12v not working after battery change

[Snowsurfer]

Hi all

I have a strange problem with my 12v electrics after replacing the leisure battery. I have an old 2005 hymer with an electrobloc EBL 101 and DT201 control panel.

After turning off the battery cut off switch on the EBL and replacing the battery and then turning it all back on again the DT201 has come back to life, so nothing wrong with the EBL battery cut off switch or the fuses, but I have no other 12v electrics.

I've looked at the EBL circuit diagram (I'm no expert) and it seems that everything on the 'pre control panel side' (told you) is working including the charger and the power supply to the control panel but everything that the control panel should switch on is not. Oddly, this includes the fridge and step which do need the control panel to be turned on before they will start working after the cut off switch has been flicked.

I've followed the start up procedure to the letter including resetting the battery capacity, etc.

Schaudt have been no help . Apuljack have not yet got back to me.

Sorry this is a lot to throw at you and this is my first post (3 years of happy motorhoming before finally hitting the thing I can't fix) but I thought it might be worth putting a post out in case anyone knows anything or has a good suggestion?

Here's hoping...

 

[GeoffnDee]

There could be a 2amp fuse (+sensor) close to the main (50amp) fuse at the leisure battery positive terminal that is faulty or has not been reconnected.

 

[Snowsurfer]

Thanks GeoffnDee but it has been checked as have all the fuses I can find

 

[Richard Hill]

Has the 12V main switch on the control panel been switched off and on during the process?

 

[Snowsurfer]

Hi Richard. Sorry for late reply I was on a late shift. Yes it was. I turned the 12v switch off on the panel first then the cut off switch on the ebl. Reversed process to turn back on.

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[GeoffnDee]

I do not know if you have seen it but MaidinDevon was on this section Monday 6-32pm with the same problem (Title= Control Panel DT201 not working properly after replacement leisure battery), some of the replys given to him may help you or point you in the right direction.

 

[Lenny HB]

Hi Richard. Sorry for late reply I was on a late shift. Yes it was. I turned the 12v switch off on the panel first then the cut off switch on the ebl. Reversed process to turn back on.

The small on/off slide switch on the EBL are notorious for failj g on units more than a few year old and it best never to turn them off.
It's probably the problem, try squirting some contact cleaner in it and switching it off and on a few times, if you can't get any contact cleaner WD40 usually works.

 

[Snowsurfer]

The small on/off slide switch on the EBL are notorious for failj g on units more than a few year old and it best never to turn them off.
It's probably the problem, try squirting some contact cleaner in it and switching it off and on a few times, if you can't get any contact cleaner WD40 usually works.

Thanks lenny. I'm pretty sure the switch is okay because I can't turn the control panel on when the switch is off but I will give a bit of contact cleaner a go

 

[Snowsurfer]

I do not know if you have seen it but MaidinDevon was on this section Monday 6-32pm with the same problem (Title= Control Panel DT201 not working properly after replacement leisure battery), some of the replys given to him may help you or point you in the right direction.

Thanks again. I hadn't seen that one. Not searched on the forum since the weekend. I will try a few of the suggestions in the cool of tomorrow morning

 

[autorouter]

Inside the EBL101 there are two big latching relays, one for 'permanent' things like the frost valve and the step, and the other for all the rest of the electrics. A latching relay is one that 'latches' into whatever state it is in, so that if the power fails it stays in that state whether on or off.

That second relay is the one that turns on and off when the control panel 12V switch is operated. You could listen for the click in the EBL when you press the panel switch.

Inside the EBL there's a little electronics control module. It monitors the leisure battery, via a thin voltage sensor wire going all the way to the leisure battery. That wire has a 2A fuse just next to the leisure battery, next to the 50A fuse for the main power wire. If the EBL doesn't get that sensor signal, the control module won't let the electrics power up.

