 12v sockets (2 Viewers)

MikeandCarolyn

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Since our last trip (when everything was working) we have had 2 Solar panels ,1 Invertor and a Battery Condition meter fitted- went to the Poole Charity Meet last weekend and found that there was no power to either the TV or Sattelite dish.Checking yesterday there was no power to any 12v sockets but all lights and pumps (12v) were ok. Any ideas where to start looking ?

I'd like to try and identify the problem myself before taking it back to 'The Man' :ROFLMAO:

Mike.
 

JayDee

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Oct 7, 2007
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Hi Mike,
About a month ago, when we took our MH off it's hard-standing, I was inflating the tyres using our external 12v socket and blew a fuse. It was very much a hunt the thimble game as I had nothing to tell me if the circuit was wired into the Fiat system or the Dethleffs system. It seemed reasonable that it had been wired into the Elektroblock (under the driver's seat in our case) and probably on one of the fuses there, though not helped by the lack of an English translation. I did eventually trace the culprit to the 'block so that would be a good place to start.

Of course your Elektroblock may not be under the seat :Sad:, so good luck with that. It should have a mention in the owners manual though.:Smile:


John
 
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MikeandCarolyn

MikeandCarolyn

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Hi Mike,
Of course your Elektroblock may not be under the seat :Sad:, so good luck with that. It should have a mention in the owners manual though.:Smile:
John

Owners Manual-there's a laugh :ROFLMAO:in all sections there are pictures of various controls etc. that bear no resemblance to anything actually fitted ::bigsmile:
But-there is something under the passenger seat,which I had assumed was 'Fiat' rather than 'LMC' I will have a look. Thx

Mike.

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JayDee

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Elektroblock should look a bit like this; lots of connecters and loads of fuses.
 

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MikeandCarolyn

MikeandCarolyn

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Elektroblock should look a bit like this; lots of connecters and loads of fuses.

It was under seat,and looks exactly like that-20Amp fuse on left end looked as though it had got hot at some time-but there was continuity there.All other fuses are good.

With no fuses blown,I'm no wiser as to why there's no power on 12v sockets.

One thing that gives me concern is that there is a connector labelled 'solar reg' but nothing going to it-so where has 'HE' connected the solar reg and why?

Mike.
 

hilldweller

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One thing that gives me concern is that there is a connector labelled 'solar reg' but nothing going to it-so where has 'HE' connected the solar reg and why?

Mike.

Looks like he wired direct to leisure battery. Had he wired to the electroblock it would have topped up the starter battery as well.

Should be a fuse.

Electroblock will disconnect the leisure battery if it gets too low, it does this in two stages keeping essentials on 'till the last minute.

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PeterandLinda

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Dec 5, 2009
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Hi

You will probably have to look for fuses along the wiring - it seems to be common practice to put fuses all over the place but good practice would put them near to the leisure battery to protect the wiring as well as the appliance - it's going to be a tedious job though.

P&L
 

iceni

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If you have solar panels fitted and they are in excess of abouyt 10 watts then there should be a regulatr box in the system. this may be a little box with voltage and ams deiplayed on it. they usually put it in a conveinient place so you can keep an eye on the battery condition.

If they havent put a regulator on then the batteries will boil themselves to death especially on a sunny day when the panels are showing 4 or 5 amps

It seems that is only parts of the 12v system are not working that theres a fuse gone somewhere sop a milti meter will be useful to track back the wiring till you find voltage

Phill
 
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MikeandCarolyn

MikeandCarolyn

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Electroblock will disconnect the leisure battery if it gets too low, it does this in two stages keeping essentials on 'till the last minute.

What is 'too low'? Last weekend,without EHU, battery was at 65% 1st thing in morn before it got light, and was fully charged by midday.

Mike.

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JeanLuc

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If the habitation lights and the water pump are working, but the 12V sockets are not, that suggests the problem is not the battery. Have you checked all the fuses on the front of the Elektroblock (EBL)?

The sockets are likely to be connected via one of the following fuses:
Kreis 1 / Kreis 2 (kreis = 'set' or idiomatically, 'circuit')
Reserve 1,2,3 or 4 - these can be used for various electrical supplies according to the manufacturer's wishes; your satellite system may be connected to one of these, or it may be taken straight from the leisure battery or an existing 12V socket line.

