Do you own a newish Carthago Malibou A class or coach built ?

colyboy

colyboy

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Have you had any problems with the engine battery on your newish Carthago Malibou coach built or A class. We have on several occasions found the engine battery almost out of power. No we have not left the radio or anything on! Met a fellow A Class owner ( one year old van) last week he had the same problem . Have you?

Colyboy
 
Ours hasn’t been delivered yet, which model do you have? Interested in your battery issue and the solution x
 
I have a Chic C tag xl. The engine battery is problematic, Loosing voltage over night with nothing switched on. The twin 130 solar hasn't had change to work as it mainly overcast this las week. Ive stopped using the the alphtronics tv and head unit as the battery drain is terrible. I use the inverter and stick a tv on the dash and watch through wifi. Its going to need to get sorted when I'm home from this trip....
 
Age of vehicle may come into this. New vehicles with smart alternators will keep the engine battery voltage at a low level but there should always be enough to start the engine.
 
Now I am not a wiz tech but please stay with me on this.

We have the Chic c line. The radio on the dash operates when the engine starts and is in operation. When parked up, to have the radio on we press a button on the habitation control panel which then enables the entertainment system to power up and the radio lights up and there is power to the tv location.

Now this is the technical part that was expalinaed to me by a chic c line owner who had issues with the engine battery. It was explained to him when his engine battery was discharging.

When parked up and the entertainment button is active. The power to the TV is from the leisure batteries but it was said that yes the radio becomes live but there is some switch over that when turned on through the control panel, the power used to the radio is from the engine battery. So a weekend park up with the radio on draws power from the engine battery. So in my case the entaetinment button is on, the radio lights up and even when the radio channel is off the screen of the radio system is powered on and in full light so there is a draw down from a battery.

Now I have Victron Smart shunt attached to the leisure batteries but not the engine battery. To test the theory I have monitored any amp draw when the entertainment button is turned on and radio in use. I do not see any drop of life in the leisure batteries through the Smart shunt. So on this info is the power to the radio from the engine battery.

If as a previous poster has said there is little top up from the alternator, the draw from the radio could make a difference.
We have a split charger from solar so our engine battery is topped up

Hope that is clear.

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Ian.s said:
I have a Chic C tag xl. The engine battery is problematic, Loosing voltage over night with nothing switched on. The twin 130 solar hasn't had change to work as it mainly overcast this las week. Ive stopped using the the alphtronics tv and head unit as the battery drain is terrible. I use the inverter and stick a tv on the dash and watch through wifi. Its going to need to get sorted when I'm home from this trip....
Click to expand...
see my post as a possible answer to your issue
 
Our Motorhome is 10 weeks old and the chap I met in France who had the same problem his MH was one year

We were in France when this problem started. Visited three major Fiat dealers first one said there was something drawing a lot of juice from the engine battery, Second garage confirmed that the battery it self was 100% perfect. Third garage who also sold MH’s said after I explained our problem straight away stated “it is the radio” we have seen this several times. He said “that it is not a Fiat problem but a Carthago one , they are fitting the radio wrongly

As I understand it (been a non tec person) is that the radio is connected to the engine battery and can be switched on manually . But it becomes live when you use the TV. On our recent trip to France , one morning we could not get started, had to call out Fiat breakdown service who “jump started” it.
It has been suggested that you switch off the main switch on the habitation control box, but that means that you have no lights when visiting the loo and no water pump to wash hands etc.

How do I know if I have a “smart alternator”?

colyboy
 
The radio could well be the problem, some of them use a good chunk of power when in standby. My radio (Pioneer) becomes live when I turn the tv power on and I make a point of doing a full shut down on the radio itself to save electricity. A 10 week old vehicle will have a smart alternator so the engine battery might well be only partially charged when you park up, if it then gets an unexpected extra drain from the radio it could perhaps leave it too low to do what is needed.
 
I have a Hymer/Sprinter van with a smart alternator and since new had starter battery issues.
From what i can gather the resting voltages are lower than that of a standard charging system.
This constantly shows the Hymer control panel at best in the yellow zone but more likely in the red.
The Mercedes manual states battery life without use or charge is three weeks, due to the fact that the electronic systems never really shut down i.e constant monitoring or electronic handbrake.
There is a facility on the Media system to put the vehicle in to 'sleep mode' giving the battery 20wks charge. When I do this however it states the battery is in to low a state of charge and can not be completed !
I fitted a bluetooth battery monitor across the battery terminals to get updated alerts which is useful.
A new battery was fitted recently, however its resting rate is only 12.1-12.3 volts, not totally convinced the problem has been solved as over time the rate is declining-see below.
The high peaks indicate vehicle starting.
My only solution is to connect to electric hook up or find away to feed in excessive solar from my lithium batteries.
I think another trip to my Mercedes dealer will be needed?
Screenshot_20210828-082246.png
 
Wondering star said:
A new battery was fitted recently, however its resting rate is only 12.1-12.3 volts,
Click to expand...
That is far too low to be reliable for an engine start, 12.4 is the absolute minium for engine starting preferably above 12.6v, never going to start the engine in cold weather at that voltage.

