N&B CBE control panel and general 12v shenanigans!

I would suggest a sargent panel, but simple technology is best. A plastic panel with a meter and some switches is the budget end and easy to fix through to touch screen versions
 
Could I keep my current fuse box and charger or would I need to start from scratch?
 
Taff015 said:
I wasn’t sure that the control panel replacement would just plug in to the current wiring
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they won't

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So I would need to rewire it to fit into my distribution board?
 
If you can't get it working yourself I would book a service appointment at the factory and get them to have a look at it, OK it's possibly a bit daunting, it's in Germany and your German might be as good as mine but they have people that speak good English and lets face it who is going to know the van better than them. I think changing the control panel to something else would spoil the van.
 
funflair said:
If you can't get it working yourself I would book a service appointment at the factory and get them to have a look at it, OK it's possibly a bit daunting, it's in Germany and your German might be as good as mine but they have people that speak good English and lets face it who is going to know the van better than them. I think changing the control panel to something else would spoil the van.
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I spent 15 years in Germany............ I can just about order a beer!!!!!


It would be so much easier if I could just get a new panel (like a CBE PC-200 say) and then just plug it in! You would think that the connecting cable to the distribution box would be generic!
 
Taff015 said:
I spent 15 years in Germany............ I can just about order a beer!!!!!


It would be so much easier if I could just get a new panel (like a CBE PC-200 say) and then just plug it in! You would think that the connecting cable to the distribution box would be generic!
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I agree with Martin, but have you put your new batteries in yet? I would also reiterate my suspicion of the victron charger, do you know who fitted it?
 
jongood said:
I agree with Martin, but have you put your new batteries in yet? I would also reiterate my suspicion of the victron charger, do you know who fitted it?
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Hi Jon

The charger was thrown in in 2013 I think (I have a receipt for the unit for around then)

New batteries are in but that's made no difference. The panel is still throwing up battery issues and an "Error comm" error.

the only time I managed to get the water pump working (and the toilet) was when I took the cables out of the back of the control panel and inadvertently shorted the fuse in the distribution box. when it booted back up, the light on the external pump switch was on and when i turned it off, the internal pump started as i had left a tap open.

The next day, nothing. I've tried everything I can think of. There's 12V at the fuse but no power at the external switch or the pump. which is making me now think i need to trace the wires....!!

I would change the charger if I though that would solve the issue, however, I may just have to bite the bullet and get Travelworld to sort as I cant find anyone in the area willing to come out and have a look!

My other option is to buy the parts and have a go myself.......

The SOS warning is also on, this again leads me back to the nuclear option of changing everything!! I'm even toying with the idea of a 12v battery sat on the floor and 2 wires that one of us can hold to the pump connections when we need to use water!!!!!

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what charger would you recommend? It may be worth dong that anyway
 
Taff015 said:
Hi Jon

The charger was thrown in in 2013 I think (I have a receipt for the unit for around then)

New batteries are in but that's made no difference. The panel is still throwing up battery issues and an "Error comm" error.

the only time I managed to get the water pump working (and the toilet) was when I took the cables out of the back of the control panel and inadvertently shorted the fuse in the distribution box. when it booted back up, the light on the external pump switch was on and when i turned it off, the internal pump started as i had left a tap open.

The next day, nothing. I've tried everything I can think of. There's 12V at the fuse but no power at the external switch or the pump. which is making me now think i need to trace the wires....!!

I would change the charger if I though that would solve the issue, however, I may just have to bite the bullet and get Travelworld to sort as I cant find anyone in the area willing to come out and have a look!

My other option is to buy the parts and have a go myself.......

The SOS warning is also on, this again leads me back to the nuclear option of changing everything!! I'm even toying with the idea of a 12v battery sat on the floor and 2 wires that one of us can hold to the pump connections when we need to use water!!!!!
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I believe the SOS warning should only be showing if you have the SOS fuse in place, this should not normally be in, it's only meant to be used to get a bit of emergency power to limited functions when there is a problem.
 
funflair said:
I believe the SOS warning should only be showing if you have the SOS fuse in place, this should not normally be in, it's only meant to be used to get a bit of emergency power to limited functions when there is a problem.
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I pulled those out this morning but its still saying SOS!!! So I put them back in!!!!
 