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[Snowsurfer]

T

Inside the EBL101 there are two big latching relays, one for 'permanent' things like the frost valve and the step, and the other for all the rest of the electrics. A latching relay is one that 'latches' into whatever state it is in, so that if the power fails it stays in that state whether on or off.

That second relay is the one that turns on and off when the control panel 12V switch is operated. You could listen for the click in the EBL when you press the panel switch.

Inside the EBL there's a little electronics control module. It monitors the leisure battery, via a thin voltage sensor wire going all the way to the leisure battery. That wire has a 2A fuse just next to the leisure battery, next to the 50A fuse for the main power wire. If the EBL doesn't get that sensor signal, the control module won't let the electrics power up.

Thanks autorouter. You have helped me understand things a little better.

It definitely seems to be a case of those relays not moving. I think I know the faint nose you mean and I can't hear any whirs. I've also put a volt meter across the terminals at the back and I get no reading on the consumer circuit terminals though I do on the others.

The voltage sensor seems fine because the control panel and my meter both display 13.7v across the battery with this jumping to 13.9v when the van is hooked up.

Current is also being measured somehow because the panel displays 0.1amps coming in from the charger.

After reading the post Geoffndee referred me to (thanks again to Geoffndee) I have realised that whilst the EBL is sensing current and voltage it (or perhaps the control panel) can't calculate the remaining usable charge because is says 49% ? and keeps flashing 'charge!'. Which is what I am starting to feel like doing at this equipment now.

It seems to think that there is nothing left in the battery and won't even turn things on when the van is hooked up. Even with my dead old battery the 12v worked with the EHU connected when I briefly had to use it.

Do you have any other ideas? You seem to know your stuff.

 

[GeoffnDee]

Snowsurfer hopefully autorouter will be back soon , but meantime I do not Know if you are aware but there is information that may be useful regarding your DT201 in a manual that is on page 3 of Manuals for Motorhome stuff in the Resources section on the top (blue) line of this page

 

[autorouter]

I've also put a volt meter across the terminals at the back and I get no reading on the consumer circuit terminals

Do you mean the terminals in the big 3-way terminal connector block at the back of the EBL? Those are the Starter battery positive, Leisure battery positive (= Wohnraum Batterie, WB), and a common negative. The positives go directly to the batteries, with a big 50A fuse next to the battery on each. The colour code is German, a bit strange to Brits. Starter positive = red, Leisure positive = black, common negative = brown.

 

[Cookieboy68]

The small on/off slide switch on the EBL are notorious for failj g on units more than a few year old and it best never to turn them off.
It's probably the problem, try squirting some contact cleaner in it and switching it off and on a few times, if you can't get any contact cleaner WD40 usually works.

The same happened to me, a squirt of wd40 did the trick,

 

[Snowsurfer]

Do you mean the terminals in the big 3-way terminal connector block at the back of the EBL? Those are the Starter battery positive, Leisure battery positive (= Wohnraum Batterie, WB), and a common negative. The positives go directly to the batteries, with a big 50A fuse next to the battery on each. The colour code is German, a bit strange to Brits. Starter positive = red, Leisure positive = black, common negative = brown.

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[Snowsurfer]

Hi autorouter thanks for coming back

No, sorry, I meant I have measured 12v across some of the sockets at the front such as the D+ points (which I think lead to the panel), the AES refrigerator and the sensor, but not at the sockets which lead out to the other 12v things such as the heater, step, lights, etc.

Apuljack have now got back to me. They say given the symptoms , that the panel comes on and voltage readings are good, the problem is either within the electronic components or in the cables between the two (there are two CP to EBL cables) so test all wires in the cables and if all okay send the panel and EBL in for check/repair.

It seems the problem likely occurred before I changed the battery.

 

[Snowsurfer]

The same happened to me, a squirt of wd40 did the trick,

Hi Lenny
I don't have the small slide switch on my EBL. Its a big black light switch type thing. There is nothing wrong with it because I get no 12v across the D+ and sensor points when its off but I do get 12v when its on.