Problem with Sargent control panel over habitation door

[Brenda leah]

Hi we have a 2015 Autotrail scout with a Sargent EC 500 power control supply unit, an intermittent issue over the last 2 months keeps recurring, that is the small panel over the habitation door keeps switching itself off, with all electrics disabled, lights out tv shuts down,
I have contacted Sargent who suggest taking the front of the panel off and take out the small connection having held the tiny plastic clip down then put it back in and this may re- boot the unit, although they say it may be hard to get it out.also to press the system shutdown switch on the main panel and that might solve our problem,
Can’t budge the small connection and nothing else has worked.
Can anyone advise if they have had similar problems?

 

[mike mcglynn]

We had a 2006 Autotrail which had a similar problem except it was the pump wouldn't work now and then , the fix was to remove the control panel 2 small screws then disconnect the board via one clip with two push in levers ,then leave off for 20 seconds then refit back .You may need some needle nose pliers to extract the clip.

 

[MisterB]

D

We had a 2006 Autotrail which had a similar problem except it was the pump wouldn't work now and then , the fix was to remove the control panel 2 small screws then disconnect the board via one clip with two push in levers ,then leave off for 20 seconds then refit back .You may need some needle nose pliers to extract the clip.

Ditto !!

 

[tonka]

It's a common cure for many issues to disconnect power from the panel and reset the system.
It sounds like your just not being forceful enough to pull the connector off or is there a clip your failing to unlatch, been a while since I did one..
Try giving it a wiggle as you pull... (Oh we missus. )
On a serious note, if you are a short ass like me, get on a step so you have a better angle and grip.. (going to stop now ) hope you sort it.

 

[Jaws]

I actually carry a spare control panel in our 2007 Sargent equipped van..
If it starts to do weird things it gets swapped...
Sargent units and systems are very well made ( vastly over complicated to be honest ) and I have nothing but praise for the company as a whole.. BUT !
Who ever designs the circuit boards and logic circuits should step back and take a long hard look at what they are doing

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[Brenda leah]

Hi thanks for all your advise,we are back home now from a week in wet, wet and more wetter Southport,so hubby has managed to to get the connector off (standing on the steps) replaced it and put the electric’s on so fingers crossed the unit stays on, we shall update you as soon as we know the outcome
Thanks
Brenda

 

[Brenda leah]

Hi all, no luck all lights off this morning, so booked in to our usual motorhome service centre, end of April, will update you when we have a resolution. Cheers Brenda

 

[tonka]

Hi all, no luck all lights off this morning, so booked in to our usual motorhome service centre, end of April, will update you when we have a resolution. Cheers Brenda

I would have thought maybe send the unit to Sargent to test, if they agree. Unless the service centre find another problem all they will do is send t there or order a new one and charge the extra for labour costs.

 

[Blue Knight]

This is not much help Brenda but here's a list of EC500 issues from the original destructions:

 

[Brenda leah]

Many thanks Blue Knight, we have the time to study your info, when we rang Adam at Sargent he said if rebooting the unit doesn’t work, send it into them and they will examine it and either repair or advise a new one needs to be purchased. The problem with that is he said it could be the connection between the base unit and the small unit over the door, so as we are not at all tec savvy, we will just have to pay the agent
Thanks
Brenda

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[Diabalo]

I had a similar thing, the problem was the solar panel charge regulator had gone rogue trying to overcharge the system, so the system said I'm not having that and shut itself down for protection. New regulator sorted it out.

 

[buttons]

Hi and Welcome....​

 

[Hettie's Crew]

As @tonka says above, send it to Sargent, the box not the panel. We live in Hull so it was easy for us and took it in our selves. But they do them by post, dealers just send them there and charge you extra. We had problems on our 2011 Swift with the board telling us the water level was empty and the alarm sounding plus the omnistep wouldn’t wouldn’t work. I spent ages stripping and cleaning the step, plus messing about with the panel, wondering if a connection was loose and cleaning the level mechanism in the tank, all to no avail.
My local, honest and very helpful, caravan service centre, FM Caravans advised straight away it would be the box.
They rebuilt it in a week and charged me £75, but that was four years ago.

 

[Brenda leah]

Hi hetties crew, I thought we had to send the small panel over the door back to Sargent, not the huge master box?

