2003 Autotrail electrical question

[Johnkettley]

I hope someone here may be able to shine a light on on a bit of a challenge I've got at the moment.

We've had our 2003 Autotrail Cheyenne for a 3 years now and it's been 100% reliable and no problems at all, BUT I've just unwrapped it from the winter, put all the batteries back in place only to discover that the 12v system is not working!

Normally a press of the 'on' button in the top left of the control panel illuminates the button and turns everything on, but the button is not illuminating or allowing the water pump etc to activate. The strange thing is the panel is on and it's telling me that the leisure battery is good? (It worked perfect when I put the van away for winter)

I've checked all the fuses behind the panels on both sides of the dash and the charger/mains unit in the wardrobe too (I've also checked the wiring from the battery under the floor back into the van for vermin bites but all clear from what I can see

Thank you in advance for sharing any advice or experience you may have.

All the best John

 

[Stealaway]

The strange thing is the panel is on and it's telling me that the leisure battery is good? (It worked perfect when I put the van away for winter)

Is that unusual?
Do you keep the batteries at home and charged through the winter?
Can you check the battery voltages?

 

[Lenny HB]

Sounds like dead batteries, where did you store them?
If on a concrete garage floor with no charge that often does them in.

 

[Johnkettley]

Thanks for the feed back, but I'm fairly confident it's good as they were on the bench in my garage and had a trickle charge when they were first taken off and again before I put it back in there...

 

[Johnkettley]

Is that unusual?
Do you keep the batteries at home and charged through the winter?
Can you check the battery voltages?

Thank you, yes they were on my work bench in the garage and charged before going back in so the voltage is strong, I'm wondering if it might be the control panel?

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[Stealaway]

Buy a multi meter - invaluable in a MoHo

<Broken link removed>

 

[Johnkettley]

Buy a multi meter - invaluable in a MoHo

<Broken link removed>

I've got one but don't know how to use it LOL

 

[Speve]

Perhaps try a reboot by disconnecting all power then reconnect after a few minutes?

 

[rb62]

I've got one but don't know how to use it LOL

There you go,but it will only show the voltage not the state of the battery,you would need to put a load on it to see what happens How long had the batteries been standing before you charged them again!

 

[whiskyman]

Hello JK
Our last van was a Chieftain and occasionally the electrics went dead for what seemed no reason, after a lot of messing about I removed the control panel above the hab door and disconnected for about a minuit then reconnected and everything fired up with no problems. It seems this is common problem.
I hope this helps.

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[autorouter]

Black lead plugs into the COM socket. Red lead into the socket with 'V' in the label.

Set selector switch to 20V DC. (V with two small lines like an = means DC Volts. V with curly symbol means AC Volts. Batteries are DC, mains is AC)

Red probe onto batter positive terminal, black probe onto battery negative terminal. Voltage should read between 10V and 15V.

 

[Johnkettley]

Hello JK
Our last van was a Chieftain and occasionally the electrics went dead for what seemed no reason, after a lot of messing about I removed the control panel above the hab door and disconnected for about a minuit then reconnected and everything fired up with no problems. It seems this is common problem.
I hope this helps.

Brilliant, I'll try that thank you Whiskyman I've a feeling it is the control unit as everything was perfect before winter and this is the first time I removed all batteries (vehicle & leisure) which is why I think it could well be something to do with powering it back up... I'll try your suggestion this morning

 

[thejohnkettle]

As an update and for others that may be reading this post who are experiencing the same problem.
I was fortunate to spot that it was the 'control unit' that was faulty when my brother popped around to help me and showed him taking the unit off and then re-connecting it, hey presto the 12v power light came on and everything in the camper worked, the problem now was that it would not 'switch off'.
I unplugged it again and then reconnected but now not working and repeated unplugging and reconnecting done nothing.
I called Sargent (who were super helpful) ordered a new replacement and 2 days later it arrived and when plugged in, we were back in business )
Sometimes the simple and obvious is the answer LOL
I hope this post helps someone else out there...