I think you need to set it up as standard and then possibly reboot it to see where you are, the fact that the SOS fuse is in place suggests that there is a problem that needs fixing, low battery voltage could require the use of the SOS fuse amongst other things.
 
Just a word of warning we have had all the same problems as you about 3 years ago it was a nightmare TW
estimated on the phone that it could be anything upto 10,000. Long story short we found a company that helped and managed to repair ours but they said they would never touch another the company was applejacks in Somerset you could ring see if they have ant words of wisdom to offer.

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sillybug said:
Just a word of warning we have had all the same problems as you about 3 years ago it was a nightmare TW
estimated on the phone that it could be anything upto 10,000. Long story short we found a company that helped and managed to repair ours but they said they would never touch another the company was applejacks in Somerset you could ring see if they have ant words of wisdom to offer.
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Bugger!!!! for 10k ill pull all the sodding wiring and put a cheaper 12v setup in! I only need the waterpump working and the ceiling lights... failing that, ill use bottled water and the rest of the lights!!!
 
In my experience the CBE control unit does not like any error conditions. For example mine does not like me trying to operate it without any water in the tanks. I now leave a bit in just so that it does not read being empty and thus showing a red light instead of green at the on/off switch. If the main processor has failed or is faulty then because its a N+B unit/Hymer the processor is programmed to them only and a replacement can only be obtained from N+B via Travelworld in the UK. I used Applejack and whilst they can test out the units, if its the processor, then they cannot do anything, because the processor code is exclusive to N+B/Hymer, but can repair standard items on the PCB or repair dry joints etc. Has the charger been set to the right type of batteries for your new habitation batteries? Maybe a previous owner has mucked around with the parameter settings, usually only available to N+B or Travelworld in the UK but I was given the way in to mine to try and sort out an ammeter problem which I never managed to resolve! Applejack can test out your charger and confirm it its working. Good luck - Martin (Funflair) is very experienced on Flairs!
 
You could also try reliance on the south coast they can deal with the factory as well now and Chris is very helpfull and knowledgeable they also charge less thanTW.
 
Abercist is right Martin is really good he really is a wealth of knowledge he has helped us on many occasions.
 
Thanks for all your replies. Martin is likely sick of all my messages at the minute!

The Charger is a POS and is making strange noises. It was hacked in and whoever did it cut cables to allow it to work. I ll take some photos tomorrow to explain.

Ill try Travelworld first as they are closer to me (not as close as I thought they were now they have moved from Telford!!!) Ill have a look at reliance too.

The stubbornness in me is leaning towards putting in a new charger, then running a switched cable directly to the waterpump from the leisure battery....

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Abacist said:
In my experience the CBE control unit does not like any error conditions. For example mine does not like me trying to operate it without any water in the tanks. I now leave a bit in just so that it does not read being empty and thus showing a red light instead of green at the on/off switch. If the main processor has failed or is faulty then because its a N+B unit/Hymer the processor is programmed to them only and a replacement can only be obtained from N+B via Travelworld in the UK. I used Applejack and whilst they can test out the units, if its the processor, then they cannot do anything, because the processor code is exclusive to N+B/Hymer, but can repair standard items on the PCB or repair dry joints etc. Has the charger been set to the right type of batteries for your new habitation batteries? Maybe a previous owner has mucked around with the parameter settings, usually only available to N+B or Travelworld in the UK but I was given the way in to mine to try and sort out an ammeter problem which I never managed to resolve! Applejack can test out your charger and confirm it its working. Good luck - Martin (Funflair) is very experienced on Flairs!
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it will hate me then..... i think I'm getting every error message possible!! and one that's not in the manual (error com)
 
Taff015 said:
what charger would you recommend? It may be worth dong that anyway
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I would defer to martin on that one, I think his suggestion to get Polch to sort it out is a good one if you can get it there.

