AUTOTRAIL MIAMI New To Us (2 Viewers)

Decca

Free Member
Jun 11, 2009
2
0
Funster No
7,080
Hi All, We have just had our first outing in our Miami its a Renault 07 2.5 Auto. Drives like a dream no Reversing problems . I am not new to motorhoming having built my last two motorhomes ,last one coachbuilt with no problems. I am disapointed with Autotrail and the electrics .I am amazed to find that the habitation side of the van is also connected to the vehicle Batt. After a week on hookup and find we cannot start the vehicle because of flat Batt.There is a Leisure batt. fitted .I know I might have got the positions of the switches wrong on the control panel will have to do some testing.
I Know they fit this same charging and control panels in most of the Autotrail range can anyone give me the some idea of the position of the switches when on elec. hook up, and when parked up with no elec. As we some times park up over night .:cry:
 
S

stagman

Deleted User
Hi All, We have just had our first outing in our Miami its a Renault 07 2.5 Auto. Drives like a dream no Reversing problems . I am not new to motorhoming having built my last two motorhomes ,last one coachbuilt with no problems. I am disapointed with Autotrail and the electrics .I am amazed to find that the habitation side of the van is also connected to the vehicle Batt. After a week on hookup and find we cannot start the vehicle because of flat Batt.There is a Leisure batt. fitted .I know I might have got the positions of the switches wrong on the control panel will have to do some testing.
I Know they fit this same charging and control panels in most of the Autotrail range can anyone give me the some idea of the position of the switches when on elec. hook up, and when parked up with no elec. As we some times park up over night .:cry:

Sent you an email . If you need any further info please get in touch . See you been down the Gower . Are you from this area let me know P.M. if you want:thumb:
 
Oct 23, 2011
11
1
Worcester
Funster No
18,612
MH
IH N-Class 630RL
Exp
since 2009
New to Miami

Stagman please could you give us the benefit of your knowledge regarding electrics and the leisure and vehicle battery as we are having the same problem as Decca. Thanks:Smile:

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Stephen & Jeannie

Free Member
Aug 27, 2008
4,174
3,265
Gobowen near Oswestry !!
Funster No
3,842
MH
Sold and bought a Caravan
Exp
9 years !!!!
Sent you an email . If you need any further info please get in touch . See you been down the Gower . Are you from this area let me know P.M. if you want:thumb:

This is a forum....not a dating site !! We share experiences on here !!:Doh::Doh:

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billy

Free Member
Jan 10, 2009
247
314
Bolton
Funster No
5,345
MH
Autotrail
Exp
since 2009
Splash out on a solar panel and a extra leisure battery.:thumb:
We have two leisure batterys and a solar panel on ours and we dont have a problem with flat batteries.
We also leave our radio front on all the time and no problem:thumb:
 

billy

Free Member
Jan 10, 2009
247
314
Bolton
Funster No
5,345
MH
Autotrail
Exp
since 2009
Where is the engine battery ?


Lift the mat up in the cab and you will see a rectangle plate the battery is underneath

billy

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pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
Cheers billy that will help as I just wanted to know
Thanks
 

pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
Lift the mat up in the cab and you will see a rectangle plate the battery is underneath

billy

Hi Billy,
Could you also tell me where the outside light switch is pls ?
Sounds daft but my last camper had two switches this has one, and it doesn't switch the light on so it's either I have the wrong switch of the fitting has failed.
 

MHVirgins

Free Member
Aug 22, 2011
3,889
3,158
South of Scotland
Funster No
17,867
MH
Coachbuilt
Exp
March 2011
Very interesting thread, because we have just bought an Autotrail Dakota and when we went out to test drive it last week the battery was flat:Doh:

The mechanic said to us that probably someone had been in and left the radio/cd player on whilst looking at it. However, we had other thoughts on this, because the radio front had actually been removed at the time:RollEyes:

Is there something "quirky" about Autotrail electrics that we should know about?
We will be going down south to collect it next month, but are a bit concerned after reading this that we could end up with a flat battery after being on site for a while.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Bill

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pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
Very interesting thread, because we have just bought an Autotrail Dakota and when we went out to test drive it last week the battery was flat:Doh:

The mechanic said to us that probably someone had been in and left the radio/cd player on whilst looking at it. However, we had other thoughts on this, because the radio front had actually been removed at the time:RollEyes:

Is there something "quirky" about Autotrail electrics that we should know about?
We will be going down south to collect it next month, but are a bit concerned after reading this that we could end up with a flat battery after being on site for a while.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Bill

Hi Bill,
British built with quality components, on our second one now so would strongly say buy one.
Mine was a duff new battery and all appears fine now but am just learning the vast changes yet only went from a 2003 to a 2007, technology moved flippin fast from what I can see.
I would just request a complete charging circuit test along with the usual and all should be well.
Happy to say happy with auto trail, enjoy your purchase.
 

billy

Free Member
Jan 10, 2009
247
314
Bolton
Funster No
5,345
MH
Autotrail
Exp
since 2009
Hi Billy,
Could you also tell me where the outside light switch is pls ?
Sounds daft but my last camper had two switches this has one, and it doesn't switch the light on so it's either I have the wrong switch of the fitting has failed.

