Hymer DT201Control panel turning off 12 volt, but batteries are fine. Freezing in France!

[MaidinDevon]

Hiya

I don't know what is going on, but the 12 volt turned off last night.
It was a chilly night at about 3 degrees, but i survived!

Is there any way to reset the panel, or disable one of the functions.

i have tried to consult Apuljack, but they are shut down until 2nd January.

The panel has two functions to measure battery levels. The first is voltage, for leisure and engine battery. ie 12.5v snd 14v for example.
The second uses either a percentage or number of ah(amp hours?)
The second measure thinks that the leisure battery is flat, so it turns off the 12 volt supply.
No heating, pump, lighting or fridge.
We've tested the 12 volt cigarette socket , which says 12.5, same as the first reading.
I have just driven for 4 hours, snd the percentage went ftom 0 to 4%.
It also says that only about 2.5 to 2.5 amps are going into the leisure battery from engine running.

 

[PlacidoD]

My sympathies. Hope you can find an EHU for tonight! That might help solve your problem short term (but your 12 V systems will run through the leisure battery even if on an EHU)

I am no expert and don't know Hymers but I believe your leisure battery is shutting down to protect itself because it is close to the point of no return. 12.5V should be around 70% charged. But the 12 V cigarette socket if on the dashboard may be run off the motor battery (and that is low for the starter battery!)
How old is it - The leisure battery? It maybe past the point of no return.
Re 2.5 amps into the leisure battery. That sounds low to my inexpert eye. If you have a bluetooth app maybe you can boost the input?
Hope that helps. Fingers crossed someone who knows more than me will be along in a minute

P.S. Do check that you are not heating the waste water tank. That will be quite a drain!

 

[MaidinDevon]

Thank you for the sympathy!! The leisure battery is 14 months old, and the reading was taken off a cigarette lighter socket that is in the habitation area. Definitely not off the engine.
Engine battery failed last winter in Spain, and was replaced.
Think I might have to tough it out until I get to the campsite on Saturday.
I am in a funster convoy!!!!
Sadly, none of us are electricians

 

[Lenny HB]

As the control panel is on I don't think the Electroblock has shut down.
With the battery only taking a small charge with the engine running it does look like the battery has failed possibly a cell has gone high resistance.

With the battery on charge from engine or EHU you need to check the temperature of the battery. If it's getting hot turn off the charging immediately and disconnect the battery also best to remove it from the vehicle.

 

[PlacidoD]

Listen to Lenny not me! He has much more expertise (Although I do think we are broadly saying the same thing!)
Use your limited 12V for a single light and maybe put the gas oven on? (You may need an igniter or box of matches if it will not spark off the 12V circuit but if that is the case I doubt you will have lighting either!!

I have a USB chargeable reading light (The sort that clamps to your book with a bendy stalk) Someone in your party may have one of those and you can charge that or similar devices off the cigarette socket in the cab.

"Think I might have to tough it out until I get to the campsite on Saturday."

Gosh that is a long way off!! I have my fingers crossed for you!!!

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[GeoffnDee]

MaidinDevon ,If you do want to try a reset of your control www.apuljackelectronics.co.uk has , in their cataloque , Schaudt/libbert section , DT201 control section , a link for the reset procedure .

 

[MaidinDevon]

Lenny HB thanks for your input, I am really puzzled as to why the socket running off the leisure battery shows a good level of charge, which contradicts the panel reading.
If the battery is quite full, maybe thats why it isn't putting in a lot of charge?
I shall ask Garry to check the battery tomorrow before we set off again.

Karen

 

[Nanniemate]

Lenny HB thanks for your input, I am really puzzled as to why the socket running off the leisure battery shows a good level of charge, which contradicts the panel reading.
If the battery is quite full, maybe thats why it isn't putting in a lot of charge?
I shall ask Garry to check the battery tomorrow before we set off again.

Karen

Have you got a funny smell like rotten eggs
I. On smarty now given up with O2 , lennys post made me think of that

 

[fishplug]

The battery voltage doesn't necessarily reflect the state of charge / condition of the battery.

