CBE Control Panel & CBE Distribution Unit/Fuse Box

[funflair]

Really sorry you ve not got it sorted yet Robert I would be really annoyed too.

Unless I've missed a bit do you yet know what caused it? Modern elctronics are usually pretty good. Are their any ideas regarding the cause of the other failures? ( I'm useless at facebook sorry)

Jon/Paul/Ringo whatever.......

Hi Jon

I have been in touch with the people with the Flair with what seems on the surface to be a similar issue, I believe their problems started when they started up after a the hab batteries had gone flat.

Martin

 

[CazPaul]

There is somebody having similar trouble with a 2005 Flair Paul so can't really go along with that this time.

Martin

Yes someone on the Concorde forum had a knackered 2005 panel recently as well Martin. It was a cheap fix, he sent it off to someone, I have the details somewhere of the company he used and it needed a new battery inside the panel.
Point is though ours is a 2005 so into its 15th year the OP van is a 2014 model.
You expect issues with older vans not much newer ones.

 

[jongood]

Hi Jon

I have been in touch with the people with the Flair with what seems on the surface to be a similar issue, I believe their problems started when they started up after a the hab batteries had gone flat.

Martin

Ive seen that Martin but I totally knackered a set of hab batteries a couple of years ago and havent had any lingering issues with anything. Roberts is 5 years old so too old to be a manufacturing defect and if I remember correctly pretty much stood for the first couple of years of life so the hab batteries would have probably gone flat more than once in that period. I myself would like to have found a definitive cause so I could be sure it wasn't going to recur.

btw whose going to break it to him that there's quite a bit more italian made stuff in his MH - oops might have just done it @Abacist

 

[CazPaul]

Is there a correct procedure then if fitting new hab batteries with a CBE panel, regardless of the age of the van?
Surely turn control panel off, fit batteries correctly and the turn back on.

 

[jongood]

Is there a correct procedure then if fitting new hab batteries with a CBE panel, regardless of the age of the van?
Surely turn control panel off, fit batteries correctly and the turn back on.

This is what I don't get, if the hab batteries go flat the panel will go off by itself, then cant be woken back up?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Abacist]

This is what I don't get, if the hab batteries go flat the panel will go off by itself, then cant be woken back up?

Exactly and I'm worried that I might get it wrong with the new stuff when I put it back in.

Doing my best to try to reduce the possibility of future problems by putting in a Surge Protection Device on the mains input feed and I've also replaced the EHU leads and plugs and sockets which are old but no apparent faults with them.

Jon - Apuljack reckon there was voltage surge sufficient to damage the electronics but not to blow a fuse which I find hard to believe but what do I know. Lightning was also mentioned! It all happened beside us at the house and the external EHU socket at the house tripped but the rest of the house was OK which was why I didn't know it had happened for a couple of weeks.

I realise its a Fiat but I had one of those under my AutoTrail and that was never a problem!

 

[CazPaul]

This is what I don't get, if the hab batteries go flat the panel will go off by itself, then cant be woken back up?

I wonder Jon if people are leaving the control panel switched on all the time and as the batteries go flat it can in certain conditions damage the panel, although just guessing.
Always switch the panel off when not in use, even when using and going out for the day, EHU and fridge still work with panel switched off.

 

[CazPaul]

Exactly and I'm worried that I might get it wrong with the new stuff when I put it back in.

Doing my best to try to reduce the possibility of future problems by putting in a Surge Protection Device on the mains input feed and I've also replaced the EHU leads and plugs and sockets which are old but no apparent faults with them.

Jon - Apuljack reckon there was voltage surge sufficient to damage the electronics but not to blow a fuse which I find hard to believe but what do I know. Lightning was also mentioned! It all happened beside us at the house and the external EHU socket at the house tripped but the rest of the house was OK which was why I didn't know it had happened for a couple of weeks.

I realise its a Fiat but I had one of those under my AutoTrail and that was never a problem!

Was the control panel on or off at the time?

