Carthago hab panel displays low battery 10v but shunt reading over 13v. Solar readings similar. Where to check next ?

[MarkHoughton]

AdrianChen Lenny HB autorouter
I have been in a finance meeting this past hour and so only just come back out to carry on the checks.
Am rather confused because the panel is now reading 13v ?!?
The “out” are still disconnected but i have reconnected the engine battery.
Could that have reset everything perhaps ?
Solar and EHU have been disabled all day.

Just firing up the ALDE and will then monitor for the rest of the afternoon and report later.
Putting the TV and all the lights has dragged it down a touch.

4.15pm and ALDE still working and lights on.
Separate query…why am I not able to turn off the “charging” on the Fogstar app ? It was not on before. The victron charger is not on, so it cannot be charging the Fogstar ?

 

[AdrianChen]

AdrianChen Lenny HB autorouter
I have been in a finance meeting this past hour and so only just come back out to carry on the checks.
Am rather confused because the panel is now reading 13v ?!?
The “out” are still disconnected but i have reconnected the engine battery.
Could that have reset everything perhaps ?
Solar and EHU have been disabled all day.

Just firing up the ALDE and will then monitor for the rest of the afternoon and report later.
Putting the TV and all the lights has dragged it down a touch.

Stood in the van watching the panel, the ALDE has flicked a few Low Battery warnings but is still running…just !



View attachment 961714

Hmm panel is showing 11.5v in that pic.

But B1 being 0v is good news since it means the relay is probably fine.

A voltage drop along the positive cable to B2 is as AutoRouter says certainly an issue that needs correcting.
Still worried about those unidentified cables though, because the original difference between the battery and panel voltage was 3v but that might be when you had stuff powered up, since the "issue" may be worse when there is more current. The Alde will only be running a circulation pump as I presume you're on gas?

If you cant trace the other cables easily, see what stops working when they're disconnected, but B1 can certainly go back unless you want to keep R28 in place for a while, you'll just have a red button on the panel, and no CBE charging of the cab battery, for which you have the battery master running on your new 25mm cable. If you are going to leave R28 and fit a relay, you can at least leave b1 disconected until you've done all that.

Bet your getting sick of cables and meters!

 

[Winchester123]

Do you know what is the supply voltage to equipment such as your Alde pump when the panel reads 11.5v?
If this is low then it must be in the main power cable from the battery. There is I think a very large fuse that can blow but some power still available as some supplies are prior to this

 

[MarkHoughton]

Do you know what is the supply voltage to equipment such as your Alde pump when the panel reads 11.5v?
If this is low then it must be in the main power cable from the battery. There is I think a very large fuse that can blow but some power still available as some supplies are prior to this

Well my cable run is HAB Battery + to 250A fuse to Victron Isolator to Busbar to Carthago Isolator to B2 terminal. The 250A fuse is the original ( I did purchase a new one as a spare ).
Update at 4.35 pm ALDE still chucking out heat, all the lights fully on ( Turned the TV off earlier ) and display now shows 13.4v with a 2.7A draw.
So looking promising. Though I feel an after dark test will be the decider as that is when it used to go belly up earlier on in the year ( even though the solar is disabled ).
Fingers crossed.

 

[AdrianChen]

Well my cable run is HAB Battery + to 250A fuse to Victron Isolator to Busbar to Carthago Isolator to B2 terminal. The 250A fuse is the original ( I did purchase a new one as a spare ).
Update at 4.35 pm ALDE still chucking out heat, all the lights fully on ( Turned the TV off earlier ) and display now shows 13.4v with a 2.7A draw.
So looking promising. Though I feel an after dark test will be the decider as that is when it used to go belly up earlier on in the year ( even though the solar is disabled ).
Fingers crossed.
View attachment 961754

Looking hopeful! Although it would be nice to no what you have fixed, for it to be working......

I take it the original cable from the 250amp fuse to the Carthago Isolator was cut/replaced, and the Victron isolator and busbar were inserted, so the Carthago isolator to b2 is original?

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[MarkHoughton]

Looking hopeful! Although it would be nice to no what you have fixed, for it to be working......

I take it the original cable from the 250amp fuse to the Carthago Isolator was cut/replaced, and the Victron isolator and busbar were inserted, so the Carthago isolator to b2 is original?

Hi AdrianChen , the only thing I have done is have the engine battery totally disconnected for an hour or so whilst I did the other tests and both of the "OUT" cables were disconnected ( and still not re-connected ), but engine was re-connected.
I did not need to cut any wires as the original 50mm from the battery went to the 250a fuse and then the 50mm cable continued to the Carthago isolator. So I just unbolted the 'out' end and bolted on my new 50mm cable to my victron isolator and connected the original 'out' end to my new busbar.
Turned ALDE and lights off now ( these past 10 minutes ) as was getting rather warm inside the van, just rechecked the panel and it has a 'resting' state of 12.6v.
I will leave it a few hours now and then fire up everything later this evening and see what results I get.
The wife has just made some G&T's to enjoy in the remaining sunshine for the afternoon, so will update later.

