No power to motorhome

[JulieH]

Hi. Bought our 2008 Swift Voyager at the weekend. It has an 80w solar panel on top. Everything was fine yesterday but gone in today and there's no power to the back. Engine starts fine. Replaced battery to control panel, still nothing. Any ideas please? Thank you

 

[Guigsy]

In the winter months in the UK, a solar panel does almost nothing. The hab battery might be thoroughly discharged, possibly unrecoverably so.

 

[97243]

Hi. Bought our 2008 Swift Voyager at the weekend. It has an 80w solar panel on top. Everything was fine yesterday but gone in today and there's no power to the back. Engine starts fine. Replaced battery to control panel, still nothing. Any ideas please? Thank you

Had you left anything switched on in the hab ?

 

[97243]

Can you put it on a mains hook-up and then see the battery condition on the display?

 

[JulieH]

Update. There's an inverter and we've tested it by plugging in a device. Works fine so there's power in the battery. The sockets aren't working though.

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[GeoffnDee]

The 12v habitation electrics will be turned off whenever the engine is started and need to be turned on again at the habitation control panel each time the engine has been run , have you tried this . (they also will not work with the engine running)

 

[JulieH]

Can you put it on a mains hook-up and then see the battery condition on the display

 

[JulieH]

Can you put it on a mains hook-up and then see the battery condition on the display?

We have and we've got nothing in the sockets but the inverter works. The fridge also auto connects to the mains and fires up

 

[JulieH]

In the winter months in the UK, a solar panel does almost nothing. The hab battery might be thoroughly discharged, possibly unrecoverably so.

The inverter is full strength though

 

[Nirvanauk]

Have you switched on the 12v at the control panel? I’ve been there.

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[97243]

In my short experience with 2 vans, 12v sockets don't work unless on hook up or connected to an inverter.

 

[Tombola]

We have and we've got nothing in the sockets but the inverter works. The fridge also auto connects to the mains and fires up

are you talking 240v sockets.......sockets fuse/trip needs resetting ?

Dont judge your batteries by the inverter, what volts do they read, are they lead acid, what size,

 

[Outdoors Dad]

The 240v sockets generally only work when on hook up. Have you tested lights ?

 

[autorouter]

Update. There's an inverter and we've tested it by plugging in a device. Works fine so there's power in the battery. The sockets aren't working though.

More details are needed, I think. When testing the inverter, was the mains hookup plugged in or not? Note that motorhomes have 12V sockets and 240V 3-pin sockets, so you need to be clear which sockets you are talking about.

Many motorhomes with an inverter have an automatic transfer switch, that automatically switches everything to mains hookup power whenever the mains hookup is connected. So that's why we need to know if the hookup is plugged in or not.

 

[autorouter]

If you're very new to motorhomes, there's a few things you need to know. In general, the electrics in a motorhome work from a 12V leisure battery. The leisure battery is totally separate from the starter battery. The fridge, room heater, water heater, water pump, lights etc all run from the leisure battery. So you can park up in a field, nowhere near a mains hookup, and still have lights, keep warm, have a hot shower, have a cold beer, use the loo and even watch TV, all powered from the 12V leisure battery.

If you plug into a mains hookup, in most motorhomes all that happens is that a mains charger keeps the battery charged, everything still works from the 12V battery. In addition, when plugged into mains hookup, all the 240V 3-pin sockets will then work. But usually unless the hookup is plugged in, the 240V sockets don't work.

Your motorhome also has an inverter, which gives you 240V mains from the 12V battery, even in the middle of a field with no mains hookup. Most motorhomes don't have an inverter, but they are getting more popular.

So the crucial thing when looking for faults when the power fails, is to see if the leisure battery is charged and working properly. So, if you unplug the mains hookup and switch off the inverter, do the lights, fridge etc still work?

If not, plug in the mains hookup. The mains 12V charger should come on automatically and start charging up the leisure battery. After a few minutes there should be enough 12V power for the lights etc to start working. Does that happen?

