biggest beginner question ever?? (1 Viewer)

dryden1407

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we've just picked up an 09 autotrail Cheyenne 696g,,,i'm not sure if there's a switch somewhere we cant see or whether there is just limited power unless hooked into the mains but
are the leisure batteries just 12v and only power the led's ? should the leisure batteries power the sockets ,main lights,fridge and electric plate on the cooker when not into the mains? because at the moment they don't,on the display it says leisure battery good at 12.6v and vehicle battery good at 12.5v,,there is an extra leisure battery too
also the waste tank read out says 100% full although I've emptied it,,faulty sensor?
I've tried looking through previous posts but not found my answer yet,,so thanks for any response
 
Dec 6, 2011
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hi welcome,

your 12v liesure batteries will only power your 12v sockets ( cigar type ) an your lights , pump etc. your normal 3 pin sockets and mains lighting if you have any and cooker electric plate need 240v hook up to mains.

sounds as if the sensor on the waste tank is either stuck if its a float type or faulty if its a ultra sonic type.

plug yourself ( van that is :Doh: ) into the mains at home and see what you get.:thumb:
 
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tonka

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Ref the waste tank... Assuming that you have not confused the toilet cassette with the "grey" water waste tank...
Open the large grey tap under the van and see if anything comes out ( old bucket may help).. It could well be a stuck sensor and it may start working once some actual water is sloshing about in the tank.. Those level meters and sensors are never accurate....

As above, mains sockets etc will only work when you are plugged into the mains...

Welcome to motorhoming and FUN..

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Merle

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I'm not sure whether all set ups are the same but our fridge will only work on 12 volt when the engine is running. The interior light will work but not the chiller
 
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Terry

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Hi and welcome :thumb: Just to add fridge will only work on 12v while engine is running :Smile:
 
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Apr 19, 2008
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my fridge only works when full of beer, funny that:ROFLMAO: hope you solve the rest of your issues.

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dryden1407

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Aug 26, 2013
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autotrail 696g
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thanks for the quick reply's
to give you a laugh ,my wife's face was a picture when she realised when away without hook up she wouldn't have her hair plug ins,,lol
should I really tell her now about generators(assuming they would replicate 240v hook up when connected)?
we did hook up to our mains and got everything working so at least that's something eh
i'll get the water tanks filled and and emptied to fill the grey tank to see what happens tomorrow
thanks again for the reply's
oh,,the led strip in the bedroom flickers,,are these an easy change?
 
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Carol

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One plan get a good solar panel on top or maybe two and a invertor, 12 v hair dryers no problem . Welcome to Motorhome Fun :thumb:
 
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camocam1

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had the exact same questions when we got our 1st van except I was not a member of the forum then and phoned the dealer on his mobile on the Sunday night as was trying things out at home and felt a right plonker when he explained about the sockets. Still learning every day

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Ed Excel

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thanks for the quick reply's
to give you a laugh ,my wife's face was a picture when she realised when away without hook up she wouldn't have her hair plug ins,,lol
should I really tell her now about generators(assuming they would replicate 240v hook up when connected)?
we did hook up to our mains and got everything working so at least that's something eh
i'll get the water tanks filled and and emptied to fill the grey tank to see what happens tomorrow
thanks again for the reply's
oh,,the led strip in the bedroom flickers,,are these an easy change?

You can buy LED 12V lighting in various lengths from eBay. They come with adhesive backing. You need to count how many LEDs there are per metre, 30 or 60 and decide if you want bright or warm white. If your diffusers are like mine, ribbed semicircular, you push them in the middle with a finger to make them spread and pop a small screwdriver under the edge to release them. Your existing strip should just be stuck to the luminaire base.
 
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monk

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we've just picked up an 09 autotrail Cheyenne 696g,,,i'm not sure if there's a switch somewhere we cant see or whether there is just limited power unless hooked into the mains but
are the leisure batteries just 12v and only power the led's ? should the leisure batteries power the sockets ,main lights,fridge and electric plate on the cooker when not into the mains? because at the moment they don't,on the display it says leisure battery good at 12.6v and vehicle battery good at 12.5v,,there is an extra leisure battery too
also the waste tank read out says 100% full although I've emptied it,,faulty sensor?
I've tried looking through previous posts but not found my answer yet,,so thanks for any response

Try putting some cleaning fluid in your waste tank and fill it up water it worked for me with my Savannah (dish washer fluid)
 
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Allanm

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The waste tank on our new van generally shows its full just after I have emptied it. The sensors are not very accurate or robust. We have the van booked in to the dealers next week to get it looked at, meanwhile, I have disconnected the tank electrics and just empty it when I fill the fresh water tank. They hold about the same and I never fully empty the fresh water tank so I know the waste will never overflow
Allan

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Angus dog

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All of your queries seem to have been answered very fully.We also have a Cheyenne 696g and we wondered if you have had any problems with the 4 locks on the garage.We cannot lock them unless pressure is applied from the inside---- not a practical option.Have you or other fun steers any suggestions.We will probably have to go back to the dealer which seems crazy for something which is probably easy to resolve
 
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MHVirgins

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We've just collected an Autotrail Dakota at the weekend and are a bit puzzled by the question about the fridge running off the leisure battery.
As far as we know the fridge will only operate off either EHU, vehicle battery when running or off gas.

As soon as we turn our vehicle ignition on, all 12 volt is negated or are we missing something?