It is on the control panel above the habitation door labelled aux it will take a couple of seconds to come on

billy
 

pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
It is on the control panel above the habitation door labelled aux it will take a couple of seconds to come on

billy

Crikey mate thanks, would never have found that, and it works so cheers, again.

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MHVirgins

Free Member
Aug 22, 2011
3,889
3,158
South of Scotland
Funster No
17,867
MH
Coachbuilt
Exp
March 2011
Hi Bill,
British built with quality components, on our second one now so would strongly say buy one.
Mine was a duff new battery and all appears fine now but am just learning the vast changes yet only went from a 2003 to a 2007, technology moved flippin fast from what I can see.
I would just request a complete charging circuit test along with the usual and all should be well.
Happy to say happy with auto trail, enjoy your purchase.


Hi Paul,
Thanks for your reassurance. They put a big hefty charger onto the battery and it burst into life, we took it for a test drive and thought it drove well.
We go down to collect it mid August, so looking forward to that.
Thanks again:thumb:
Bill
 

billy

Free Member
Jan 10, 2009
247
314
Bolton
Funster No
5,345
MH
Autotrail
Exp
since 2009
Paul

One more tip for you this problem has happened to us twice now.

If your step does not retract when you start your engine or your fridge will not work on 12v it is a blown fuse both the step and the fridge use the same fuse.
You will find this under the bench seat on your right as you look down the van.
It took me ages to find it when it happened to us.

billy

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billy

Free Member
Jan 10, 2009
247
314
Bolton
Funster No
5,345
MH
Autotrail
Exp
since 2009
Very interesting thread, because we have just bought an Autotrail Dakota and when we went out to test drive it last week the battery was flat:Doh:

The mechanic said to us that probably someone had been in and left the radio/cd player on whilst looking at it. However, we had other thoughts on this, because the radio front had actually been removed at the time:RollEyes:

Is there something "quirky" about Autotrail electrics that we should know about?
We will be going down south to collect it next month, but are a bit concerned after reading this that we could end up with a flat battery after being on site for a while.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Bill

Nice motorhome the Dakota We looked at them before we bought the Miami.
 

pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
Paul

One more tip for you this problem has happened to us twice now.

If your step does not retract when you start your engine or your fridge will not work on 12v it is a blown fuse both the step and the fridge use the same fuse.
You will find this under the bench seat on your right as you look down the van.
It took me ages to find it when it happened to us.

billy

Ah good tip thanks.

Our last one the Apache had the step fuse by the battery which I didn't know where it was until you told me.

All good stuff for sure.
 

Banjolin

Free Member
Jul 27, 2014
3
2
Funster No
32,583
MH
C class
Exp
Newbie
Interesting thread as we've just bought a 2007 Miami as our first motorhome. I would like to explore putting a solar panel on. That's not the daunting part. It's where is the split charge relay located? And where are the wiring runs in the van? These may be silly questions to seasoned vanners but I'd like to know if such things as fitting a solar panel and a battery master is something I could do myself with a bit of the right knowledge! Thanks in advance.

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pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
Hi there,
i researched this then decided i didn't need one but good for you.
Sargent do a lead that plugs straight into your ehu so that simplifies things but you will still need to get through the roof to the ehu and also fit the relay (non is fitted). I guess easy to drop down straight into the ehu cupboard from above but the panel would need to go nearer the back of the MH due to the roof windows.
I planned to fit the panel near the back, a 250watt kit for about ÂŁ300 then run the wires through the cupboards and out through the floor then back up through the floor to the leisure batteries.
All these holes though didn't thrill me i must admit as was scary enough fitting the satellite dish he he
Mine is a 2007 also, great piece of kit.
 

Banjolin

Free Member
Jul 27, 2014
3
2
Funster No
32,583
MH
C class
Exp
Newbie
Thanks for the advice -I didn't know that Sargents did an adapter for the EC200 so I'll definitely look at that. I was planning on fitting a Battery Master as well hence the question about where the split charge relay lives. It's there on the wiring diagram to feed the vehicle and leisure batteries from the alternator and the Battery Master would just fit over this -if I knew where it was!
 

