Autotrail Imala 615 Vehicle battery charging problem

[RGR723]

Hi all

Just got one of these, help required re vehicle battery charging. Especially if you have the following or similar Sargent electrical set up and are able to charge your vehicle battery.

Sargent EC 176 PSU - Control Panel EC363 v145

Firstly I have the PSU Shutdown switch is set on and charging switch is on.

Next on Control Panel I have scrolled through all settings and am unable to find a setting where the vehicle battery shows charging (the leisure battery does) when you scroll to the heading 'vehicle battery '(and select it) it shows the voltage 12.4 volts and this has remained static for three days whilst the leisure battery has risen to 13.3v. Indicating it is not receiving any charge.

The My auto-trail app strangely shows that mains power is not connected even though it is. It tracks and gives levels ok how useful do users find it?

Pointers, guidance thoughts appreciated.

 

[RGR723]

UPDATE!

Just been onto the My auto-trail app (again) and it is showing both leisure and vehicle batteries at 13.6 volts but still not connected to the mains! strange will keep watching.
Am wondering whether there is a default hidden control somewhere that will only allow the vehicle battery to be charged if the leisure vehicle battery is at a certain level?

Anyway much happier now.

 

[rwg]

Hi,

I believe that this Sargent setup will only charge the vehicle battery if the power source is set to vehicle battery on the control panel and the control panel is turned on. The leisure battery will charge when the power source is set to leisure battery whether the panel is turned on or off..

It's also good to know that it doesn't really measure if the battery is charging or not. The 'Charging' indication will appear if the battery voltage measures at 13.3v or above.

Cheers,

Robin

 

[ROCHESB]

The EC176 charger is not very clever, it's a basic 12A 12v power supply that supplies 12v leisure load, and anything left over is used to charge which ever battery the habitation services are connected to.

It will only charge one battery at a time. To charge the vehicle battery you have to scroll & select the vehicle battery

The Sargent Electrical website has user manuals which may be helpful.

 

[RGR723]

Hi rwg

Thanks for you prompt response.

I agree with your first paragraph which is how I thought I'd set it and now that the vehicle battery has risen must have.

Will pop out and see if, charging is showing against the vehicle battery shortly therefore verifying your second paragraph which explains charging doesn't show until a certain voltage has been reached (I don't mean to doubt you)!

Thanks again

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[RGR723]

The EC176 charger is not very clever, it's a basic 12A 12v power supply that supplies 12v leisure load, and anything left over is used to charge which ever battery the habitation services are connected to.

It will only charge one battery at a time. To charge the vehicle battery you have to scroll & select the vehicle battery

The Sargent Electrical website has user manuals which may be helpful.

Thanks
Have all the Sargent literature, I think rwg has however hit the nail on the head with regard to my problem.

 

[ROCHESB]

When we had our Imala, to keep the batteries in a good state while parked up at home I wired in sockets for a CTEK MXS 5.0 charger and used that instead of the Sargent unit.