 

[AdrianChen]

Hi AdrianChen , the only thing I have done is have the engine battery totally disconnected for an hour or so whilst I did the other tests and both of the "OUT" cables were disconnected ( and still not re-connected ), but engine was re-connected.
I did not need to cut any wires as the original 50mm from the battery went to the 250a fuse and then the 50mm cable continued to the Carthago isolator. So I just unbolted the 'out' end and bolted on my new 50mm cable to my victron isolator and connected the original 'out' end to my new busbar.
Turned ALDE and lights off now ( these past 10 minutes ) as was getting rather warm inside the van, just rechecked the panel and it has a 'resting' state of 12.6v.
I will leave it a few hours now and then fire up everything later this evening and see what results I get.
The wife has just made some G&T's to enjoy in the remaining sunshine for the afternoon, so will update later.

12.6v on the panel is low the actual battery voltage I think you said was up around 13.3v ish. Given how you installed the new bits Its likely if there is a problem its in the original Carthago part that you haven't replaced? (Huge assumption based on the principle the problem pre-dates your updates) So It would be good if you could bypass that old connection/isolator switch and run from the new busbar direct to the B2, even if with a temporary bit of cable to see if the panel hab voltage increases. Doesn't matter about the cable size too much if most things are switched off and the current is low. The other thing thats original is the 250amp fuse, so I would check that has clean terminals (shiny metal) on the fuse itself and the in side etc, and pop in your spare to see if that makes a difference.

Best done after a few more G&T's!

 

[MarkHoughton]

AdrianChen , well it has been a pyrrhic victory as when I have checked just now the power was just under 12v. Went to lock up and no central locking !
Turns out one of the “out” post cables is responsible for that. Plus trying both individually made the volts drop back down to 10.4v no matter which of the 2 were reconnected.

It is just rather odd that everything “worked” a few hours ago.

Will return to it in the morning and replace the fuse, cable etc as you suggest. At least I now know what 1 of the “out” cables is responsible for and duly labelled.

A whisper of hope at least this afternoon.

 

[AdrianChen]

AdrianChen , well it has been a pyrrhic victory as when I have checked just now the power was just under 12v. Went to lock up and no central locking !
Turns out one of the “out” post cables is responsible for that. Plus trying both individually made the volts drop back down to 10.4v no matter which of the 2 were reconnected.

It is just rather odd that everything “worked” a few hours ago.

Will return to it in the morning and replace the fuse, cable etc as you suggest. At least I now know what 1 of the “out” cables is responsible for and duly labelled.

A whisper of hope at least this afternoon.

Sorry to hear that, Out, as autorouter said, is linked to the power distribution in the DS, part of which feeds the separate little grey fusebox (X50 - Which is where my two 25amp central locking fuses are) I think looking at the only wiring diagram I have (2016 chic highline), but it would be odd for that to be connected as an output from that terminal. I'm guessing some previous work has been done, perhaps with some pragmatic/non standard solutions.

Seems to me the DS 470 needs a proper check, with the wiring set back to standard for your van, bit of a slog to go through it I guess, and getting hold of a wiring diagram for your specific van would need the help of a Carthago dealer.

Time to sleep on it.....

PS. If its a supply to that grey fuse box that perhaps has failed in the DS, then with those wires disconnected other stuff would also not work, which is stuff like the roof fan and 12v sockets on my van. Worth disconnecting the wires again and checking to see if its just the central locking. There would be other sources to power up the fusebox that might not drag the panel voltage down, but perhaps not controlled by the main panel.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Sorry to hear that, Out, as autorouter said, is linked to the power distribution in the DS, part of which feeds the separate little grey fusebox (X50 - Which is where my two 25amp central locking fuses are) I think looking at the only wiring diagram I have (2016 chic highline), but it would be odd for that to be connected as an output from that terminal. I'm guessing some previous work has been done, perhaps with some pragmatic/non standard solutions.

Seems to me the DS 470 needs a proper check, with the wiring set back to standard for your van, bit of a slog to go through it I guess, and getting hold of a wiring diagram for your specific van would need the help of a Carthago dealer.

Time to sleep on it.....

PS. If its a supply to that grey fuse box that perhaps has failed in the DS, then with those wires disconnected other stuff would also not work, which is stuff like the roof fan and 12v sockets on my van. Worth disconnecting the wires again and checking to see if its just the central locking. There would be other sources to power up the fusebox that might not drag the panel voltage down, but perhaps not controlled by the main panel.

I did post a wiring diagram on Cog for Elaine and Splus

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[Steve and Denise]

Under Iveco