One other thought. If the main switch on the EBL has been turned off recently during sola installation, try turning it off then on again, and then go to the 12V master switch on the control panel (with the meters) and switch that off then on again. This should not be the problem as the pump is working, but when the main switch on the EBL has been switched off, you have to reset the system by switching the control panel master switch on, then off, then on again.

Philip

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hilldweller

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Cryptic as ever ::bigsmile:
And of course I didn't look at volts-only the % charge.

If I were a civil servant or lawyer I could have padded it out to 10 pages to claim a fat fee but the answer is still 10.5V.

% charge is probably more guesswork than fact. I very much doubt ( but I could be wrong ) that it will monitor current used and voltage and work out the *real* percentage for a new or aging battery.

Now if it's got % charge it's a different beastie to the electroblock pictured and that I quoted 10.5V from. Or was % charge from a separate battery manager ?
 

JayDee

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It was under seat,and looks exactly like that-20Amp fuse on left end looked as though it had got hot at some time-but there was continuity there.All other fuses are good.

With no fuses blown,I'm no wiser as to why there's no power on 12v sockets.

One thing that gives me concern is that there is a connector labelled 'solar reg' but nothing going to it-so where has 'HE' connected the solar reg and why?

Mike.

The firm that fitted our solar panel set-up went direct to the battery as they find it more straight forward (he said). There will be a regulator fitted somewhere in the system.

The 12v is quite a mystery. In our Dethleffs I'm not aware of any other fuses in the system, but LMC may do it differently.
Do you think it would be any use getting in touch with a dealership. I spoke to these people a few years ago and found them quite friendly
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Might be worth a call to their service department.
Hope you get it sorted soon.


John
 

JayDee

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The firm that fitted our solar panel set-up went direct to the battery as they find it more straight forward (he said). There will be a regulator fitted somewhere in the system.

The 12v is quite a mystery. In our Dethleffs I'm not aware of any other fuses in the system, but LMC may do it differently.
Do you think it would be any use getting in touch with a dealership. I spoke to these people a few years ago and found them quite friendly
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Might be worth a call to their service department.
Hope you get it sorted soon.


John

A while after posting the above it occured to me that 12v sockets are not necessarily a standard fitting. Our Dethleffs had a single 12v socket in the TV cabinet. The external 12v was retro-fitted by the dealer when we bought it and I spurred (and fused) an additional 12v socket in the habitation area myself. The only other 12v outlets are run from the vehicle battery in the cab. What I'm suggesting here (in a rather long-winded way) is that your 12v sockets may well be retro-fitted by the previous owner or the dealer they bought it from, in which case the spur and fuse could be just about anywhere. Do you have a fitted TV cabinet or suchlike? That's where I spurred from. You might be able to spot the link-in from inside the cabinet.


John
 

wireman

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My television and some other stuff is wired direct to the battery with inline fuses....check at your battery to see if the installer has left a positive or negative lead off by mistake. JFYI my battery has at least 4 connections to it, soon to be 5 when I get the solar fitted....

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MikeandCarolyn

MikeandCarolyn

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Do you have a fitted TV cabinet or suchlike? That's where I spurred from. You might be able to spot the link-in from inside the cabinet.
John

There is a TV cabinet and in there is one dual socket with 12v and mains sockets,there is also another of these sockets next to the cooker.In both cases there is power to the mains socket but not the 12v one.I assume these were original fittings.The Kathrein control box is in the warbrobe and is hardwired.The Kathrein decoder unit is in a cupboard next to the TV cupboard and,again, is hardwired.Next to the Leisure battery are 2 covers,under which are contact boxes.One box has a section marked TV -all contacts in there are clean and tight.In the Electrobox is a fuse labelled TV,that fuse is OK.
At least I am learning where things are wired to if nothing else ::bigsmile:
The only thing I know of that goes to engine compartment is the Kathrein Dish Motor is wired into the ignition so that it goes down when you start the engine.
I will spend some more of my weekend crawling around tomorrow,and may even get the Multi Meter out,but as I don't really know (yet) what readings I should be looking for I'm not sure if that would be a worthwhile excersise :ROFLMAO:
At least with plumbing problems the worst that can happen is you get wet!! Electricity is shocking stuff and I'm not very confident playing with it (yet).

