Sargent charger (3 Viewers)

Feb 9, 2008
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Not 100% sure on what you mean. I assume your have one leisure battery and one cab battery and this explains the 13.2 & 12.9.
As I understand it, with the kill switch, switched off, the on board battery charger will not work, as the kill switch cuts everything off. So, make sure this is on and your green charger light is also on, then measure both batteries to see if a charge is going to one or the other. If not, check fuses before removing charger for repair. Clearly, some charge is getting to both batteries and this I suspect is from your S.P.
To the best of my knowledge hab checks do not include battery fluid levels but know you know what to do, check and top up every few months. I would not buy new batteries yet as these have yet to be established as duff! Or have I missed something ?
 
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Not 100% sure on what you mean. I assume your have one leisure battery and one cab battery and this explains the 13.2 & 12.9.
As I understand it, with the kill switch, switched off, the on board battery charger will not work, as the kill switch cuts everything off. So, make sure this is on and your green charger light is also on, then measure both batteries to see if a charge is going to one or the other. If not, check fuses before removing charger for repair. Clearly, some charge is getting to both batteries and this I suspect is from your S.P.
To the best of my knowledge hab checks do not include battery fluid levels but know you know what to do, check and top up every few months. I would not buy new batteries yet as these have yet to be established as duff! Or have I missed something ?
I have two leisure batteries and one cab battery the cab battery is fine it's the two leisure that have different readings.
Tested with black switch on and green button on light's up green but no charge at any of the batteries.
 
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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I have two leisure batteries and one cab battery the cab battery is fine it's the two leisure that have different readings.
Tested with black switch on and green button on light's up green but no charge at any of the batteries.
Also 2x 20 amp fuses near to batteries are ok.
 
Feb 9, 2008
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I have two leisure batteries and one cab battery the cab battery is fine it's the two leisure that have different readings.
Tested with black switch on and green button on light's up green but no charge at any of the batteries.
Well I'm stumped on that one to be honest. I would have expected both leisure batteries to give exactly the same reason. If the fuses between them are OK then it's over to someone with greater knowledge than me. Even if one was pulling down the other I would expect them to be equal.
How long did you let them rest before you tested them! It may be worth disconnecting both negative terminals and let them settle for a few hours before measuring them again.

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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Just checked the one that had least water in at rest is down to 11.7 so I think it's buggered.
 
Feb 9, 2008
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Just checked the one that had least water in at rest is down to 11.7 so I think it's buggered.
Possibly ! I still do not understand why you have two different readings. I guess it would make sense if one was goosed and the other in better condition. Anyway, first thing first get your charger working again and then consider two new leisure batteries, ideally same make and same AH. I think your charger limits you to 220 Ah in total so 2 x 110 or slightly smaller would do it.
I would recommend you choose from here and I would think Class B batteries would suit your needs.
http://www.thencc.org.uk/our_schemes/ncc_verified_leisure_battery_scheme.aspx

I have the Banner 95791 100AH Batteries fitted in my Autotrail and they are rated at 200 cycles @50% DOD. Had them for a couple of years now and still going strong.
I do hope you get your charger sorted.
 
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Possibly ! I still do not understand why you have two different readings. I guess it would make sense if one was goosed and the other in better condition. Anyway, first thing first get your charger working again and then consider two new leisure batteries, ideally same make and same AH. I think your charger limits you to 220 Ah in total so 2 x 110 or slightly smaller would do it.
I would recommend you choose from here and I would think Class B batteries would suit your needs.
http://www.thencc.org.uk/our_schemes/ncc_verified_leisure_battery_scheme.aspx

I have the Banner 95791 100AH Batteries fitted in my Autotrail and they are rated at 200 cycles @50% DOD. Had them for a couple of years now and still going strong.
I do hope you get your charger sorted.
Yes thanks for all your help.

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aandncaravan

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May 5, 2013
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I think if a Banner battery has consumed half a litre it might be ok but if the other has taken 2 litres it probably isn't any good? Why don't you contact your local Church to see if they are collecting batteries for the Church Roof Fund?
Our one had all it's Lead nicked recently?

Didn't we say they would be low on fluid and rubbish?
Like we said at the start of the post Banner batteries are taking stick on all the forums, especially so in Germany.

Interestingly, someone recently pointed out that Bailey, who used to fit these as standard, advertising the Banner batteries as Maintenance free, have refunded those who have suffered failed batteries.

Also told last night, that on the Roadpro website, where they used to say the Banner needed no maintenance, it has a complete change of tack. Now saying that these batteries do gas a lot and need regular checks/top-ups.
So they must have seen they are not as they said?
I would suggest that if your Banner batteries were sold as zero maintenance, then you should get a refund as well. Bailey have set a precident.

