Ci Carioca 656 Electrical Problems.. (1 Viewer)

mrsnickerbater

Free Member
Jun 19, 2014
5
0
Derbyshire
Funster No
32,037
MH
Ci Carioca 656
Exp
5
Hi hope you can help me - We have a 2005 Ci Carioca 656. When the mains is plugged in the control panel above the door stops working and there is only electricity to the mains sockets. When the electrical cable is unplugged and the van is running on the leisure battery, the control panel works ok and so so the lights e.t.c. - when disconnecting the leisure battery and running the vans engine the control panel + electrics also works ok. - So the main problem is that when the 240v mains in plugged in we only have half the electrics working - I've checked the fuse boxes behind the drivers seat and checked the connections to the battery charger under the drivers seat and all seems ok. I also dont think the leisure battery is charging either when the van is running, or when the 240v is attached.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 

jaytee74

Free Member
Dec 5, 2013
72
37
durham uk
Funster No
29,288
MH
coachbuilt swift royale
Exp
since2007
656 electrical problems

Hi hope you can help me - We have a 2005 Ci Carioca 656. When the mains is plugged in the control panel above the door stops working and there is only electricity to the mains sockets. When the electrical cable is unplugged and the van is running on the leisure battery, the control panel works ok and so so the lights e.t.c. - when disconnecting the leisure battery and running the vans engine the control panel + electrics also works ok. - So the main problem is that when the 240v mains in plugged in we only have half the electrics working - I've checked the fuse boxes behind the drivers seat and checked the connections to the battery charger under the drivers seat and all seems ok. I also dont think the leisure battery is charging either when the van is running, or when the 240v is attached.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
hi i have just had a similar problem suggest you have a look at your charger unit there should be an imput cable and 2 outlet cables (connections ) the outlet cables may have been connected wrong way round try disconnecting them and swapping them over then test again leave on ehu for an hour or so then check for problems hope this helps jt
 
Apr 9, 2013
663
373
Ayr
Funster No
25,458
MH
A class
Exp
Newbie
hi i have just had a similar problem suggest you have a look at your charger unit there should be an imput cable and 2 outlet cables (connections ) the outlet cables may have been connected wrong way round try disconnecting them and swapping them over then test again leave on ehu for an hour or so then check for problems hope this helps jt

Eek! Reversing the polarity from your charger is NOT a good idea! I think it's unlikely that the wiring has suddenly changed in a 9 year old van.

It sounds like your charger provides (or should provide) 12V directly when on hook up but the output has died for some reason. Hopefully someone who knows a bit more will help you soon. Meanwhile, I wouldn't go swapping any wires around.

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magicsurfbus

Free Member
Oct 11, 2010
4,673
10,127
NW England
Funster No
14,057
MH
Bessacarr Coachbuilt
Exp
Since 1997
We have exactly the same MH and experienced electrical problems of a different sort which basically meant the fridge wouldn't run on 12v when the engine was running.

There's an inline fuse just forward of the charger unit below the driver's seat - worth checking it's still intact as ours had blown. I'm not sure if that was the entire solution though.

This issue dragged on for some time and various people looked into it but eventually we ended up replacing the entire fuseboard behind the driver's seat which wasn't cheap, and the spare part had to be ordered from Italy so there was a bit of a wait. However the problem has gone away, so it might have been a duff relay, which can't be replaced individually on that fuseboard.

I see you're in Derbyshire - we bought our CI new from Geoff Cox at Denby who've been servicing CIs for quite a while, and they've always seen to any big jobs we've needed doing. Maybe take it in to their workshop for a diagnostic check? It's a family business and we've always found them friendly.

You can do a simple test for leisure battery charging. Run the engine and put either a multimeter's probes or a cigarette lighter socket voltmeter into a 12v socket in the habitation area (not cab), press the power switch on the control panel and see if the voltage rises to 14v+, which is a sign of the engine's charger working. I have one of those voltmeters permanently plugged in to keep an eye on things. Alternatively (if the control panel's not co-operating) put the multimeter probes directly onto the leisure battery terminals with the engine running to see if the voltage rises.
 
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mrsnickerbater

Free Member
Jun 19, 2014
5
0
Derbyshire
Funster No
32,037
MH
Ci Carioca 656
Exp
5
Cheers...

Thanks for the answers so far - i'll take a look when i get in from work tonight - I already checked the fuse under the drivers seat and it appears ok. The wiring hasnt changed since we bought the van so it cant been wired up wrong - everything was working until recently.

Cheers.
 

magicsurfbus

Free Member
Oct 11, 2010
4,673
10,127
NW England
Funster No
14,057
MH
Bessacarr Coachbuilt
Exp
Since 1997
..[HI]when disconnecting the leisure battery[/HI] and running the vans engine the control panel + electrics also works ok.

I'm a little confused by that statement - do you mean physically disconnecting the leisure battery from the electrical system or something else?

Also - if the leisure battery 12v circuit doesn't work on the 240v hookup, and you don't think the engine's charging the leisure battery, how is your leisure battery getting any charge at all? Best check the battery's resting voltage too.

If there's been no change to the wiring and it's suddenly gone wrong without going right again from time to time it suggests some sort of sudden component failure. A loose or deteriorating connection would tend to give you an intermittent fault.

