Sargent charger (1 Viewer)

Jan 29, 2014
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Been out to motor home this morning after leaving it on hook up all weekend.
Batteries down to 11.4
Don't think charger is working?
Started the engine it put some charge back into vehicle and lesure batteries.
So charging from the alternator.
Switched the green button down for charge it lights up also at the same time the smart charge lights up.
Put a multi meter onto lesure battery no increase in charge with switch on or off.
Looking at the panel it says 1.2 solar dull day so I think that's okay.

What to try next?

Also with the black button or shut down switch will the solar still put charge in?

Laurie.
 

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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Are you running the solar through the Sargent or a separate controller ?

Have you checked the fuses on the Sargent ? If it is like ours the output to the batteries is fused ( a couple of 20 amp ones on ours... one for each battery output .. But if only one battery then only one fuse will be used )

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Feb 9, 2008
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Also, check fuses at battery. I too have the Sargent system (2011) fitted and it sounds identical to yours. When fitting an inverter last year I accidently blew a fuse between both batteries. Everything was working as it should with respect to charging etc but I noticed the voltage readout on the inverter was going down each day and correctly guessed their was no feed going into the battery connected to the inverter. turned out to be a 20 Amp fuse. Once replaced everything went back to normal.
Hope you sort it !
 
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Are you running the solar through the Sargent or a separate controller ?

Have you checked the fuses on the Sargent ? If it is like ours the output to the batteries is fused ( a couple of 20 amp ones on ours... one for each battery output .. But if only one battery then only one fuse will be used )
Yes through the Sargent.
 
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Also, check fuses at battery. I too have the Sargent system (2011) fitted and it sounds identical to yours. When fitting an inverter last year I accidently blew a fuse between both batteries. Everything was working as it should with respect to charging etc but I noticed the voltage readout on the inverter was going down each day and correctly guessed their was no feed going into the battery connected to the inverter. turned out to be a 20 Amp fuse. Once replaced everything went back to normal.
Hope you sort it !
Yes will try that.
Thanks

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Jaws

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As an emergency get you by, you can always just buy an ordinary charger and hook that up.. Will work the same ..

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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Yes good idea I have always carried one.
As well as jump leads.spare battery for when we are away for a long time wilding.
Wife always says we have purchased a new van shouldn't need all that stuff.
Old habits hard to give up.
 

Jaws

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Yes good idea I have always carried one.
As well as jump leads.spare battery for when we are away for a long time wilding.
Wife always says we have purchased a new van shouldn't need all that stuff.
Old habits hard to give up.
Old GOOD habits are hard to give up :)
 
Nov 13, 2012
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The charger failed in my sergeant panel a couple of years ago in Spain during January but managed to charge batteries from solar panel.Took panel out when got home and sent it to sergeant who repaired it and sent it back within a week.

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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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The charger failed in my sergeant panel a couple of years ago in Spain during January but managed to charge batteries from solar panel.Took panel out when got home and sent it to sergeant who repaired it and sent it back within a week.
I don't think I would no were to start taking the panel off to find the charger.
 
Nov 13, 2012
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Panel is quite easy to get out as all cables are plug in connections

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Jaws

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We have the 325 unit.. Easy enough to get out..
Tip
Take pictures.. Use masking tape to identify stuff.. But its all plug in any way so kinda hard to mess up LOL !!

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Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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Just checked and it seems you will likely have the EC500..
This is it..
6A57C6C2-5CF4-6559-EE6D-EE6ACFEAE124.gallery.jpg


Looks to be about the easiest of them all to whip out.
I am not a fan of Sargent on the whole as I am of the belief ( as mentioned repeatedly LOL !! ) they are overly complex.. But the company offers really good customer care and service.
I have never once had any issues at all when dealing with them.. In fact it is a shame other motorhome related firms cannot seem to perform even half as well as Sargent do
 
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Just checked and it seems you will likely have the EC500..
This is it..
6A57C6C2-5CF4-6559-EE6D-EE6ACFEAE124.gallery.jpg


Looks to be about the easiest of them all to whip out.
I am not a fan of Sargent on the whole as I am of the belief ( as mentioned repeatedly LOL !! ) they are overly complex.. But the company offers really good customer care and service.
I have never once had any issues at all when dealing with them.. In fact it is a shame other motorhome related firms cannot seem to perform even half as well as Sargent do
Yes that's the same as mine.
Will try and take a look this weekend.
Thanks for your help.
Laurie
 

aandncaravan

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May 5, 2013
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If your battery has dropped to 11.4v it is probably the reason the charger died?
99% of all the chargers we repair have failed from a battery past their best.

Even if the battery wasn't the cause, 11.4v is well into the damage zone for a battery, so it will almost certainly have suffered from running so low as most battery manufacturers reckon on a max 50% discharge for the best compromise on life/discharge.