MHVirgins

Free Member
Aug 22, 2011
3,889
3,158
South of Scotland
Funster No
17,867
MH
Coachbuilt
Exp
March 2011
Didn't want to hijack your thread, just been reading through these posts again and thought I would put an update on about our battery given that we've had the van almost a year now.
We were on a CL for just over 2 weeks in March (on EHU), the van never moved once and as Margaret can't live without some form of radio or CD being on:RollEyes: I was concerned that it wouldn't start on the day we were leaving.
Thankfully it did, so I'm now more confident to know that the radio being on for several hours a day doesn't affect it.
I'm assuming the radio draws off the leisure battery or it would have flattened the vehicle battery over the two weeks. Have just disconnected the EHU here at home and powered the radio off the 12 volt system for a couple of minutes. The battery indicator above the door showed a increase in draw of amps from the leisure battery whilst the radio was on, but when switched off it reverted back ok.
Bill

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pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
Thanks for the advice -I didn't know that Sargents did an adapter for the EC200 so I'll definitely look at that. I was planning on fitting a Battery Master as well hence the question about where the split charge relay lives. It's there on the wiring diagram to feed the vehicle and leisure batteries from the alternator and the Battery Master would just fit over this -if I knew where it was!

Hi there, i fitted a battery master, after speaking to the maker whom said they fastened into the loom under the ehu i didn't fancy that, they advised fasten directly to the battery which i did. Saying that i bought the split lead from Sargent so have Two leisure batteries with the master managing all 3!
 

pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
Didn't want to hijack your thread, just been reading through these posts again and thought I would put an update on about our battery given that we've had the van almost a year now.
We were on a CL for just over 2 weeks in March (on EHU), the van never moved once and as Margaret can't live without some form of radio or CD being on:RollEyes: I was concerned that it wouldn't start on the day we were leaving.
Thankfully it did, so I'm now more confident to know that the radio being on for several hours a day doesn't affect it.
I'm assuming the radio draws off the leisure battery or it would have flattened the vehicle battery over the two weeks. Have just disconnected the EHU here at home and powered the radio off the 12 volt system for a couple of minutes. The battery indicator above the door showed a increase in draw of amps from the leisure battery whilst the radio was on, but when switched off it reverted back ok.
Bill

Hi Bill,
if you put a meter on any battery and turn on a radio the draw is so small its unreal and should not affect any battery, as you have proven.
My Dad on his old camper fitted an on/off switch on the engine battery so nothing could go in or out so was guaranteed it would not drain, some sense in that still.
 

Banjolin

Free Member
Jul 27, 2014
3
2
Funster No
32,583
MH
C class
Exp
Newbie
Just got a reply from Sargents prompted by pvw10's post above and I'm passing it on here in case it's useful to anyone with a Miami:

Yes, the WB1021 Solar Connecting Lead is compatible with the PSU fitted to your Miami.
You can fit a single or dual regulator to the harness. If you do fit a dual regulator this will charge both batteries at the same time. Depending on the type of dual regulator you purchase, you may be able to alter the charge sharing from a standard 50:50 to other values to alter the proportion of charge to each battery.
There is no need to fit a Battery Master type unit. A dual regulator will work fine in tandem with the existing systems.
If you were hooked up to the mains and charging the leisure battery, the dual solar regulator will see this higher voltage on the leisure battery and therefore divert most of its charge to the vehicle battery which would have a lower voltage.
The split charge relay is build into the PSU and is soldered to the internal PCB so is not removable. This would have no detrimental effect on the dual regulator. With the engine running, leisure and vehicle batteries are connected together, so the regulator will just see one bigger battery.
We do stock a dual regulator but it is not listed on our web site at the moment. I have attached info for your reference - EPIP20-DB. These cost ÂŁ65.04 inc VAT.


This should make life simpler! Also a reply from Autotrail:

Whilst you may be hesitant to bond the solar panel to the roof, we do exactly that on our production line. Using Henkel modified silicone adhesive or a good polyurethane adhesive such as Sikaflex, bonding the solar panels roof brackets to your Miami will be quick, easy and you will have no worries regarding roof puncturing.
As with all adhesive systems, make sure you clean the surfaces with white spirit or similar and follow the instructions on the tube. You should have no problem with this process if it is done correctly.
There are no blocks in the roof for this type of attatchment, only blocks for ladder and roof rack.

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pvw10

Free Member
Mar 3, 2012
273
45
Gloucester
Funster No
20,027
MH
Coach built
Exp
since 2011 after tugging.
Interesting and thanks, so bonding is good enough.

You still have to put the biggish cables through the whole vehicle though, panel(s) at one end of the vehicle ecu the other, this is the bit I didn't like.

I don't use the rubbish White TV aerial that came with the camper and pondered on going down that hole so to speak.

Let us know how you get on, happy to talk if needs be
 

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