If you are a heavy user and want really long life and are prepared to pay, Victron Energy do a Super Deep Cycle Long Life Gel that has nearly 5,000 cycles if discharged to just 25% yet still has 1,500 cycles if discharged right down to 80%.
For efficiency, life, Absolute zero maintenance and value hard to beat a Varta LFD 90 from battery megastore.
Strongly suggest you don't get them anywhere else as some of the batteries we have been given supplied by customers from other suppliers have been lower than expected voltage, so seemingly been in store a long time? I would guess some had already lost a years life?
Battery megastore has a huge turnover of these batteries so won't have been in the shop long.


Good luck.
 
Last edited:

aandncaravan

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May 5, 2013
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To try and cheer you up : We worked on a Murvi Morroco PVC for a John Coleman today who had a charging issue from Alternator. This is not made up, genuinely started work on it at 10:30 and finished at 14:30 today.

We fixed the issue and then did a full electrical health check.

To get to the batteries, you have to take off all the cushions, slide the bed right forward to expose a cupboard behind, see photo 1.

Murvi battery 1.jpg


You then had to remove the screws, remove the panel to expose the batteries, see photo below.
Can you see how easy they are to top up?
It took 50 minutes from start to finish to expose the batteries, ease them out (they were as tight as they look) remove the Tops (for a high maintenance battery they make them dammed hard to undo!!) top them up and get them back in.
Put the cupboard back in place, then slide the bed back and replace the cushions.
Easy it was not.

I rang Murvi to see if they would pay for my electrical work as the vehicle was quite new and in Warranty. I also asked if they realised the Banner Energy Bull was a high maintenance battery and expecting customers to do what I had just done every month was far from ideal.
THEY thought the Banner Energy Bull was maintenance free.

They said the would 'discuss the issue' if the owner contacted them.

Hopefully they will issue a recall and replace the batteries.




Murvi battery 2.jpg
 
Last edited:
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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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.

Been on to battery mega store site, they're
£90.45 + 7.50 each carriage

.


.
View attachment 134179

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Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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Had a play with the motorhome to day checked the batteries.
One was 13.2 and the other was 12.9?
Using the multi meter with the towel over the solar panel and black button out.
Uncover the solar and charging.
So cover solar again no charge put Sargent charger on no difference so may have to take charger out for testing.
Now back to the batteries, the one that had 13.2 needed half a LTR of deionised water the other needed 2 ltrs.
So I think the lazy bugger that did the hab check in July didn't check the levels.
So I think two new batteries and keep the best for a spare.
what do you guys think. And thanks again for all your replies.
Laurie
edit.. issue already covered in unread post !
 
Feb 9, 2008
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Not surprised to read at least one battery supplier has given a false description of a leisure battery and I hope they were well and truly taken to task over it.
I have just checked two popular battery suppliers on Banner batteries and it is clear from their description they are wet, vented batteries.
Anybody know why Varta do not specify the number of cycles for their 'Varta LFD 90' I hope it's more than 70. LOL
https://www.tayna.co.uk/Banner-Energy-Bull-Leisure-Battery-95751-P8270.html
http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/le...energy-bull-low-height-leisure-battery-95751/

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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Got the Bro in law in van today as he is a Auto sparki.
He did some checks and also talked to Sargent tec to make sure we had missed nothing.
He confirmed it's the Sargent charger not putting out.
So new one on order.
Thanks for all your input guys.
P's the batteries seem to be holding charge.
Will check again tonight after the sun has gone down, so that the solar has stopped putting in any charge also batteries at rest.
 
Feb 9, 2008
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Glad to hear you are now on top of your problem. As an aside, if you can get your hands on a sophisticated charger like the one in the link below. You may be able to recover your batteries and save some money.
Link Removed
 
Jan 11, 2010
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Well that`s our 13th year & still loving it.
Glad to hear you are now on top of your problem. As an aside, if you can get your hands on a sophisticated charger like the one in the link below. You may be able to recover your batteries and save some money.
Link Removed

Would it be possible to wire this type of charger permanently into the charging system in the motorhome, i.e. take the Sargent charger out of the system and just use the Ctek charger as the main charging unit.

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Feb 9, 2008
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Would it be possible to wire this type of charger permanently into the charging system in the motorhome, i.e. take the Sargent charger out of the system and just use the Ctek charger as the main charging unit.
I'm not competent to answer this question as I'm not familiar with the Sargent wiring system and in particular what happens if you bypass some of it. As an example, how would the control panel provide you with information about battery state if the charger is swapped out ?
From my own experience, I am very happy with the Sargent system, my motorhome is coming up for 6 years old and the Sargent system has been flawless since day one. When not in use the motorhome is on permanent hook up on the drive so in reality the system has more or less been active for 6 years. I do however, have a Ctek battery charger in the motorhome (use on car but keep in motorhome in case of emergencies) and once or twice a year I switch my charger off and connect my Ctec to one of the leisure batteries and switch it on. It takes about 5 minutes doing its checks and then confirms my batteries are fully charged and in a good state. I have also used a multi meter to compare the voltage at the battery terminal with the read out on the control panel and they are both spot on. As I type this my control panel is showing 13.7 for the leisure batteries (Was in there an hour ago) and the same for the cab battery. (it changed over while I was in there). So, I know the charger is delivering a float charge to both sets of batteries and all is well.
I'm no expert but do believe in the maxim if it aint broke then leave it alone. Getting back to your question though, I have read on a number of sites that these Ctek battery chargers can be left connected to batteries for lengthy periods and they are top of the range battery chargers.
 