A dying battery can show a voltage in the 12.6-12.8v range implying that it's fully charged but actually only have a small percentage of its capacity left.

Sadly, despite not being all that old, my suspicion is that you have a dying / dead battery.

Until you can get it tested I would disconnect it and certainly not put any charge into it.

 

[MaidinDevon]

MaidinDevon ,If you do want to try a reset of your control www.apuljackelectronics.co.uk has , in their cataloque , Schaudt/libbert section , DT201 control section , a link for the reset procedure .

Thank you. That seems to describe my issue. I have tried remedy 2, holding the menu button for 3 seconds, but it hasn't corrected it.
I do have a question mark as described.
I cant try to fully discharge the battery until I have access to hook up.
However, if the panel turns the 12volt off to protect the battery, I don't see how I can run it flat, to reset it anyway.

Confused

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[Lenny HB]

The EBL will turn off itmf the voltage drops to 10.5v, if the load is reduced on the battery the voltage will rise and the EBL will reconnect.

 

[autorouter]

What is the total capacity of your leisure batteries? Is it a single battery, or more than one? If there is a question mark after the Ah capacity display then maybe it has lost the value of the battery capacity that was programmed in when the batteries were installed. You can set the 'nominal capacity' of your leisure batteries by pressing the 'Menue' button for three seconds. You simply enter the total capacity of your leisure batteries.

If it loses the settings, it probably reverts to the default value which is about 100Ah. If your actual battery capacity is more than that, for example two 100Ah batteries giving a total capacity of 200Ah, then when you have drained 100Ah out of them, down to the 50% level, the display will think you have taken 100Ah out of a 100Ah battery. So it will calculate that it is totally flat, and maybe switch the panel off.

Actually it's worse than that. If you enter the nominal battery capacity as 100Ah, the system will calculate 80% of that, and will show on the display that you only have 80Ah left. It keeps the 20% as a buffer to avoid totally flattening the battery and damaging it.

So it is important that you have the correct nominal battery capacity stored in the display, especially if your actual battery capacity is very different from the default 100Ah value.

 

[GeoffnDee]

MaidinDevon , for the reset procedure in the Apuljack link 10.5v is flat and also when the EBL turns off (any further discharge would damage the battery)

 

[MaidinDevon]

What is the total capacity of your leisure batteries? Is it a single battery, or more than one? If there is a question mark after the Ah capacity display then maybe it has lost the value of the battery capacity that was programmed in when the batteries were installed. You can set the 'nominal capacity' of your leisure batteries by pressing the 'Menue' button for three seconds. You simply enter the total capacity of your leisure batteries.

If it loses the settings, it probably reverts to the default value which is about 100Ah. If your actual battery capacity is more than that, for example two 100Ah batteries giving a total capacity of 200Ah, then when you have drained 100Ah out of them, down to the 50% level, the display will think you have taken 100Ah out of a 100Ah battery. So it will calculate that it is totally flat, and maybe switch the panel off.

Actually it's worse than that. If you enter the nominal battery capacity as 100Ah, the system will calculate 80% of that, and will show on the display that you only have 80Ah left. It keeps the 20% as a buffer to avoid totally flattening the battery and damaging it.

So it is important that you have the correct nominal battery capacity stored in the display, especially if your actual battery capacity is very different from the default 100Ah value.

Thank you, this worked to a point. My battery is 160ah, so I changed the nominal as suggested and it now things that there are 64ah available. Still git a question mark against it. Can't try a full reset until I have access to hook up.

But MY HEATING AND FRIDGE ARE WORKING. YIPPEE.
Now in Spain, just outside Vittoria in the mountains, so I am very glad.
The leisure battery is charging when driving, it was 13.1 when we got here.
So, thank you to everyone for your help. Funsters are fab.

Karen

 

[MaidinDevon]

I spoke too soon. I only got 15 minutes on the Truma heating before it turned off again.

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