- Oct 18, 2021
- 2,465
- 7,466
- Funster No
- 84,940
- MH
- Adria Compact SC
- Exp
- Camping since 1954, MoHo 2022
Bit of a strange one that has occurred on two, maybe three separate occasions. A bit long winded but I’ll give as much info as possible for any sparky gurus who can offer advice. First the installation specs:
Aria Compact Fiat chassis 160 auto with standard cab battery arrangement. Nordelettronica NE350 charger/shunt with NE266 digital control/display panel. Also has the factory installed NE325 40amp DC-DC converter fitted. There’s 340w of solar up top connected via an NDS SCE 360 MPPT Suncontrol2 and the NDS display panel hooked up to it. 2x 100amp NDS hab batteries. No EHU connected at any time this has happened and no gas appliances in operation - supply isolated at cylinders. The engine had not been run prior to it happening on the first two occasions.
1) Sometime early March, parked on drive, very early morning so little to no chance of any solar input. Heard an internal alarm sounding and found the 2xAA battery CO alarm going off. Removed it from the van, and as it wasn’t dated although probably new at delivery in Dec 2022, replaced it with a 10 year battery life model ans possibly defective and thought nothing more of it.
2) Mid April, again earlyish in the morning, heard the CO alarm sounding and this time gave the display panels the once over after venting the van. Very little solar being generated and none going to the cab battery according to the display lights on the SCE 360 unit. Hab batteries at 13.4v and 100% but the cab battery showing 18v! Turned the ignition on along with the cab aircon/fan and interrogated the dash display which started out up at the top segment of 18v but started dropping immediately, so I turned off and went back to see if the NE266 mirrored it, which it did until it hit 14v and started climbing slowly again. Started the engine and this brought the reading(s) down to the expected 14 or so volts and stabilised there. Checked again over the next few days and it was showing 12.4v consistently and no further issues.
3) Fast forward to 4th July and stationary on a campsite in France after a 1 hour drive. Before leaving the van I checked the panel and the hab battery was at 100% 13.2v with the solar inputting and the cab battery at 91% 12.4v (after dropping the E&P levellers I guess?) and no solar going in. Went out for a few hours and the CO alarm was sounding on our return. Almost identical readings as 2) above but cab battery at 16.8v on the panel and roughly equivalent to that on the segmented dash display. Ran the engine and it all went back to normal.
Hasn’t occurred since and we have had the 3 hour drive home from Newhaven plus some decent solar input today - both batteries are receiving input from that source as I type this - cab 100% 13.9v and hab 100% 13.2v with both indicator lights on the SCE 360 illuminated.
What’s the verdict? Duff cell(s) in the cab battery causing gassing off? Or something else? The van is back at the dealers next week for some minor remedials before the warranty runs out, so I’m keen to present them with the fullest information possible.
Aria Compact Fiat chassis 160 auto with standard cab battery arrangement. Nordelettronica NE350 charger/shunt with NE266 digital control/display panel. Also has the factory installed NE325 40amp DC-DC converter fitted. There’s 340w of solar up top connected via an NDS SCE 360 MPPT Suncontrol2 and the NDS display panel hooked up to it. 2x 100amp NDS hab batteries. No EHU connected at any time this has happened and no gas appliances in operation - supply isolated at cylinders. The engine had not been run prior to it happening on the first two occasions.
1) Sometime early March, parked on drive, very early morning so little to no chance of any solar input. Heard an internal alarm sounding and found the 2xAA battery CO alarm going off. Removed it from the van, and as it wasn’t dated although probably new at delivery in Dec 2022, replaced it with a 10 year battery life model ans possibly defective and thought nothing more of it.
2) Mid April, again earlyish in the morning, heard the CO alarm sounding and this time gave the display panels the once over after venting the van. Very little solar being generated and none going to the cab battery according to the display lights on the SCE 360 unit. Hab batteries at 13.4v and 100% but the cab battery showing 18v! Turned the ignition on along with the cab aircon/fan and interrogated the dash display which started out up at the top segment of 18v but started dropping immediately, so I turned off and went back to see if the NE266 mirrored it, which it did until it hit 14v and started climbing slowly again. Started the engine and this brought the reading(s) down to the expected 14 or so volts and stabilised there. Checked again over the next few days and it was showing 12.4v consistently and no further issues.
3) Fast forward to 4th July and stationary on a campsite in France after a 1 hour drive. Before leaving the van I checked the panel and the hab battery was at 100% 13.2v with the solar inputting and the cab battery at 91% 12.4v (after dropping the E&P levellers I guess?) and no solar going in. Went out for a few hours and the CO alarm was sounding on our return. Almost identical readings as 2) above but cab battery at 16.8v on the panel and roughly equivalent to that on the segmented dash display. Ran the engine and it all went back to normal.
Hasn’t occurred since and we have had the 3 hour drive home from Newhaven plus some decent solar input today - both batteries are receiving input from that source as I type this - cab 100% 13.9v and hab 100% 13.2v with both indicator lights on the SCE 360 illuminated.
What’s the verdict? Duff cell(s) in the cab battery causing gassing off? Or something else? The van is back at the dealers next week for some minor remedials before the warranty runs out, so I’m keen to present them with the fullest information possible.