 

[Abacist]

I wonder Jon if people are leaving the control panel switched on all the time and as the batteries go flat it can in certain conditions damage the panel, although just guessing.
Always switch the panel off when not in use, even when using and going out for the day, EHU and fridge still work with panel switched off.

I've been thinking I'll never turn it off again in case I can't get it back to life again!

 

[CazPaul]

I've been thinking I'll never turn it off again in case I can't get it back to life again!

Surely though turning off offers more protection?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Abacist]

Was the control panel on or off at the time?

It would have been on with just the items not in use switched off e.g. water pump and lighting.

 

[Abacist]

Surely though turning off offers more protection?

That sounds logical as well!

 

[CazPaul]

It would have been on with just the items not in use switched off e.g. water pump and lighting.

Impossible now to know but I wonder if you would have been OK with it switched off?
I may get the internal battery changed on ours as someone with the same van, model and year, 2005, as us had to get a new battery but I am reluctant now to start messing, taking panel off, sending it away etc, especially with what has happened to you.

 

[CazPaul]

Furthermore we live in an extremely remote area and the electric in the house has tripped a few times whilst the van has been hooked up, no problems though, panel always switched off.
Not sure if that is relevant or not though, just I always do it, always have with every van as it saves power too when using the van without EHU.

 

[funflair]

I wonder Jon if people are leaving the control panel switched on all the time and as the batteries go flat it can in certain conditions damage the panel, although just guessing.
Always switch the panel off when not in use, even when using and going out for the day, EHU and fridge still work with panel switched off.

Hi Paul

When you say "off" do you mean you just press the button and switch it to standby or hold it for a couple of seconds for a complete power down, that's how ours works anyway and I only ever use standby.

Martin

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Robert Clark]

We never turn ours off

 

[Abacist]

If my control panel is on then the on/off button is Green.

If I turn it off the on/off button is red.

Conflicting views - perhaps we need to ask N + B at Polch?

 

[CazPaul]

Hi Paul

When you say "off" do you mean you just press the button and switch it to standby or hold it for a couple of seconds for a complete power down, that's how ours works anyway and I only ever use standby.

Martin

On ours there is a specific on button and off button, maybe different manufacturers configure them differently.
When you press the off button then screen is blank which is what you would do if changing batteries etc.
Didn't know you could hold the off button in for couple of seconds on ours for a complete shutdown?as how would you know when the screen is blank anyway when pressing 'off'

 

[funflair]

If my control panel is on then the on/off button is Green.

If I turn it off the on/off button is red.

Conflicting views - perhaps we need to ask N + B at Polch?

Hi Robert

I am sure there is a difference between switching everything off and switching the panel to standby, ours doesn't have different colours but the panel says standby with a simple press.

Martin

 

[funflair]

On ours there is a specific on button and off button, maybe different manufacturers configure them differently.
When you press the off button then screen is blank which is what you would do if changing batteries etc.
Didn't know you could hold the off button in for couple of seconds on ours for a complete shutdown?as how would you know when the screen is blank anyway when pressing 'off'

As you say they are all a bit different.

Martin

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jongood]

I wonder Jon if people are leaving the control panel switched on all the time and as the batteries go flat it can in certain conditions damage the panel, although just guessing.
Always switch the panel off when not in use, even when using and going out for the day, EHU and fridge still work with panel switched off.

I never have on either of ours in 13 years, and I think our current setup is pretty similar to Robert's 7 years, lots of use and on its 3rd set of hab batteries.

Hope I'm not pushing my luck here.

If it was a surge then I can only think of 3 possibilities

1, Home EHU - surely would have done other damage
2, Lightning - which could have travelled down the hookup cable and fortunately popped the breaker Unlikely if it was under cover?
3, Solar reg failing?? was it under cover?

But wouldnt any of these 3 also have killed or even blown the batteries?

 

[tonyidle]

Looking here and at the N + B forum and Facebook page there are a worrying number of these failures.

Bought a German van and got Italian electrics - not impressed!

Time they sorted out something more durable!