I should have added that it would be worth monitoring the cab's 12v socket voltage to make sure the engine is charging the cab battery properly, again at 14v+.

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Terry

LIFE MEMBER
Dec 27, 2007
11,904
8,969
Lincolnshire
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1,075
MH
A class
Exp
Can't remember ;)
Hi have you checked the leisure battery ? you say Power in working- engine running working - no other power = not working if I have this right then that tells me the LB is goosed -check it has charge ie 12.7 v = full charge much below 12v means it's goosed and needs replacing :Smile:(I think you will have a reading of less than 10v) --this would go up to 13v plus with engine running same with HU cable in because your charger will be doing it's job
terry
 
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mrsnickerbater

Free Member
Jun 19, 2014
5
0
Derbyshire
Funster No
32,037
MH
Ci Carioca 656
Exp
5
HI - cheers again for the responses. I dont think the leisure battery is the problem. It has an isolator and when its disconnected through the isolator and the 240v is connected to the van the issue occurs [the control panel goes off, the lights stop working, but the sockets work.

So just to recap -
when leisure battery connected + 240v mains issue happens
when 240v disconnected all works ok from the leisure battery
when leisure battery and 240v disconnected - but van engine running - all works ok.

The problem only occurs when the 240v is connected [reguardless of whether the battery is connected].


Cheers.
 
Apr 9, 2013
663
373
Ayr
Funster No
25,458
MH
A class
Exp
Newbie
HI - cheers again for the responses. I dont think the leisure battery is the problem. It has an isolator and when its disconnected through the isolator and the 240v is connected to the van the issue occurs [the control panel goes off, the lights stop working, but the sockets work.

So just to recap -
when leisure battery connected + 240v mains issue happens
when 240v disconnected all works ok from the leisure battery
when leisure battery and 240v disconnected - but van engine running - all works ok.

The problem only occurs when the 240v is connected [reguardless of whether the battery is connected].


Cheers.

I must admit that I've always assumed that the 12V system is relatively "hard wired" with no relays but given that your 12v system is cutting out when you're connected to 240V I think it's pretty much got to be something up with your control panel. I think it might take an auto-electrician to sort out exactly what the problem is.

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jaytee74

Free Member
Dec 5, 2013
72
37
durham uk
Funster No
29,288
MH
coachbuilt swift royale
Exp
since2007
656 electrical problems

Eek! Reversing the polarity from your charger is NOT a good idea! I think it's unlikely that the wiring has suddenly changed in a 9 year old van.

It sounds like your charger provides (or should provide) 12V directly when on hook up but the output has died for some reason. Hopefully someone who knows a bit more will help you soon. Meanwhile, I wouldn't go swapping any wires around.

hi i dont want to get involved in a whose right or wrong issue but just to clarify of the two outlets from the charger unit ( incorporating the split charger) one would go to the van battery and the other to the leisure battery there would be NO issue of reverse polarity and they are normally a spade connector pull off push on.... when i gave my advise i thought that maybe someone had been working on the van electrics and had replaced them the wrong way round this would not be i obvious but would cause problems similar as to what was described. i gained this knowledge after an experienced auto electrition fitted 2 new 12v outlets and had moved my charger unit to new position and i found next trip that when i was on EHU switched on to leisure battery the leisure battery indicated that it was losing charge so i would switch to van battery and it was totally stable so that is when i realised what was happening so went to charger unit and changed over the outlets problem solved!!!!!! hope this clarifys my point as i would not give dangerous information re reverse polarity jt
 

magicsurfbus

Free Member
Oct 11, 2010
4,673
10,127
NW England
Funster No
14,057
MH
Bessacarr Coachbuilt
Exp
Since 1997
..[HI]when leisure battery[/HI] and 240v [HI]disconnected[/HI] - but van engine running - all works ok.

The problem only occurs when the 240v is connected [reguardless of whether the battery is connected].

I'm surprised your 12v electrics in the habitation area are working with the battery disconnected/isolated and the engine on.

If I want to put the 12v on in the back in our '05 656 (for example to charge a phone or laptop) while we're driving I have to switch the 12v power on at the control panel above the hab door. The fridge and the blown air heater fan are independent of the control panel but not the lights and 12v sockets in the back. Surely if you have the leisure battery isolated the control panel shouldn't be able to let the habitation lights, water pump and sockets work?

I seem to recall that it's fairly easy to reset the control panel above the hab door if you look in the instruction book, but to be honest it didn't achieve much when we had electrical problems.

I'm no auto electrician but I'm thinking the culprit here may be the fuseboard behind the driver's seat. I don't mean the fuses themselves, but the actual circuit board inside the black box. At least four different technicians tried to fathom mine out before the CI dealership at Denby came up with a solution. Good luck with it anyway.
 
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mrsnickerbater

Free Member
Jun 19, 2014
5
0
Derbyshire
Funster No
32,037
MH
Ci Carioca 656
Exp
5
Thanks for the answers - I think the problem is beyond me fixing it so going to book it into somewhere to get looked at. Might try Geoff Cox as mentioned earlier in a post as its only 40 mins away.

Cheers.

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