Battery state of Charge Chart.jpg

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Feb 9, 2008
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Although technical correct above, some leisure batteries can be fully recovered from an excessive discharged state when using a sophisticated intelligent battery charger, depending on their state and I would advise you try this before writing off your leisure batteries.
If you do require new Leisure batteries You may want to choose one that has been interdependently selected and tested to verify if it performs as stated by the manufacturer. (Many don't).
I have attached a link that will help you select an appropriate battery and I suspect a class B may be what you need as you have solar power and therefore a regular means of topping up your batteries (Not sure how much you have ? and you can never have too much!)

I hope you get on top of this problem.

http://www.thencc.org.uk/our_schemes/ncc_verified_leisure_battery_scheme.aspx
 

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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And if the 11.4 is being taken from the Sargent control panel it is probably miles out any way
Worst one I have found is 1v out, best .2 v out
So chances are high that while the batteries are indeed very flat they have not fallen in to the critical zone.
 

rich g

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When i had a problem with my Sargent control panel i phoned Sargent support and found them very helpful,it may be worth a call.

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aandncaravan

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If you look at the attached chart from Exide, it shows that if you take one of their Gel batteries down to 30% discharge you will get over 1,000 discharge/recharge cycles.

If you take it regularly to a 50% discharge, it will last for about 870 cycles.

If you take it down to 70% discharge, about 12.3v, you will get around 500 cycles.

If you take it down to 95% discharge (or less than 12v) you will see that Exide say you will get just a handful of cycles.

The chart is for the Exide G80, which while it has many other limitations, is one of the toughest batteries out there.

The fact that Laurie's battery has gone so low AND the charger has failed suggests that if you reuse the battery, you could well be looking at a another charger later.

When a high quality Varta LFD90 costs just £79 from Battery Megastore, and it should last well over 5 years treated properly, it isn't worth taking the risk. At £79 for 5 years. that is less than £16 a year, it doesn't make sense to have anything other than a young quality battery.

We have been doing this for 5 years, and repaired thousands of chargers in all types of Motorhomes and Caravans from Swift to Dethleffs.

We are one of the few companies in the whole of Europe that repairs chargers and fixes Motorhomes/caravans. We remove the charger from the Motorhome, so see both the Motorhome environment/battery that killed the charger and the state the charger is in.
Not even the Technicians at the factory get that insight, a charger just lands on their desk to be repaired, but they have no idea of the environment that got the charger in that state. That gives us a unique insight, that no other Electronics/Motorhome repairer has in the U.K.


Almost always it is the battery that kills the charger, doesn't matter if it is Sargent, Nordelettronica, Powerpart, Schaudt, Calira or Reich. The battery is the prime cause.
Please don't risk a poor battery taking out the charger and Alternator, the bills can be massive.



.


.
Gel battery DOD versus Cycles Chart.jpg
 
Last edited:
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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July 2013
And if the 11.4 is being taken from the Sargent control panel it is probably miles out any way
Worst one I have found is 1v out, best .2 v out
So chances are high that while the batteries are indeed very flat they have not fallen in to the critical zone.
And if the 11.4 is being taken from the Sargent control panel it is probably miles out any way
Worst one I have found is 1v out, best .2 v out
So chances are high that while the batteries are indeed very flat they have not fallen in to the critical zone.
I would have thought that the sola pannel would have kept them topped up?
Laurie.

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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
1,315
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Scunthorpe
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MH
Autotrail Apache
Exp
July 2013
Although technical correct above, some leisure batteries can be fully recovered from an excessive discharged state when using a sophisticated intelligent battery charger, depending on their state and I would advise you try this before writing off your leisure batteries.
If you do require new Leisure batteries You may want to choose one that has been interdependently selected and tested to verify if it performs as stated by the manufacturer. (Many don't).
I have attached a link that will help you select an appropriate battery and I suspect a class B may be what you need as you have solar power and therefore a regular means of topping up your batteries (Not sure how much you have ? and you can never have too much!)

I hope you get on top of this problem.
I have a 100w panel
http://www.thencc.org.uk/our_schemes/ncc_verified_leisure_battery_scheme.aspx
 

aandncaravan

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May 5, 2013
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Sorry to hear that they are Banner.

If you search on the MMM forum you will see quite a few threads on the early demise of Banner batteries, especially if a Solar Panel is fitted but the Solar charger is not one of the new breed with a 13.0 - 13.2v maintenance/float.

I would suggest you open up the Banners and see if they are dry?
Many retailers, including Bailey, Road Pro, etc sell them as Maintenance free when they actually have a very high fluid loss rate. Especially when Solar charged.

A Thread on this Forum yesterday from someone who had seen our 'rantings' on Banners batteries, checked their own Banner battery bank and had to add 80ml to EACH of the 12 cells on his two batteries.

If you have two Banned batteries and they have dropped to 11.4v, I really would suggest you don't try and reuse them?


.

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