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Hi hetties crew, I thought we had to send the small panel over the door back to Sargent, not the huge master box?

It’s the box that controls what appears on the panel. Our panel had no fault itself but yours maybe different. I would contact Sargent and ask them, describing the fault in full.
Our box was straight forward to remove and isn’t that big or heavy. Just make a good note of the connections.
I see from the original post your in contact with Sargent so they’ll advise what needs to be done. I found them very helpful.

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[Jaws]

Our box was straight forward to remove and isn’t that big or heavy. Just make a good note of the connections

I would suggest take a couple of photographs..In another life I had occasion to change out mother boards on some pretty complex stuff.. stuff that mght have 40 or 50 connections on it..
A decent photo is worth a pad full of notes !

 

[Brenda leah]

Cheers everyone, photos will just show the panel with lights on or off as keeps happening, worse during the day and better at staying on during the evening and then off again in the morning. I will ring Sargent again and let them know reboots of the connection in the small panel hasn’t worked.

 

[Diabalo]

Cheers everyone, photos will just show the panel with lights on or off as keeps happening, worse during the day and better at staying on during the evening and then off again in the morning. I will ring Sargent again and let them know reboots of the connection in the small panel hasn’t worked.

The photos will be an aide-mémoire for all the connections so you know where they go when you re-install the unit.

 

[MisterB]

Cheers everyone, photos will just show the panel with lights on or off as keeps happening, worse during the day and better at staying on during the evening and then off again in the morning. I will ring Sargent again and let them know reboots of the connection in the small panel hasn’t worked.

As has been pointed out the photos are to help YOU put everything back together so its the same as when you took it apart !

 

[PeteH]

worse during the day and better at staying on during the evening and then off again in the morning

Is the clue in this Sentence?. The main thing that happens during the transition from daylight to dark and back, would be the SOLAR system?.

Might be pertinent to Ring Sargent and ask?.

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[tonka]

Is the clue in this Sentence?. The main thing that happens during the transition from daylight to dark and back, would be the SOLAR system?.

Might be pertinent to Ring Sargent and ask?.

After re-reading the opening post.. I re-call reading something about this either on here or on the Autotrail facebook group. Will see if i can find it..
In the meantime, @Brenda leah when it starts to play up is there a way you can cover the solar panel over during the day and see it that cures it ??

 

[Brenda leah]

Oh sorry now I understand yes I agree that is a good idea, thanks for that We have had the same thought about solar as we have two panels on the van, also due to a family emergency we let the leisure battery almost die as was in storage and couldn’t get to it , now fully charged but readings aren’t as good as previous, so thinking that may be connected, going to source a new leisure battery,

 

[Jaws]

Oh sorry now I understand yes I agree that is a good idea, thanks for that We have had the same thought about solar as we have two panels on the van, also due to a family emergency we let the leisure battery almost die as was in storage and couldn’t get to it , now fully charged but readings aren’t as good as previous, so thinking that may be connected, going to source a new leisure battery,

Ahah !!
It may well be the batteries are fubah letting the voltage at the battery rise beyond safe tolerance when the solar panels are in play...
Just a thought..........

 

[Sianna]

I had a similar thing, the problem was the solar panel charge regulator had gone rogue trying to overcharge the system, so the system said I'm not having that and shut itself down for protection. New regulator sorted it out.

This sounds like the issue that matches mine - now to find out what the hell a solar panel regulator looks like!

 

[Carolyn and Kev]

Hi there...Got exactly the same fault in our Autotrail Delaware 2016 plated. No problems during the night time but as soon as the sun comes up...the panel reaches 14.9 volts and shuts off! Spoke to a guy recently on here and he told me about the solar controller and its out put. I checked ours and found it to be over the 14.7 volts . Disconnected it and fitted a new one from Ebay ( German quality ) Removed the old one and fitted this and the readings dropped to 13.7 volts! All ok as we speak. Check the solar controller

Sounds like you are in the same position as we were

Look at ec328 Sargent fault

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[Sianna]

I’ve checked the controller and the setting were all wrong, wrong battery type, wrong charging frequency and also a lose wire on the unit, all re-set and it’s been on for 18 hours now with no drop out! Fingers crossed. Thanks for your help