It probably isn't a quality or durability issue. Spikes on a mains supply are almost impossible to predict or prevent. The various devices available do a good job but aren't proof against everything. Lightning is often an issue even when not in the immediate vicinity and a direct strike on a power or phone line is not needed to cause a spike or even burn damage. A strike to the ground dissipates like ripples on a pond - having less effect as it travels further. Unfortunately buried cables in its path provide a better connection than the earth itself and huge spikes can be generated. My work for BT involved assessing lightning damage: it almost never struck any overhead plant but the damage to buried cables from a nearby ground strike was pretty impressive. I did once visit the site of an overhead plant strike. It struck a tree, the cow standing under the tree, the adjacent pole, two spans of overhead wire, a cable buried in plaster in the house (plaster blown off the wall), and, finally, the phone on the end. Very little of anything was left to look at - the pole was matchwood. The advice to stand with your feet together if caught outside in exposed location is because of the ripple effect.

 

[Abacist]

The van sits next to the house and is not under cover. I would be surprised if it was lightning as the van sits next to the external chimney breast and right at the top of the chimney is a great big TV aerial much more likely to get hit than the van.

Absolutely oblivious indoors to whatever it was that happened. I haven't thought to check the solar controllers but they were both brand new Victrons supplied by VanBitz last August. Both appear to be working as normal. I'll put a voltmeter on the outputs tomorrow and see what they are both producing.

My grandfather's house was struck by lightning on the sea front at Thorpe Bay back in the late 1950's. It hit the TV aerial, travelled down the cable, spread to the water pipes, blew the porcelain sink washstand to pieces close to his bed and then blew the TV to smithereens down in the lounge. They were lucky there was no fire etc or he wasn't washing at the time!

 

[Abacist]

I had a 'phone call to cheer me up yesterday! Apuljack 'phoned to say that the parts were in and would be sent out to me today so hopefully will get them tomorrow.
He confirmed that they were ordered from Travelworld who had no stock so they have had to be obtained direct from N + B in Germany.

They wanted to test them but did not have the information required from the manufacturers and did I want to wait so that they could be tested. I said No just send them out. They are supposed to be new so should be OK and I don't really want someone poking around in them and maybe cause an issue!

Good thing I have nearly finished putting in the new circuit breaker and Sollatek AVS30 surge protection device.

 

[sillybug]

Hope it all go,s well .we will be waiting 2 weeks for fuse box and another 2weeks for control panel but we are not going to let it stop us we are going to Peterborough with no 12v we will survive .
Good Luck let us no how it go,s

Teresa

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Abacist]

The parts arrived this evening so now begins the long process of putting it all back together again. I've made a start and put the control panel in and screwed the distribution box back in but I need to get my pictures out there on the computer as there is a bird's nest of wiring to reconnect everything and then the batteries to put back in and wire them up to everything.

Grandchildren staying for 2 days now so it'll have to wait until Saturday now.

 

[Abacist]

I managed to get an hour in today so finished reconnecting the control Panel and distribution unit and jury rigged a battery up just to test the new units and it all came alive instantly with a press on the control panel button. Need to get the book out to re-program it but just pleased to see it all working again.

Hopefully I can put it all back together properly tomorrow and then do the re-programming.

 

[CazPaul]

Great stuff after all this time, so pleased for you.

 

[TinaLes]

Pleased for you, as we all shared your frustration for what seems like a long time.
Glad you have been given and instruction book to "reprogram" the new units, normally these documents can be very frustrating to understand well for me at least, I hope thats not the case with CBE.
For whats its worth I have again discovered that even simple parts for vans like taps & shower mixers seem to be very restricted in not only spare parts but suppliers also. I.E the small spare part that you only need is not available separately, even though its the weakest link, so you end up having to scrap it and buy a whole new unit, as the simple part like a defective Plastic back washer/nut is not sold separately
So instead of 10/20P its a £140.00 plus fitting at hell knows what per hour to maintain your "warranty"for all thats worth.
Its also not that reassuring to hear from your dealers "oh!, we have never had to replace one of those yet, they seem to go on for ever dont they" .
Good luck, hope all goes as it should for you, then you can try and put this all behind you at last
Les

 

[Abacist]

Exactly 2 months from starting to try and solve this to today!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}