Hymer engine battery not charging when on solar. (1 Viewer)

[XRN]

My engine battery does not appear to be charging from solar which ended up with a totally discharged battery last winter whilst stored. The van is a 2000 year Hymer B680 Starline with an Electroblock 99 and 100W solar panel. There is also a Battery Master fitted but the light on it never comes on. I have measured the solar panel input to the regulator at 18V and the output to leisure batteries at 13.8v so that side is ok I believe, and the leisure batteries remain stable at 13.8v most of the time but the engine battery is falling slowly and is currently at 12.4v. Both leisure batteries were renewed last year and the engine battery this spring so I have no doubt about their conditions. Both batteries charge ok when the engine is running but I haven't been able to check when on EHU.
I thought that the solar was supposed to divert to the engine battery when the leisure batteries were fully charged through the electroblock but maybe that is wrong and possibly why a previous owner fitted a battery master to do that. I am not sure how these are wired up whether through the electroblock or straight between batteries so it is a bit difficult to work things out. I am sure the battery master light used to come on when I got the van but not now, so maybe that is broken or a fuse has gone somewhere. Can anybody help me out with a fault finding way ahead? @Jean-luc maybe? Can I pull fuses to check and replace them on the electroblock without switching it off first?

 

[funflair]

You should be able to check the battery master connections with a voltmeter and a pin as there are only three wires associated with it, one should read leisure battery volts one engine battery volts and the other is ground.

Martin

 

[XRN]

Hi Martin, @funflair not sure where to check and what do you mean by "pin", the battery master is next to the engine battery and I can see the pos on the engine battery but the other 2 wires are connected elsewhere possibly to wires on the electroblock or direct to leisure battery, not been able to trace them as yet.

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[wigster]

I haven't got a battery master on my 680 but when my cab battery wasn't charging on solar or hook up it was a green 20 amp fuse in the fuse block on top of the engine battery. Looking into the engine bay the fuse furthest to the right in the fuse block.

 

[funflair]

Hi

Sorry, stick a pin in the wire and check with voltmeter, so if it's next to the engine battery and you can see the wire it should be OK on the engine battery but might still be worth a check, so now check the other two, one should show leisure battery volts when checked to ground and the other should be ground -ve so you can check that back to the engine battery +ve and see engine battery volts, If you don't get these results I would be looking for a bad connection, if you do but the BM still does not work with a voltage difference of around 0.7 from leisure to engine I would be thinking the BM is faulty.

Martin

 

[XRN]

Thanks Martin that is really useful, I will check tomorrow. I assume it is safe to remove the BM +pos to the engine battery to check voltage whilst the other end of the BM is connected to the leisure batteries?

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[Lenny HB]

I asune you have a single output solar regulator otherwise you wouldn't need the if you have Battery Master. Does sound like you may have a faulty Battery Master.
Would be helpful to know what solar regulator you have and is it wired via the solar connections on the ELB.

 

[XRN]

@Lenny HB Dual output solar regulator Fox 250 or something, but only one output used going to leisure batteries but I am not sure whether the LB connections are wired via the solar conns on the EBL or straight to the LB's.

 

[Parapilot]

I have a 2003 Hymer S820 with solar regulator connected directly to LB's (not through the EBL99). It also has a battery master connected between LB and engine battery (green light on as it should be). The battery master wires should be fused at each battery connection so those should be your first check.

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[Lenny HB]

@Lenny HB Dual output solar regulator Fox 250 or something, but only one output used going to leisure batteries but I am not sure whether the LB connections are wired via the solar conns on the EBL or straight to the LB's.

If it has been installed correctly you shouldn't need the Battery Master as the solar regulator should charge both leisure battery and engine battery.
With the ELB 99 the solar connections are straight though (via a fuse to leisure battery). There are 3 pins, Neg, Leisure battery pos, & Engine battery pos. These should connect to the coresponding outputs on the regulator. Just looked up the Fox 250 in basic form that is only a single output. If a single output regulator is used that would explane the Battery Master, the output from the regulator should be connected to the input of the battery master and the output from the batterymaster to the engine battery connection on the EBL.

 

[XRN]

Thanks Lenny, I will be having a look at it this afternoon and I will take some photos of the Ebl to fathom out which blocks are which.

 

[JimJams]

If your Battery Master light isn't on then it is not getting power. It is incredibly unlikely that the Battery Master is faulty to be honest and may just be where the feed was taken from of the leisure feed the fuse has blown.

You mentioned previously you have had a flat battery.. have you jump started the van? if so check your main split charge fuse which is probably under your bonnet near your engine battery, as if the connection for the Battery Master was taken from this feed it would explain why there is no light on it.

Remember the battery master is only there to compensate for draw like the built in clock and alarm systems etc so if your engine battery is faulty then it couldn't support this problem which would explain why the battery had gone flat when left parked and with the solar input. just because the engine battery was new this spring doesn't always unfortunately mean it isn't to fault as I'm sure you know.

