2007 Autotrail Cheyenne 696 - 12v Drain and Alarm Battery (1 Viewer)

Phil J.

Free Member
Dec 21, 2014
111
70
Clay Cross, Derbyshire
Funster No
34,535
MH
Autotrail Cheyenne 696
Exp
Newbie
Hi,
We bought our motorhome in November and the first time out, after 3 nights on electric hook up, we stayed overnight on a pub car park (with their permission, of course!) without EHU. The batteries died overnight although they had little use as we were in the pub restaurant for most of the evening. We took it back to the dealer who replaced one of the two 85AH leisure batteries. I understand that they should be replaced in pairs but we're fairly confident that they are OK for the time being (I will change to 2 x 110AH when they die) . We got it home and left it overnight with only the 12v switched on the panel and nothing else - next morning dead again. We returned it again and to cut a long story short the dealer had an electrician go through it who found an earth problem and disconnected some redundant wiring that was also draining the battery. The wiring is a bit of a mystery as there are 2 switches at the side of the control panel, one marked Manual and the other Auto and this is repeated on the garage. There were also several 12v connectors and cables with what appear to be network cables. We are told that these have been disconnected as they appeared to be connected direct to the batteries.

We are going to give it a try tonight as we want to ensure it's sorted. My questions are:

  • What reading should I be getting on the panel ammeter - we have 0.4 with the 12v on?
  • Having had similar problems with our last caravan - is there a backup battery for the alarm or does it use the leisure or motive battery?
  • If it uses a backup battery - where is it?
We are trying to eliminate all possibilities of problems in the furure and any help and anything we should check would be greatly appreciated.

Phil and Ena
 

Jaws

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 26, 2008
23,821
71,977
Thetford Norfolk
Funster No
4,189
MH
C class, Chieftain
Exp
since 2006 ( I think ! )
That .4 sounds about right, especially if you have the dread EM50 unit which I believe you will have as it is the same year and make as our Chieftain
 

tonka

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 2, 2008
10,796
21,441
Cannock, Staffs
Funster No
3,141
MH
A class Burstner 800
Exp
Since 2000
I wrote to Sargent when i discovered a 0.3amp drain with everything turned off..
They said thats correct...... If you turn off the control panel then the drain is less but the system still draws something.
A solar panel will keep it topped up usually..

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Phil J.

Phil J.

Free Member
Dec 21, 2014
111
70
Clay Cross, Derbyshire
Funster No
34,535
MH
Autotrail Cheyenne 696
Exp
Newbie
Thanks for replies.
I have an Sargent EC325 and I've just been out and checked again with the main switch on top of the unit off and, after it's stabilised, the reading is -0.3 with the control panel above the door on and 0 (zero) with it off.
As I mentioned, ours has been back a couple of times and I'm hoping that with those readings it should be OK. We're off to Shardlow Marina for a night later this morning and going to run without EHU to give it a try. I won't tax it too much, just lights, water pump and a bit of blown air, i.e. no telly, satellite or digibox, to give it a fair chance. By the way, I've replaced all the regularly used lights with LEDs.
It's really important to us that we get this sorted whilst we still have warranty on it as we had a bad experience with our last caravan draining the battery.
If it's OK I'm going to fit a 100w solar panel direct to the EC325 in the next couple of weeks.
Thanks again.
 

Bluestar

Free Member
Nov 3, 2014
279
164
Brighton
Funster No
34,111
MH
Class
Exp
10 years.. On and Off
Just my four eggs, yes batteries are far better fitted in pairs of the same type/make/ Amp hour
All batteries will self drain and an alarm system or other items will drain a battery but generally at a lower rate than the battery would self drain anyway.
A problem with the alternator can drain a battery, a problem with the remaining battery could drain the new one, generally disconnecting everything and re connecting one system at a time should show up the problem, let us know on any progress
 

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Jaws

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 26, 2008
23,821
71,977
Thetford Norfolk
Funster No
4,189
MH
C class, Chieftain
Exp
since 2006 ( I think ! )
Switching the mains switch on would not alter the battery drain though according to the manual for the 325 it should be off when you plug in and only turned on once the hook up is live.
In theory it should make no difference but given the amount of grief I have had with the Sargent unit I am always pretty diligent and ensure I stick to the recommendation !
But .. leaving it switched on when not on hook up should make not a jot of difference to the current draw

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Phil J.

Phil J.

Free Member
Dec 21, 2014
111
70
Clay Cross, Derbyshire
Funster No
34,535
MH
Autotrail Cheyenne 696
Exp
Newbie
Thanks for replies.
The latest update is that we had a night out last night without EHU. We got through fine and, wonder of wonders, were able to shower this morning. However.......the inverter had mysteriously lost power! As I was aware it was connected direct to the batteries I thought I would check the connection after the electrician had been "working" on it. When I lifted the door what met my eyes left me a little annoyed to say the least - the live of the second battery wasn't connected and to make matters worse the terminal connector was wrapped in, what looked like, a pair of old underpants!! Basically we had been only running on one battery and, surprise surprise, the lead to the inverter had been cut. Guess where the bloody Cheyenne is now? - back with the very embarrassed dealer again who is paying for diesel, delivering it back to us and fitting another new battery.

I have another question as I have discovered something else fitted to the M/H which IK don't understand which I'll post after dinner on the tech questions - hope you can help.

Thanks again guys.
 

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