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With Carthagos/Malibu's it's the Pioneer head unit that's the problem it draws several amps in standby after use you need to turn off the media switch on the control panel or you will have a flat starter battery in the morning.
Best solution is to rewire it to the leisure battery and fit an inline switch to the main power feed.

colyboy you only need to turn off the media switch on the control panel no need to turn the panel off.
 
Thanks for all your replies, please keep sending them.

I would like the dealer to see these replies.

1. Can I forward them to him?
2. Can I print these off and send to him?
3. Could he view these on line without joining MHF

COLYBOY
 
Non members can view but they can only see thumbnails of photos.
Just copy the URL of this thread and email it to him.
 
Amazon product ASIN B073XN9ZGH

I fitted this battery balancer
between the leisure and starter battery just incase this ever occurred but never have had the problem.
Bluetooth runs constantly on the pioneer head unit even when switched off. You can prove this by doing a search on your phone with Bluetooth on and you will find you can connect to the head unit when switched off.
 
Have sent all the replies to the dealer and I await their reply with interest. Will let you know what they say.

The van is booked in to a local Fiat dealer 17 September for them to look at, but I am sure it’s not a Fiat problem but a Carthago one

colyboy

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Wondering star said:
The battery balancer would be ideal if it worked with Lithium
Click to expand...
These guys do

AMT12-2 Trickle Charger charges Vehicle Battery from Leisure Battery with Solar Charger /Mains Hookup | Ablemail Electronics

The AMT12-2 has many names Trickle Charger, Battery Maintainer, Battery Saver, Reverse Charger, Top Up Charger, Battery Equaliser, but its purpose is to keep a Source / Vehicle Battery charged & protected from damage during prolonged periods of Vehicle, Boat & Motorhome inactivity or storage...
www.ablemail.co.uk www.ablemail.co.uk
 
Last edited:
colyboy said:
Have sent all the replies to the dealer and I await their reply with interest. Will let you know what they say.

The van is booked in to a local Fiat dealer 17 September for them to look at, but I am sure it’s not a Fiat problem but a Carthago one

colyboy
Click to expand...
Banging your head against a brick wall, Carthago have been fitting Pioneer head units and wiring them like that for years.
 
On our Sunlight we have a small switch on the dashboard. If the engine / ignition is switched off the radio does not work. However, flick the switch to the on position and no ignition is needed.

Could that be the necessary fix?
 
My 2016 Compactline switches the radio/reversing camera unit on with the "media switch" on the habitation panel. The radio unit does have a "power off" option in the menu if all you want is to watch TV. I've also got a battery master which keeps the engine topped up from the leisure battery. 300watts of solar keeps that going if OH doesn't use the electric kettle/microwave too much.

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So much for German engineering!!
 
The main problem here is that these base vehicles are not designed to spend weeks sitting around.
My problem would not exist if the was used every week.
 
Why are these things called smart, doesn't sound very smart to me.
What is the point of them?
 
I have the same setup but the entertainment head is a Blaupunkt 530 and as yet (in 5 years) it has not caused a problem so I'm with Lenny HB it must be the Pioneer unit.

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We are collecting our new C Line in a few weeks. Would it make sense to have to head unit rewired to run from the habitation batteries?
 
TizzyOnTour said:
We are collecting our new C Line in a few weeks. Would it make sense to have to head unit rewired to run from the habitation batteries?
Click to expand...
Yes without doubt also put a switch in line with the main power feed as they draw quite a few amps in standby.
 
We have a Carthago Chic I 51 , oldish, but a similar problem, the van was showing 12.4 v on the cab battery took it for a spin, got back home, parked up, next day battery dead as a dodo 9v, put it on CTEK recovered it, the van was at the dealers and they tested the can battery and replaced the cab battery.

We are down at Vanbitz next week, alarm plus 2 solar panels and a battery master, that should keep any issues at bay, Eddie can you add your thoughts please.. eddievanbitz
 
ShiftZZ said:
We have a Carthago Chic I 51 , oldish, but a similar problem, the van was showing 12.4 v on the cab battery took it for a spin, got back home, parked up, next day battery dead as a dodo 9v, put it on CTEK recovered it, the van was at the dealers and they tested the can battery and replaced the cab battery.

We are down at Vanbitz next week, alarm plus 2 solar panels and a battery master, that should keep any issues at bay, Eddie can you add your thoughts please.. eddievanbitz
Click to expand...
What head unit do you have?

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