Lost all power

[Russ M]

hoping for some advice this morning , to try and sort out problem.
we are on a site with hook up.
we have a vanbitz ( who I’m trying to contact today ) installed inverter , solar and lithium batteries .

whilst watching tv last night there was a loud pop and all of the power went off . And I mean all the power . We have lost mains, inverter and 12v . We were in total darkness but luckily I had a torch…….

firstthought was the hook up cable , or the site box. It had not tripped on the box but I moved boxes anyway . Still nothing.
torch in hand I checked everything inside
nothing had tripped on the van fuse box , nor on the inverter.

I unplugged the main inverter socket and left it for a little while.
Still nothing when I plugged back in

what is weird is that I have no 12 v power at all either.
I’ve used the motorhome off grid many times , and know the 12v with inverter works really well, so Im head scratching as to why I dont now have the inverter / 12v at all when the ehu isn’t connected.

the batteries were fully charged when we arrived in site. I know this as I checked them in the victron app as I always do when pitching up. We were also using the mains hookup rather than the batteries / inverter , again I know this as I checked during the evening as I always do.
so the batteries have not been drained .
any thoughts and suggestions as to what this can be . Am I missing a fusebox somewhere ( don’t think so ) that has tripped . Or is this a more serious problem .
ps . I’ve messaged vanbits asking for a call this morning , it wonder if eddie may be online on this forum today , or perhaps someone else who has had a similar problem with this system .
really hoping this is operator error ….. and I can flick a switch somewhere and get back to enjoying our little break

many thanks

 

[Riverbankannie]

I dint know if this helps, but we have a large fuse very close to the habitation battery completely seperate to the fuse board. We have to remove a shelf cover to get at it. Different van though.

 

[Innkeeper]

Think we have the same big fuse. In ours it's by where power comes in. But in side a cupboard

 

[Russ M]

I dint know if this helps, but we have a large fuse very close to the habitation battery completely seperate to the fuse board. We have to remove a shelf cover to get at it. Different van though.

Thanks for the answer. We also have a large fuse box in the rear garage by the batteries fitted with the inverter , which I’ve looked at .
also have the Dethelffs fitted fuse box in the van which I’ve looked at neither . Neither have tripped .

 

[Raul]

Near the batteries should be fuses, ( normally one per battery), also inverter should be fused, very near there. If a fuse blown, it might tripped the bms inside batteries.

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[Russ M]

Thanks. Yes checked those. Nothing had tripped.

 

[Landy Andy]

I would suggest posting some pictures of the controls, chargers, batteries and that sort of thing to get better advise. Otherwise it’s very much guessing without knowing what setup you have.

 

[Raul]

Are you saying the batteries have fuse breakers? Even if they look ok, try operate them manually off and on.

 

[Geistguy]

I know the trip hasn't gone but have you actually checked the fuses ?

 

[Russ M]

I would suggest posting some pictures of the controls, chargers, batteries and that sort of thing to get better advise. Otherwise it’s very much guessing without knowing what setup you have.

Thanks. Here’s a couple of pics of the inverter set up on the garage.
The main Dethleffs fuse board is in a cupboard in the van. It hasn’t tripped.

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[jezport]

Strange that you have lost 12v and Mains.
Do you have a test meter? Check the supply to the EBL for mains

 

[TheBig1]

Right next to the battery is a big fuse often in a black box and a mega fuse

 

[jockaneezer]

A loud pop sounds a bit ominous, I'm not trying to be funny, but was it accompanied by a smell ? Do you know which area of the van the "pop" came from ?

 

[Masman]

I saw something similar on a site.Have you checked anyone else has the same problem. It was a power surge that blew all the electric on quite a few vans.Fair to say the campsite paid for all the the repairs which was quite expensive.

 

[Russ M]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.
Vanbitz have now been on the phone ( great service on a Saturday ! ) and we are working through some possible issues and fixes.
Sounds like the lithium batteries have shut themselves down.
They can be woken up it seems , but the van will need to go in to Vanbitz to be properly checked as there is no apparent cause for the shutdown.

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[Flairy]

Well done ,Van Bitz will never fail to look after you,I had my motorhome there 2004 they are still looking after me,what ever my query is.

 

[Badknee]

A loud pop sounds a bit ominous, I'm not trying to be funny, but was it accompanied by a smell ? Do you know which area of the van the "pop" came from ?

I was going for a big fuse blowing with a “pop” too.

 

[Landy Andy]

To those in the know.

Can a batteries “shut themselves down”??

It‘s not something I’m aware of.

 

[Wissel]

To those in the know.

Can a batteries “shut themselves down”??

It‘s not something I’m aware of.

The BMS on a LiFePO4 battery usually has some way of shutting the battery down.

On mine, the BMS can shut down loads and charging independently. For instance, if charging is full or the temperature of the battery is too low, power into the battery is stopped. If the batteries voltage drops too low, then power out of the battery is cut. It protects the battery.

Ours uses two relays to switch these on/off and the restart is automatic (or can be overridden in the app in an emergency), but different BMS's work in different ways.

 

[andy63]

It didn't sound like a battery shut down when you said yo heard a large pop..unless that caused the batteries to isolate on an overload current and there is an underlying issue..

a batteries “shut themselves down

I had an issue last winter with my lithium.. not 100% sure what the original issue was ..the van was in storage but the outcome was the lithium would not accept a charge..even though there was a voltage of around 12.5 volts on their terminals..
Think it was a low temp issue..and all has been well since..I've made some alterations to their charging regime for this winter..see how it goes..
Good luck to the op.. hope you get sorted without major work..
Andy.

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[63720]

Curious why you've lost all your 240v sockets as separate from the inverter - just a thought.

 

[Raul]

Curious why you've lost all your 240v sockets as separate from the inverter - just a thought.

Probably, because the earthing of 230v is bonded to chassis, and shares that with the dc negative bonding to chassis to.

My guess in post 5 was right, the bms shut down.

 

[Russ M]

Thanks very much.
All under warranty as it’s a brand

It didn't sound like a battery shut down when you said yo heard a large pop..unless that caused the batteries to isolate on an overload current and there is an underlying issue..

I had an issue last winter with my lithium.. not 100% sure what the original issue was ..the van was in storage but the outcome was the lithium would not accept a charge..even though there was a voltage of around 12.5 volts on their terminals..
Think it was a low temp issue..and all has been well since..I've made some alterations to their charging regime for this winter..see how it goes..
Good luck to the op.. hope you get sorted without major work..
Andy.

new van and system. I agree that it sounds like there is an underlying issue , bearing in mind I had a problem with the solar regulator a couple of months ago.
Vanbitz are going to check the whole system for the cause , rather than just fix the symptoms …… all good.

 

[Landy Andy]

Wow. I’m staying old fashioned for now. I like things I understand and can repair.

Good luck with it, and thanks for being willing to take the risk with the new stuff.