Control Panel DT201 not working propely after replacement leisure battery

[MaidinDevon]

Hi all
M6 van has been standing for 8 months and the leisure battery died. There wasn't enough power to charge wirh solar, abd the 12 volt switched itself off.
I have had a replacement Gel battery fitted, and the panel lit up, lights etc working.
However the panel cannot find the batteries any more. It is also refusing to let me update the date and time etc.
I have asked the fitter to check his wiring to the battery in case a wire hasn't been attached correctly. He is hopefully looking at it this evening.
But would that explain the other issues?
I had trouble with the panel switching itself off sometimes before, without any obvious reason.

And is it the panel. Should I replace it, the van is 18 years old now.

I think I found a thread that suggested you could go into the settings, and use a pin number to reset, but I can't find the blooming post now. Anyway, i don't know if it is relevant.
Any thoughts?

 

[Cush]

Does your panel look like this? Pic attached. If so, gently prize off the surround, it may slide down. Then ease out the control panel and unplug the wires from the back. Leave it for a minute or two, then plug back in. It worked for me and reset my system on a 2003 van

 

[MaidinDevon]

Hi Cush.

It looks like this.

 

[cbrookson]

It might be worth giving Apuljack a ring in the morning, or send them an Email. They would probably have a good idea.
Cheers

 

[Cush]

Hi Cush.

It looks like this.

Ah. Bit out of my experience. The photo will help someone though

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[GeoffnDee]

Check around the battery area , there may be a 2amp fuse that has blown or not been re-connected

 

[paddymcc]

The control wires to the DT201 are from block 3 and 9 on the EBL 101. It might be worth giving them a wiggle or even switching off the EBL, taking them out and using electrical contact cleaner. Lenny HB I expect will be able to help more.

 

[bigtwin]

It might be worth giving Apuljack a ring in the morning, or send them an Email. They would probably have a good idea.
Cheers

As cbrookson say, Definitely worth taking to Apuljack, they will talk you through a fault finding sequence.

Ian

 

[autorouter]

The main power comes into the EBL via a 50A fuse next to the leisure battery. There is also a second (thin) wire that the panel uses to sense the leisure battery voltage. It has a 2A fuse, usually right next to the 50A one. Worth checking the wire is connected and the fuse is OK.

Also the DT201 is connected to the EBL by two data cables, it's worth unplugging and reseating those. They are the small multiway plugs, not the larger ones.

Another possibility is the main power switch on the EBL front panel, it is notorious for not switching back on properly if it is ever switched off. I never switch it off (2006 Hymer) but if it was switched off as part of the battery swap then it might be playing up. Sometimes switching it on and off several times helps, but if it's not been touched, leave well alone.

Is any if your 12V electrics working? Lights, water pump, electric step?

 

[tonyidle]

Press the OK button for 30sec after switching on. The procedure is in the manual.

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[MaidinDevon]

The main power comes into the EBL via a 50A fuse next to the leisure battery. There is also a second (thin) wire that the panel uses to sense the leisure battery voltage. It has a 2A fuse, usually right next to the 50A one. Worth checking the wire is connected and the fuse is OK.

Also the DT201 is connected to the EBL by two data cables, it's worth unplugging and reseating those. They are the small multiway plugs, not the larger ones.

Another possibility is the main power switch on the EBL front panel, it is notorious for not switching back on properly if it is ever switched off. I never switch it off (2006 Hymer) but if it was switched off as part of the battery swap then it might be playing up. Sometimes switching it on and off several times helps, but if it's not been touched, leave well alone.

Is any if your 12V electrics working? Lights, water pump, electric step?

Hi. The battery is in a locker. The guy who fitted it came back today and tested it. 3 earth's and 3 live connections so all good at that point.
The 12 volt is all working.
I don't know whether the solar is working or not, or what the state of the starter and leisure batteries are. When I press the battery option nothing happens on the panel.
But he said possibly the solar controller is also flat as a pancake snd not charging.
I am going to plug into the mains tomorrow at home, snd see if it affects anything.
I haven't tried that yet because I live on the second floor, and will need to trail an extension out of my flat window to the ground.
But the van is being valeted tomorrow, she looks like the hulk at the moment all green! So they also need access to my power supply. If I am going to potentially snnoy my neighbours, might as well fo a good job!


The Manual doesn't mention pressing for 30 seconds. It does, however, say not to alter the factory settings.
I shall update tomorrow, once she has been fully charged ip on mains.
Edited to add that I will try the recommendations as well.
I am off to a festival on Friday so trying to get her back up together for that. And back to work full time as well. Bit of a shock to the system after floating about in a narrowboat for months.

 

[autorouter]

Sounds like you need to take a few voltage readings, with a multimeter. If the display panel is playing up, you're working in the dark if you can't see the voltages at the terminals of the leisure and starter batteries. A cheap multimeter is quite OK for this, and you can get one for a tenner or so at any DIY store.

Plug the red test lead into the socket with a 'V' in its label. Plug the black test lead into the 'COM' socket. Set the range to 20V DC. The symbol for DC is two lines, one solid and one dotted. The symbol for AC is a curly 'twiddle'. All battery and alternator voltages are DC.

Measuring battery voltage is easy and quite safe. You won't get a shock from a voltage as small as 12 volts.

Push the probe points onto the battery terminals. Push firmly to break through any oxide layer on the metal. Black probe on negative, red on positive. If you get them the wrong way round, nothing bad happens, but a 'minus' sign appears in front of the voltage reading.

You should get a voltage between 10 and 15 volts. A good battery will vary from about 12.8 (full) down to about 12.0V (as low as you should normally discharge it to).

If the battery is being charged, the voltage will be between 13.0V and about 14.5V. If it's over 15.0V then there's probably a charger problem.

It's worth getting a meter, even if the display panel tells you exactly the same voltages, at least you know that the panel is accurate. If there's any wiring problems between the batteries and the panel, then he multimeter will tell you the state of the batteries.