Was it installed by us do you know? if so and you are our customer then I can check our file on your motorhome to see where and what was installed? you can PM me if preferred or ring me in the office if you are our customer 01823 353235.

hope this helps

James

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[XRN]

Thanks @jamesvanbitz , I have done a few checks and can confirm the solar panel is connected straight to the leisure batteries and not via the EBL, therefore the battery master is required to top up the engine battery. The BM is connected straight to the leisure batteries with the red + and black - leads and the brown to the engine battery +pos. I have pinned the red lead at the input to the BM and can measure 13.8v which is the same voltage at the LB so I assume that the BM is not passing the LB voltage to the engine battery. I haven't disconnected the brown from the engine battery to check BM output but engine battery is measuring 12.4 v and BM light is off. Defective BM?
The BM was already there when I bought the van so I am not sure who fitted it but from the straight forward installation to the batteries and not through a relay I assume that it was self fitted.

 

[XRN]

@jamesvanbitz any thoughts on this please?

 

[eddie]

@jamesvanbitz any thoughts on this please?

James probably hasn't seen this as he has been very busy workshop wise

You will have to tell us the voltage on the Brown wire to know if the Battery Master is defective

My guess is that the voltage will either show zero faults or the same voltage as the Leisure battery pointing to the fused connection from the engine battery to the ELB

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[XRN]

Thanks for your help with this @eddievanbitz , I will have a look tomorrow. I'm a bit confused by your thoughts that the fused connection from the engine battery to the EBL might be faulty as I thought the BM was totally independent of the EBL, it is certainly wired that way with +pos and +neg on the LB's and brown wire straight to engine battery +pos as per your installation diagrams. I will disconnect the brown wire from the engine battery and measure voltage output from the BM and post up the results. Thanks again.

 

[eddie]

Thanks for your help with this @eddievanbitz , I will have a look tomorrow. I'm a bit confused by your thoughts that the fused connection from the engine battery to the EBL might be faulty as I thought the BM was totally independent of the EBL, it is certainly wired that way with +pos and +neg on the LB's and brown wire straight to engine battery +pos as per your installation diagrams. I will disconnect the brown wire from the engine battery and measure voltage output from the BM and post up the results. Thanks again.

Right sorry I didn't read the whole thread and assumed that the Battery Master was connected at Electroblok which is the easiest way.

So the wires have been extended and actually run to the batteries?

So long as the connections are good, if your getting the symptoms you describe then your right, logically it sounds as if the Battery Master has failed. If you want to send it to us we will test it for you.

 

[XRN]

@eddievanbitz many thanks, a kind offer. Today I have checked the voltage going in to the BM on the red wire at 13.8v which is LB voltage currently. I have continuity on the black wire to earth and engine battery voltage is at 12.59v after a short run. BM light is off.
After disconnecting the brown lead from the engine battery I measured 12.85v coming from the BM brown lead so it looks like the BM may be ok but light remains off all the time so no indication that it is charging. This morning the engine battery was at 12.45v after standing overnight which doesn't suggest the BM is passing any LB charge to the engine battery even though the output indicated 12.85v on my test. Could the BM be struggling when the resistance of the battery is in circuit?
It is a quite old unit judging by the current style, see the photos front and back. Light is off by the way.

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[eddie]

Tell you what

Im in a great mood, Lions won today, had a great day out on Exmoor and was invited to dinner with one of my Sons and our DIL en route home

Donate £25 to @Jim's charity, PM me your address and we will send you a new one with all the fittings you'll need FOC

Happy weekend xx

 

[XRN]

@eddievanbitz What a fantastic offer, where else would you get this sort of support but on motorhomefun. I will look up @Jim's charity and pm you my address. Your support is really appreciated and I will buy you a beer if we meet up at a show in the future. Glad you had a good day, mine has just got better. Thanks again.
Rob

 

[XRN]

@Jim can you let me know your charity and how to donate so I can take up @eddievanbitz kind offer.

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[Jim]

Thanks guys, It's not "My" charity, rather its one that we support. Here you go https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/motorhome-fun

 

[Bobby22]

Tell you what

Im in a great mood, Lions won today, had a great day out on Exmoor and was invited to dinner with one of my Sons and our DIL en route home

Donate £25 to @Jim's charity, PM me your address and we will send you a new one with all the fittings you'll need FOC

Happy weekend xx

What happened to your " lifetime warranty"@eddievanbitz ?

 

[eddie]

What happened to your " lifetime warranty"@eddievanbitz ?

Give me a clue?

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[XRN]

@eddievanbitz & @Jim Donation and gift aid made to a worthy cause. Eddie I will PM you with address etc, thanks Rob

 

[XRN]

New Battery Master fitted and engine battery now being charged. All fixed now, thanks for all the help.