Fiat CI Caricoa 656 - 2004

[kmbenno]

Hi,

I've just bought a Fiat CI Caricoa 656 - 2004.
1st time !!!
There is a solar panel on the roof.
When i bought it the leisure battery showed 13v on the panel.
It's been parked outside house for 2 days and now it showing 9v.

Question is:
1: Should the solar panel keep it charged up to 12v.
2: Is there an isolator switch fitted as standard to turn off any feed to 12v appliances ?

I'm sure there will be plenty more questions to be asked.

TIA

Regards
Karl

 

[autorouter]

Yes, the solar panel should keep the leisure battery charged. A battery should show between 12.0V (fairly flat) to 12.7V (full) if it's not being charged. When being charged, it should show from 13.0V to about 14.5V. If it's at 9V it needs charging ASAP.

Can you run a mains cable out to the MH for a few hours to charge it up? Many people leave it connected to mains all the time when it's outside the house, if a cable connection can be arranged.

 

[autorouter]

2: Is there an isolator switch fitted as standard to turn off any feed to 12v appliances ?

Different types of 'isolator' are used. One type just switches off the lights, water pump, TV etc for when you go out for the day, leaving the fridge, water heater and heater still working. Another type totally isolates the battery from everything, so no drain at all from the battery.

Usually the alarm, tracker etc work from the starter battery, which can be a problem if the solar only charges the leisure battery. There are various well-tried ways round this. For example, a BatteryMaster is a device that trickle-charges the starter battery from the leisure battery when the leisure battery is being charged, to keep the starter battery topped up.