Carthago Starter Battery not Charging from CBE Unit.

[Lenny HB]

Don't panic folks not mine, mines perfect.
It's my best mate Jon (JonP ).

Same van as mine Compactline i141, same age he took delivery beging of July 2 weeks after I got mine, similar spec except he paid a fortune for factory fit Lithium.

A bit of a strange one with CBE unit a DS300 if the leisure battery is 13.5v and above it should charge the starter battery but it's not.

With mains plugged in we are getting 13.59v on the B1 terminal which is the connection to the starter battery. At the starter battery be are getting 12.2v that is before the fuse before any of you wise guys start.
So it appears that they is no connection between the starter battery and the DS300.

Jon has spoken to Andy Bottle (Magic Motorhome Man) he was the electrical gure at Southdowns.
He said he has had lots of charging problems with factory fit Lithium in Hymers and Carthago and has seen this problem before and he thinks there maybe a modual between the starter battery and the CBE unit.
Jon is taking it over to him on Monday for a quick look he hasn't got any capacity to spend any time on it at the moment.

So any ideas folks I've spent a few hours on it and not got anywhere Carthago are very good at hiding stuff and making things unservisable.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Do they factory fit a B2B ?

 

[dunnah01]

Sounds like there is a separate battery separator like the SB-150 somewhere that isn't being triggered by the EHU feed relay. The module is well hidden and I found ours behind the passenger step footwell on a Rapido

Edit: Scrub that the DS300 separator is on the board so the relays are bottom right with the diode and thermistors. It may be worth checking one of the relays latches when EHU plugged in

 

[Lenny HB]

Do they factory fit a B2B ?

Yes it's mounted near the CBE unit and connects straight to B1 B2 obviously that's not been doing anything either.

 

[Lenny HB]

Do they factory fit a B2B ?

Yes it's mounted near the CBE unit and connects straight to B1 & B2 obviously that's not been doing anything either

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[Steve and Denise]

Yes it's mounted near the CBE unit and connects straight to B1 & B2 obviously that's not been doing anything either

So you have obviously double checked it
Also you know the trickle charge uses the same feed wire to the B2B to take the trickle back to the engine battery,
Is it worth looking to check Carthago have put the 2amp supply on the correct side of the B2B as it can’t pass back through the B2B,
But you probably know that anyway.
Maybe worth a look though

 

[G7UXG]

I may be off the mark here but…

I know it’s a compact and I only have experience of C Line and E Line, but probably the same.

The lead from the battery to the CBE in the rear of the van (I assume it’s in the rear) has a connection behind a panel to the side of the handbrake. I’m talking right hand drive here and a manual hand brake. If there’s a panel there, it may be worth removing it and checking the front half of the cable is connected to the rear half. Worth a check if you can’t find anything else.

 

[Lenny HB]

So you have obviously double checked it
Also you know the trickle charge uses the same feed wire to the B2B to take the trickle back to the engine battery,
Is it worth looking to check Carthago have put the 2amp supply on the correct side of the B2B as it can’t pass back through the B2B,
But you probably know that anyway.
Maybe worth a look though

No fuses on the B2B connections.

 

[AdrianChen]

On our old E Line, there was a fuse on the input cable where the cable started from a battery mounted fuse panel and went through a deutsch type connector you could get to between the seats IIRC (Merc base)

I take it the main CBE panel was switched on because that also needs to be switched on for ours to work.

Vaguely remember when looking at the Schaudt 45amp (before going with Victron) there was a bypass switch, can't remember the details, but I think it enabled the CBE panel to display the start voltage when the engine was off, is that set correctly (assuming you have anything on the input in the first place).

Never seen the Carthago Lithium setup, so don't know what additional fun they've added to those.....

 

[Lenny HB]

Never seen the Carthago Lithium setup, so don't know what additional fun they've added to those.....

Not impressed for a mains charger they fit a Schudt/Lippsert LS1218 which is a charger with settings for Gel & LA set to LA.
25 amp Schaudt/Lippsert B2B same as mine had.

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[Lenny HB]

Edit: Scrub that the DS300 separator is on the board so the relays are bottom right with the diode and thermistors. It may be worth checking one of the relays latches when EHU plugged in

We are getting the voltage on B1 also the B2B connects directly to B1 but B1 does not appear to be connected to the starter battery.

 

[AdrianChen]

Not impressed for a mains charger they fit a Schudt/Lippsert LS1218 which is a charger with settings for Gel & LA set to LA.
25 amp Schaudt/Lippsert B2B same as mine had.

Thats a bit naff - I thought all you new model guys were getting 45amp DC/DC and Mastervolt loveliness in your vans, which made me jealous....

Happy now

 

[Westbarn1]

Won't help you Lenny, but my Hymer, with factory fit Lithium is rubbish at keeping the starter battery topped up, hence fitting a Van Bitz Battery Master, but will watch this with interest to see if there is another solution.