Problem with mains charging or battery, can anyone help please?

Debs

Debs

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Afternoon all

Can someone help please & bear with me as I am not technical at all & I'm not sure what info is relevant.

An alarm started going off in the van in the early hours (it's on the drive). When I had a look the schaudt 220b panel was flashing 'charge' on the hab battery with an 'alarm' symbol. Scrolling through the battery settings the hab battery voltage was all over the place.

Vanbitz fitted a battery master in 2015 & 150w solar & an additional battery. I know it doesn't go via the elektroblock - there's just a display with 2 lights which shows what the solar is doing. I can't find the little card that explains what the light sequences mean but they are both on steady, no flashing which I think means the batteries are fully charged.

I unplugged the EHU and checked the schaudt display again - all looked normal, the alarm had cleared. The hab battery was showing a steady 13.7v.

I've put the EHU back on 2 or 3 times, tried a neighbours cable and the same is happening (apart from the audible alarm) - every time I connect the EHU back up the 'charge' alarm shows on the schaudt panel for the hab battery.

Nothing seems to have tripped & the fridge seems to be working when I select mains.

Cheers
 
Check the fuse for the Hab battery. It should be located fairly close.
Phil.
 
Is there a reset button on the panel..?

And do you normally keep the EHU plugged in all the time..?
I say this as when I plug my EHU in my vanbitz alarm goes off too sometimes although I have 300w of solar and there is nothing wrong..?

I do have different electrics to you though....

Someone will come along shortly Debs who knows your system..
 
Bump am watching this with interest can't work out if my leisure battery is charged by driving or just hook up (doblo not CI)
 
sorry, I've been out, not had chance to look at the fuses, I assume they are all in the elektroblock. My instructions are all in german but I do have an english version for the schaudt panel.

Gary Just smiffy it was an internal alarm that was sounding to alert me that the hab battery was low (but I could hear it in the house as the bedroom window was open).

I don't usually keep it hooked up but I'd left it on for a couple of weeks as I'd ended up cancelling a trip away. I've done it before with no issues and I thought the solar/battery master should keep everything topped up. It has done for the 5 years I've had it so not sure what's gone on.

Not seen anything in the instructions anywhere about a reset button. Found a site with quite a bit of info on aandncaravanservices.co.uk no mention on there that I've seen but not had a massive look.

I rang vanbitz earlier who confirmed the solar controller/mppt? light sequence is correct, if it's showing solid amber then the battery is fully charged.

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More knowledgeable people will be home from work or their day out to help you soon..
 
Just smiffy said:
More knowledgeable people will be home from work or their day out to help you soon..
Click to expand...
fingers crossed - I was hoping to finally get away this weekend! sods law isn't it:D
 
It would sound like a false alarm to me, if the battery is reading 13.7V it is definitely charging from the mains, I doubt it has been sunny enough today to get it that high off solar alone

I would try disconnecting the hook up, check the voltage in the morning, my hope is it will be fine (y)
 
Debs said:
When I had a look the schaudt 220b panel was flashing 'charge' on the hab battery with an 'alarm' symbol. Scrolling through the battery settings the hab battery voltage was all over the place.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing that it's an Electroblock EBL 220B. The display panel usually has a separate number of its own, like DT201.

On the EBL 220, in the top row of fuses, the third fuse from the left is labelled 'Int Lademodul', which translates to Internal Charger Module. Remove that fuse, then try the EHU again to see if you get the same symptoms.

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Morning

Thanks to my very patient neighbours who spotted that the batteries were cooking.

I'm replacing them like for like hopefully today and fingers crossed that will solve the issue. If I'd not have put the van on ehu I'd have assumed everything was ok as the display panel looked fine off hook up.

I still can't fathom the internal alarm that went off - the only thing is the van has a Sopomouse Alarm fitted just above where the batteries are (it was on when we got it) never had the instructions but google says it's a 'gassing' detector!:D Is it possible that this detected hydrogen from the cooked batteries & that set it off...... who knows????

All the fuses were ok btw ( the EBL is the 226 & the Schaudt panel is the 220b)
 
It could have been the Carbon Monoxide maybe?

Glad you have it sorted, but it is odd that both batteries have failed together without something causing it

Hope it is that simple x ?
 
DavidG58 said:
Glad you have it sorted, but it is odd that both batteries have failed together without something causing it
Click to expand...
Agreed. You don't want the new batteries to end up like the damaged ones in a few days' time.

One possible cause is a faulty mains charger module. You need to check the leisure battery voltage when it's on EHU. Keep checking it every few hours for a couple of days, because it might not show up for several hours. If it goes over 14.8 volts at any stage, it's likely the charger is faulty. Use a multimeter on the battery terminals, don't trust the panel reading.

You can isolate the charger by removing its fuse. On the EBL 226 it's the second fuse from the left, marked 'Int Charger'. If the fault symptoms disappear when you remove the fuse, then at least you've found the problem.
Debs said:
the only thing is the van has a Sopomouse Alarm fitted just above where the batteries are (it was on when we got it)
Click to expand...
That's another indication it's happened before. I've never heard of an alarm like that being fitted in a MH. Keep an eye on the new batteries.
 
Last edited:
That’s a relief that it was spotted now then being away....

But you definitely need to get it checked over as it may be a faulty charger/panel ...
 
Oh.... and make sure you get the thousands of recommendations for your next set of new batteries from the funster massive....?

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Oh poo

I've just been woken from a really deep sleep..... yes, the alarm sounding again & yes DavidG58 it was the carbon monoxide monitors.

