Low power from 12v internal socket

[smallg]

Hi everyone

Strange thing - I've just had the water heater replaced in my Elddis Autoquest 130 as the PCB had gone and it was pretty old anyway. That's working fine, but when we were wild camping this weekend the 12v power socket wasn't drawing enough power to charge a phone on a 1amp charge (I tested it on 1amp to see how little power it was drawing after our normal charger worked fine). The light on the charger was on, though.

The water heater works fine, but wasn't on. As it runs on gas anyway I would expect it to only draw power when lighting or if we had the water pump on. Regardless, they wouldn't draw too much power.

The van is powered by a Fogstar Drift 105ah battery and 200w solar panel.

Never had this problem before so it's clearly related to the new water heater.

I've obviously contacted the installer, but I wanted to see whether low power issues like this are something fellow forumers had come across in the past.

Cheers

Dave

 

[autorouter]

First thing to check is the leisure battery voltage, but if everything else is working it's probably OK. It sounds like a bad connection somewhere. Is it possible to check the connections at the back of the 12V socket? They are usually the standard 1/4 inch spade connections, and may have been strained so that they are making contact but have a higher resistance that normal. A multimeter is useful for any further checking.

 

[Jev88]

Corroded connector in plug socket. Take it out and clean or replace.
Assuming battery has solid connection

 

[jerryz]

Bad connection is first thing to check , i had this issue with a cupboard light only getting 3-7 v traced to loose connection in the line from another light , tightened up 12v again all good

 

[smallg]

Thanks everyone. As usual the collective wisdom is much appreciated. I'll head over to the lock up with my multimeter and tools later today.

I wonder if the water heater install has loosened a wire somewhere. Nightmare tracing that given my massive hands and low patience levels, LOL.