Mike.
 
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MikeandCarolyn

MikeandCarolyn

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My television and some other stuff is wired direct to the battery with inline fuses....check at your battery to see if the installer has left a positive or negative lead off by mistake. JFYI my battery has at least 4 connections to it, soon to be 5 when I get the solar fitted....

Done that-unfortunately no loose ends around-I was really hoping there might be ::bigsmile:

Mike.
 

JayDee

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There is a TV cabinet and in there is one dual socket with 12v and mains sockets,there is also another of these sockets next to the cooker.In both cases there is power to the mains socket but not the 12v one.I assume these were original fittings.The Kathrein control box is in the warbrobe and is hardwired.The Kathrein decoder unit is in a cupboard next to the TV cupboard and,again, is hardwired.Next to the Leisure battery are 2 covers,under which are contact boxes.One box has a section marked TV -all contacts in there are clean and tight.In the Electrobox is a fuse labelled TV,that fuse is OK.
At least I am learning where things are wired to if nothing else ::bigsmile:
The only thing I know of that goes to engine compartment is the Kathrein Dish Motor is wired into the ignition so that it goes down when you start the engine.
I will spend some more of my weekend crawling around tomorrow,and may even get the Multi Meter out,but as I don't really know (yet) what readings I should be looking for I'm not sure if that would be a worthwhile excersise :ROFLMAO:
At least with plumbing problems the worst that can happen is you get wet!! Electricity is shocking stuff and I'm not very confident playing with it (yet).

Mike.

:Sad:
Sorry Mike. Run out of ideas now. Are you absolutely sure that the over-heated looking fuse is good? I'd be tempted to change it just case; nothing lost if it doesn't work:Smile:

Good luck.


John

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MikeandCarolyn

MikeandCarolyn

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:Sad:
Sorry Mike. Run out of ideas now. Are you absolutely sure that the over-heated looking fuse is good? I'd be tempted to change it just case; nothing lost if it doesn't work:Smile:
Good luck. John

It shows 'continuity' on my meter-but I will change it anyway-clutching at straws now ::bigsmile:

Cheers, Mike.
 

JeanLuc

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Mike,

Going back to your original post, you stated:
"Since our last trip (when everything was working) we have had 2 Solar panels ,1 Inverter and a Battery Condition meter fitted."

I think it is time to go back to whoever fitted the additional equipment. If everything was working before, you should not have to crawl about trying to find the problem and there is always the risk that if the installation is at fault, the installer could claim you have 'messed it up'.

If you cannot get a satisfactory solution, I can recommend Dave Newell who is based in Telford and so not too much of a trip for you. He is a trade member of 'Fun' and specialises in electrical installations amongst other things.

Philip
 

hilldweller

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:Sad:
Sorry Mike. Run out of ideas now. Are you absolutely sure that the over-heated looking fuse is good? I'd be tempted to change it just case; nothing lost if it doesn't work:Smile:
Good luck.
John

You might have it here - overheated, I missed that - in the electroblock is a big PCB with soldered on fuse holders, now if it had a bad joint and overheated it could unsolder itself.

It's not rocket science to open up the unit and have a look. Take lots of pictures beforehand and mark up any wires you might be doubtful about, especially the big battery wires TAPE THESE UP immediately you remove them, they are HOT.

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MikeandCarolyn

MikeandCarolyn

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There is one other thing that came to light this afternoon-alongside the leisure battery there was a small klaxon for a Gas Alarm-the previous owner had disconnected this because it kept going off and no-one could find any gas leaks .When the invertor was fitted, the place where the klaxon was screwed to the floor was the perfect place to locate said invertor.So the klaxon was removed.
Today I removed the cover on the connection block for the Gas Alarm and found that, apart from the 2 taped wires that used to go to the klaxon,there are now 3 wires which look like the 3 Gas Alarm leads,totally disconnected from anything. Is it possible that we now have an 'open circuit' ? The Gas Alarm must have been on 12volt to be of any use.

Mike.
 

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