I've turned off at the mains.

So does this mean the Ebl needs replacing?
 
Did you go inside the MH? Was there any odour? CO has no smell but if the new batteries are both boiling you would probably have a smell of bad eggs

Are the batteries gel or flooded lead acid? There will be a setting on the charger for both options, that might be set to wrong type

If this weekend is not on hook up I think you will be fine to still go this will only happen on hook up and I doubt you have damaged the new batteries much

It could be your your solar regulator that has failed
 
My friend/neighbour just left after being here since 7.30am looking over van.

Fingers crossed the batteries seem OK.

We're happy the solar seems to be charging ok, the 'charge' alert only seems to come on when on ehu.

I'm out for an appt now and going to have a drive around afterwards to see what that does to the voltage.

We've removed the fuse in the Ebl.

(I have had a WhatsApp conversation with Davidg in case folks think I'm ignoring posts) I am very grateful for all replies, even Just smiffy ;):D

So I'm assuming it's the Ebl. Don't suppose anyone knows of anyone in the East Midlands they'd be happy to recommend?
Apart from that I'd be happy to go take the van to Wales to a and n (looks like they are on shutdown for a couple of weeks though)
 
Debs you might want to speak to John Jaws as he has had problems in the past with his charger.
 
Badknee said:
Debs you might want to speak to John Jaws as he has had problems in the past with his charger.
Click to expand...
Actually, that is about the only part of the Sargent system that has behaved !
To be honest, I have had very little to do with the Shaudt systems

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Jaws said:
Actually, that is about the only part of the Sargent system that has behaved !
To be honest, I have had very little to do with the Shaudt systems
Click to expand...
thanks John.

The batteries are being charged with an independent charger at the minute and everything else is working. I'm still intending getting away this weekend before I lose my moho mojo!
 
Debs said:
So I'm assuming it's the Ebl. Don't suppose anyone knows of anyone in the East Midlands they'd be happy to recommend?
Apart from that I'd be happy to go take the van to Wales to a and n (looks like they are on shutdown for a couple of weeks though)
Click to expand...
If you can't get the job done by A&N, there is also Apuljack Engineering, who are in Somerset I believe.
 
autorouter said:
If you can't get the job done by A&N, there is also Apuljack Engineering, who are in Somerset I believe.
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Cheers for this, Rich, my neighbour already spoke to them earlier today & wasn't as impressed as he was hoping to be.

I can still use the van so there's not the rush that there could've been. Looking at A&Ns website it seems there is just one chappie working at the minute so it could be a while but a trip to Wales wouldn't be a hardship:)

I've seen references on other, older threads that you can ship the Ebl direct to schaudt in Germany. So there seems to be a few options (y)
 
Hope you get it fixed, soon, Debs (y)
 
Debs said:
Cheers for this, Rich, my neighbour already spoke to them earlier today & wasn't as impressed as he was hoping to be.

I can still use the van so there's not the rush that there could've been. Looking at A&Ns website it seems there is just one chappie working at the minute so it could be a while but a trip to Wales wouldn't be a hardship:)

I've seen references on other, older threads that you can ship the Ebl direct to schaudt in Germany. So there seems to be a few options (y)
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There are a few firms in the UK who do repairs to switch mode psu's and chargers to Deb's.. I will not touch them nowadays as they are always full of surface mount components !

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What does the b2b charger do?
The panel if its a dt201 can display the solar charge going in.
 
Jaws said:
There are a few firms in the UK who do repairs to switch mode psu's and chargers to Deb's.. I will not touch them nowadays as they are always full of surface mount components !
Click to expand...

There's been mention of buying a seperate charger and making that a permanent connection this morning, it would be alot cheaper (leaving the int. charger fuse removed obviously). As I understand it the EBL has provision to add a 2nd charger but it's early days of research at the minute.

Has any one done this?

Theonlysue said:
What does the b2b charger do?
The panel if its a dt201 can display the solar charge going in.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure Sue, I thought a B2B was different to a Battery Master? My control panel is the 220b, reading the manual it's an all singing all dancing affair as long as everything goes via the EBL.
I know the present solar set up doesn't touch the EBL / control
 
Debs said:
There's been mention of buying a seperate charger and making that a permanent connection this morning, it would be alot cheaper (leaving the int. charger fuse removed obviously). As I understand it the EBL has provision to add a 2nd charger but it's early days of research at the minute.

Has any one done this?
Click to expand...
It is a good option and one commonly used.. Not sure about it being a cheaper option though !
A good quality automatic 20 amp charger ( such as the CTEK ) aint gonna be cheap !
 
Jaws said:
It is a good option and one commonly used.. Not sure about it being a cheaper option though !
A good quality automatic 20 amp charger ( such as the CTEK ) aint gonna be cheap !
Click to expand...

Early days as I said:D

is this what you mean?

https://www.tayna.co.uk/battery-chargers/ctek/d250sa/?
gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_MSqpued4wIVCJ7VCh3A9wFKEAQYASABEgL9BfD_BwE

(not sure I've sussed links on the new format!)

That is cheaper than what I was expecting if the EBL needed to be replaced though.
 
If you have a schaudt ekectroblock, you can get a schaudt charger.
They are 18 amp and they recon for every 10 amp leisure battery you have 1 amp charger.
Hence I have 360 amps leisure batteries and had a second schaudt charger fitted as they are 18 amps each.
When the solar panels were fitted, if the schaudt solar regulator was fitted, the dt201 panel displays the solar input.
Don't know if this is any use.
Most of the instructions are available in English online.
What mh do you have?

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