Jan 11, 2010
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Well that`s our 13th year & still loving it.
I'm not competent to answer this question as I'm not familiar with the Sargent wiring system and in particular what happens if you bypass some of it. As an example, how would the control panel provide you with information about battery state if the charger is swapped out ?
From my own experience, I am very happy with the Sargent system, my motorhome is coming up for 6 years old and the Sargent system has been flawless since day one. When not in use the motorhome is on permanent hook up on the drive so in reality the system has more or less been active for 6 years. I do however, have a Ctek battery charger in the motorhome (use on car but keep in motorhome in case of emergencies) and once or twice a year I switch my charger off and connect my Ctec to one of the leisure batteries and switch it on. It takes about 5 minutes doing its checks and then confirms my batteries are fully charged and in a good state. I have also used a multi meter to compare the voltage at the battery terminal with the read out on the control panel and they are both spot on. As I type this my control panel is showing 13.7 for the leisure batteries (Was in there an hour ago) and the same for the cab battery. (it changed over while I was in there). So, I know the charger is delivering a float charge to both sets of batteries and all is well.
I'm no expert but do believe in the maxim if it aint broke then leave it alone. Getting back to your question though, I have read on a number of sites that these Ctek battery chargers can be left connected to batteries for lengthy periods and they are top of the range battery chargers.


Cheers thanks for that our Autotrail is now just over 3 years old and the batteries have never been a problem, we have a 110w solar panel on the roof and that has managed to keep both engine and habitation battery topped up, was just thinking maybe it`s not a bad idea to have a more sophisticated charger in the system.
 
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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Cheers thanks for that our Autotrail is now just over 3 years old and the batteries have never been a problem, we have a 110w solar panel on the roof and that has managed to keep both engine and habitation battery topped up, was just thinking maybe it`s not a bad idea to have a more sophisticated charger in the system.
How will you get it to switch from cab to hab.

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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
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I'm not competent to answer this question as I'm not familiar with the Sargent wiring system and in particular what happens if you bypass some of it. As an example, how would the control panel provide you with information about battery state if the charger is swapped out ?
From my own experience, I am very happy with the Sargent system, my motorhome is coming up for 6 years old and the Sargent system has been flawless since day one. When not in use the motorhome is on permanent hook up on the drive so in reality the system has more or less been active for 6 years. I do however, have a Ctek battery charger in the motorhome (use on car but keep in motorhome in case of emergencies) and once or twice a year I switch my charger off and connect my Ctec to one of the leisure batteries and switch it on. It takes about 5 minutes doing its checks and then confirms my batteries are fully charged and in a good state. I have also used a multi meter to compare the voltage at the battery terminal with the read out on the control panel and they are both spot on. As I type this my control panel is showing 13.7 for the leisure batteries (Was in there an hour ago) and the same for the cab battery. (it changed over while I was in there). So, I know the charger is delivering a float charge to both sets of batteries and all is well.
I'm no expert but do believe in the maxim if it aint broke then leave it alone. Getting back to your question though, I have read on a number of sites that these Ctek battery chargers can be left connected to batteries for lengthy periods and they are top of the range battery chargers.
When you leave it on hook up do you have the black button in or out? The reason I ask will it float cab and hab with it out. I know it will charge the hab.
 
Feb 9, 2008
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My kill switch is a kill switch. It's either on or off. If on there are no hab services, no lights, nothing. So I always leave it off. Not sure of the actual position but will check later and come back to you.

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Feb 9, 2008
8,924
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Corby, Northants
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Since 2007
Haven`t a clue 12v electrics isn`t my strong suit, will leave that if we go ahead to someone who knows.
On my model, I switch the S.P. charge by resetting the kill switch. This then changes which set of batteries receive the charge. I don't know if this is a fault or by design but happy with it.
 
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laurieash
Jan 29, 2014
1,315
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July 2013
Latest update it's not the charger as I fitted a new one. Not a difference did it make.
As I unplugged it from the circuit board end the lights when bright so it's now charging. So plugged the old charger back in it works.
So fault is in the circuit board so contacted Sargent and they will repair and credit the charger back to me. What a great company.
So unplugged everything and going to drop off on Monday.
Laurie
 

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Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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Could not agree more about the quality of service Sargent give.. One of the few who actually care about customer service in the motorhome trade..

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Feb 9, 2008
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Always wondered what was behind my EC500 and now I know, thanks for the picture. Quite a few connections in there.
 

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