One thing that is puzzling us with our fridge is that we can't get it to switch to the gas setting when we stop for a break. The dealer showed us it working after it failed, but we can't get it working again.

Bill
 
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MHVirgins

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All of your queries seem to have been answered very fully.We also have a Cheyenne 696g and we wondered if you have had any problems with the 4 locks on the garage.We cannot lock them unless pressure is applied from the inside---- not a practical option.Have you or other fun steers any suggestions.We will probably have to go back to the dealer which seems crazy for something which is probably easy to resolve


I was sure I had locked one of the side lockers before we left today, yet it was open by the time we reached the CC site at Lower Wensleydale:RollEyes:
Will be keeping a close eye on these now

Bill

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MHVirgins

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had the exact same questions when we got our 1st van except I was not a member of the forum then and phoned the dealer on his mobile on the Sunday night as was trying things out at home and felt a right plonker when he explained about the sockets. Still learning every day

We've just been south to collect our second van and one of the staff at the dealers gave me another staff member's mobile number...........I think he might very soon regret doing this and change his mobile number:ROFLMAO:

I'm going to be straight on the phone to him tomorrow, so I hope he's got his tin helmet on before the sticky brown stuff hits the fan:roflmto:

Bill
 
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Blodwyn Pig

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Bought our first camper in July and took it to a local site overnight as a proving run. EHU nothing worked! Began checking the CB and fuses, rang the dealer and went through the same procedure again. Just about to return to the dealer when I noticed a hadn't connected the EHU lead to the EHU tower! :Blush:

What a muppet! :Smile:
 
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Lindylooj

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We've just collected an Autotrail Dakota at the weekend and are a bit puzzled by the question about the fridge running off the leisure battery.
As far as we know the fridge will only operate off either EHU, vehicle battery when running or off gas.

As soon as we turn our vehicle ignition on, all 12 volt is negated or are we missing something?

One thing that is puzzling us with our fridge is that we can't get it to switch to the gas setting when we stop for a break. The dealer showed us it working after it failed, but we can't get it working again.

Bill

Hi Bill, glad the van collection went well. I read the book (yes I did) and it said about the fridge that if you have it on auto it will recognise the voltage and switch to 12v/240 if on EHU itself so that is what I leave it on unless using gas and it seems to work fine.
regards Lynn :Smile:

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maz

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One thing that is puzzling us with our fridge is that we can't get it to switch to the gas setting when we stop for a break. The dealer showed us it working after it failed, but we can't get it working again.Bill

If it's an AES fridge, they're normally set with a 15 min delay before they'll switch over to gas after running the engine. It's a safety thing - don't want your fridge trying to light up on a filling station forecourt. :Eeek:
 
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Scout

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autotrail interior lighting, MOST autotrails have some 12v and some 240v lighting so some will work on 12v and all will work when on 240v.

autotrail tank sensors (and tempreture sensors) are manly rubbish, the tank sensors are pins at verying hights in the side of the tanks, the wires have been know to connected in the wrong order, they break due to road vibration, they crud over inside the tank due to waist contamination, they are basicly best left alone and forgoton about.

However if you really want to try and get them working a few cupfulls of bio washing powder and a tankfull of really hot water into the waist tank and a good run on bendy roads helps ( you will be supprised at what come out when drained)

I find a full fresh tank will last 3 to 4 days when its empty water stops comeing from the taps and the waist tank will be full.
 
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MHVirgins

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Hi Bill, glad the van collection went well. I read the book (yes I did) and it said about the fridge that if you have it on auto it will recognise the voltage and switch to 12v/240 if on EHU itself so that is what I leave it on unless using gas and it seems to work fine.
regards Lynn :Smile:

Hi Lynn, we don't have any problems with the EHU when on a site and "vehicle battery" function whilst running. It's when we stop for a break etc and try to switch it to the gas setting:Sad: It failed during the handover and they took the outside grill off saying that the pipes were narrow and it re-worked whilst he was there. Will get the book out and have another look through it..........:RollEyes:


Quote: If it's an AES fridge, they're normally set with a 15 min delay before they'll switch over to gas after running the engine. It's a safety thing - don't want your fridge trying to light up on a filling station forecourt.

Hi Maz, it's a Dometic fridge/freezer, but would only put it to gas when we stop for a break or park up off site. The gas with us now must be switched off when travelling, whereas we had a "Secu-Motion" regulator with the Autoquest.
It's a touchscreen control and shows the "spanner" symbol when moved to the gas mode.

Thanks to you and Lynn for your suggestions. We're having fun with the alarm system as well, thankfully the fridge not going over to gas isn't disturbing anyone late at night:Blush:

Margaret & Bill::bigsmile:

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Bonio123

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The fridge does have a 15 minute safety delay before going on to gas however this can be overridden by switching the fridge off and back on . Useful for lunch stops etc enroute
 
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MHVirgins

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The fridge does have a 15 minute safety delay before going on to gas however this can be overridden by switching the fridge off and back on . Useful for lunch stops etc enroute

Bonio, thanks very much for this information. No one explained this to us the other day at the handover, we successfully switched it off and then back on after taking it off EHU and it went to gas with no problem:thumb:
We must have waited for more than 15 minutes the other day, before trying gas again. But all going fine now........touch wood!
Another problem solved, many thanks!

Bill::bigsmile:
 
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