If you can't do that I would look at the Victron charger next. How long has it been parked up? Do you know that it worked properly afterwards? Have they connected it properly? If yes I wonder if someone like Applejacks or who Abacist used can test the panel to see whether or not its working correctly.
 
jongood said:
I would defer to martin on that one, I think his suggestion to get Polch to sort it out is a good one if you can get it there.

If you can't do that I would look at the Victron charger next. How long has it been parked up? Do you know that it worked properly afterwards? Have they connected it properly? If yes I wonder if someone like Applejacks or who Abacist used can test the panel to see whether or not its working correctly.
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Germany is a non starter at the minute unfortunately. If I could source the parts I think I could put it all together. the charger makes strange noises and whilst its charging the batteries, I dont trust it.

If I could get an OEM charger, distribution box (both) and a control panel I would just replace the things.

the other option is an over the counter version (cbe 380 kit for instance) and trace every pin and rewire as required although that will be a lot of fun!!!
 
Taff015 said:
Thanks for all your replies. Martin is likely sick of all my messages at the minute!

The Charger is a POS and is making strange noises. It was hacked in and whoever did it cut cables to allow it to work. I ll take some photos tomorrow to explain.

Ill try Travelworld first as they are closer to me (not as close as I thought they were now they have moved from Telford!!!) Ill have a look at reliance too.

The stubbornness in me is leaning towards putting in a new charger, then running a switched cable directly to the waterpump from the leisure battery....
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funflair fed up of talking about mh's, that will be the day
 
Taff015 said:
Germany is a non starter at the minute unfortunately. If I could source the parts I think I could put it all together. the charger makes strange noises and whilst its charging the batteries, I dont trust it.

If I could get an OEM charger, distribution box (both) and a control panel I would just replace the things.

the other option is an over the counter version (cbe 380 kit for instance) and trace every pin and rewire as required although that will be a lot of fun!!!
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There is a N&B breaker type place in germany that advertises on ebay, think you will find the link on N&B FB page, although don't ask me where.

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jongood said:
There is a N&B breaker type place in germany that advertises on ebay, think you will find the link on N&B FB page, although don't ask me where.
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ill have a look thanks
 
To keep you all updated (as I'm sure you are all wanting to know!!!)

I had a thought this morning and it looks like the leisure batteries were set up in series not parallel...(yay for a 24v system....) Not something I even thought of when I changed the batteries. all i did was put the same terminals on the same posts.

So now I'm in parallel, its the same!!! However I did pull the SOS fuses and reset the controller. when I turned the control panel back on all the lights (including the ceiling and the hidden behind the unit lights which were not working before) came on then immediately the system tripped.

I pulled each fuse in turn and tried to turn the system back on hoping I could isolate what was tripping the distribution box, but it crashed every time. I did it with the charger switched both off and on to see if it was the charger but there was no difference

I think ill try and pull all the fuses next and keep putting them back in to see what trips. could a broken wire somewhere cause this or is it likely that the electronics on the panel and distribution board are cuffed? It may be that because as the charger is not an OEM one and doesn't have some of the original cables plugged in then they system is having a sad on about it?

on a happier note, I fixed the satellite system and the fiamma door lock (thanks fiamma for the screws that were about 3mm too short so I had to cut away the wall carpet? to fit the brackets!!)

All I need now is a working water pump (with or without the CBE unit being sorted) and I'm happy......ish!!
 
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Taff015 said:
it looks like the leisure batteries were set up in serial not parallel...(yay for a 24v system....) Not something I even thought of when I changed the batteries. all i did was put the same terminals on the same posts.

So now I'm in parallel, its the same!!!
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I might be wrong, but it is possible (more likely even), that damage may have occurred, due to the 12v system being subjected to 24v. :whatthe:

I wish you continued good luck getting it all sorted Taff. (y)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
Right, ive pulled all the fuses and tried again. just clicks on then off straight away. I think the culprit is a switch on the distribution box... photo and video attached (when I can figure out how!)
 

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Video link!

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