Auto Roller 746 control panel

[Fieldd1982]

Hello All,
I have a roller 746 and recently brought it out of storage to do some maintenance and to also satisfy the kids requests to sleep in it on the drive during lockdown
Initially i did this without hooking up, which i dont tend to do when away. Anyway whilst watching tv the control panel seemed to turn off after approx 30 mins. I thought it may have been battery however when i turned the panel back on everything started working again (for another 30 mins).
Now in grand scheme of things this occurrence isn't the end of world and iccan probably hold out until its service in October. However as with all motorhome niggles it is starting to bug me. I blame 12 weeks of lock down with 2 and 6 yr old :0)
Anyway and similar experiences or thoughts would be welcome
Regards
Dan

 

[Figaro]

Is it a power saving feature ?
Or are you saying all 12 volts shuts off ? If so it`s a fault and I`d doubt you could use it for a holiday in that state

 

[Fieldd1982]

Hello,
I am not aware of a power saving feature but happy to stand corrected.
Yes the 12v feed seemingly shuts off. Have to hit the control panel on button again to restart.

 

[DandG5515]

Hi our older roller team goes into shutdown when the hab. battery is going flat, on ours I think the power still runs to the fridge control panel so the last of the power goes to the fridge. Also we only get about 3 years max from leisure batteries so shutdown may have killed them. I would get a cheep multimeter and check the output from the battery.

 

[Fieldd1982]

Thats what i thought the first time. So we left it hooked up to house for 3 days. Unhooked it and when it happened i turned panel back on and hab battery was still showing as 85%. I have always been dubious about battery though as will now be 5 years old.

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[DandG5515]

Our van was “new“ old stock. The first leisure battery lasted 2 months, dealer replaced it saying was old stock, that lasted 3 years, then 3 years, then 2 1/2 years, ok I buy value batteries from eBay so the lifespan is fine for me. you can get plug in usb adaptors with built in volt meters. If the voltage is dropping quickly then the battery is goosed.

 

[Lenny HB]

If it is OK when on EHU it would suggest it's a battery problem.

 

[Fieldd1982]

Thanks all. Yes everything would certainly seem to be pointing towards the leisure battery. Interestingly we took the van to have battery checked last year as the voltage was dropping when heating was on causing it to similarly turn off. Was told battery was fine and that it was most probably a dodgy hook up connection. Given its age I will look to change leisure.

 

[Lenny HB]

Thanks all. Yes everything would certainly seem to be pointing towards the leisure battery. Interestingly we took the van to have battery checked last year as the voltage was dropping when heating was on causing it to similarly turn off. Was told battery was fine and that it was most probably a dodgy hook up connection. Given its age I will look to change leisure.

The will have done a CCA test which is a starter battery test totally meaningless for a leisure battery. The only way to test a leisure battery is by a controlled discharge, no one will do that for you as it means spending time doing it.

 

[autorouter]

Thats what i thought the first time. So we left it hooked up to house for 3 days. Unhooked it and when it happened i turned panel back on and hab battery was still showing as 85%. I have always been dubious about battery though as will now be 5 years old.

It depends on what it is measuring. Simple battery charge indicators just monitor the voltage. Degraded batteries can have apparently good voltages when not loaded, but the voltage drops rapidly when you try to connect a load, then bounces back again when it's disconnected..

Better battery indicators monitor both the voltage and the current (amps). They also have a clock and built-in computer chip that counts the amps minute-by-minute as they go in and out of the battery. This type of indicator needs to know what the capacity of the battery is in amp-hours. It is programmed in from a menu whenever you fit a battery with a different capacity.

Maybe the battery has degraded so its capacity is only 30% of the original value. So when you take out a small amount of charge, say 15% of the original value, it will show as 85% full. But it's 50% of the degraded capacity value, so the panel senses the voltage drop and switches off.

Sadly, unless it turns out to be a loose connection somewhere, I'd agree that it looks like the battery is on the way out.

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[Fieldd1982]

Thank you all. I will add this to my next MOT and for completeness get a new leisure battery. I am fairly confident this will sort it and in meantime ensure i have EHU.