If not, maybe there's a 12V power switch that's not turned on somewhere. For the main hookup supply, there will be a 'consumer unit' box with trip switches somewhere near the mains hookup inlet - maybe one or more of the trip switches has tripped.

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[JulieH]

The 240v sockets generally only work when on hook up. Have you tested

Hi. Bought our 2008 Swift Voyager at the weekend. It has an 80w solar panel on top. Everything was fine yesterday but gone in today and there's no power to the back. Engine starts fine. Replaced battery to control panel, still nothing. Any ideas please? Thank you

OK, slight update. Control Panel above door is now working as have disconnected it and reconnected it again.. this has restored power from the leisure battery so its definitely not a battery issue. Still nothing in the sockets though and we're on hook up. Am I missing something really obvious?

 

[JulieH]

The 12v habitation electrics will be turned off whenever the engine is started and need to be turned on again at the habitation control panel each time the engine has been run , have you tried this . (they also will not work with the engine running

The 12v habitation electrics will be turned off whenever the engine is started and need to be turned on again at the habitation control panel each time the engine has been run , have you tried this . (they also will not work with the engine running)

This might sound stupid but do you mean the control panel above the door? I can't see any option to switch the electric on via this panel..feel like I'm missing something very obvious

 

[Outdoors Dad]

It might have tripped a switch in the consumer unit, similar to what you have in your house, check them. It also may have tripped the sites 'bollard' where you have connected your EHU cable. Try switching off inverter. Check if fridge and boiler work via 240v.

 

[GeoffnDee]

This might sound stupid but do you mean the control panel above the door? I can't see any option to switch the electric on via this panel..feel like I'm missing something very obvious

Yes , there should be an switch/button on the control panel above the door to enable the 12v power for the habitation area to be turned off and on.
Is there a model/make on the control panel (it may be NE183 or similar )

 

[JulieH]

Yes , there should be an switch/button on the control panel above the door to enable the 12v power for the habitation area to be turned off and on.
Is there a model/make on the control panel (it may be NE183 or similar )

It's a nord 183 mate. Thanks

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[JulieH]

If you're very new to motorhomes, there's a few things you need to know. In general, the electrics in a motorhome work from a 12V leisure battery. The leisure battery is totally separate from the starter battery. The fridge, room heater, water heater, water pump, lights etc all run from the leisure battery. So you can park up in a field, nowhere near a mains hookup, and still have lights, keep warm, have a hot shower, have a cold beer, use the loo and even watch TV, all powered from the 12V leisure battery.

If you plug into a mains hookup, in most motorhomes all that happens is that a mains charger keeps the battery charged, everything still works from the 12V battery. In addition, when plugged into mains hookup, all the 240V 3-pin sockets will then work. But usually unless the hookup is plugged in, the 240V sockets don't work.

Your motorhome also has an inverter, which gives you 240V mains from the 12V battery, even in the middle of a field with no mains hookup. Most motorhomes don't have an inverter, but they are getting more popular.

So the crucial thing when looking for faults when the power fails, is to see if the leisure battery is charged and working properly. So, if you unplug the mains hookup and switch off the inverter, do the lights, fridge etc still work?

If not, plug in the mains hookup. The mains 12V charger should come on automatically and start charging up the leisure battery. After a few minutes there should be enough 12V power for the lights etc to start working. Does that happen?

If not, maybe there's a 12V power switch that's not turned on somewhere. For the main hookup supply, there will be a 'consumer unit' box with trip switches somewhere near the mains hookup inlet - maybe one or more of the trip switches has tripped.

Thanks. I think I'm missing a really obvious switch somewhere. I'll check again tomorrow.

 

[GeoffnDee]

The touch button that has a circle with a line through it is the 12v power on/off on that control panel (one of the 3 x buttons at the bottom centre of the control panel)

 

[autorouter]

Do you have a 12V fusebox, maybe like this:

Also do you have a box with mains trip switches, maybe like this:

And a panel like this?

 

[autorouter]

There may be a manual switch to switch the 240V sockets between the inverter and the mains hookup supply. Probably near the other mains trip switches, or maybe near the inverter.

 

[JulieH]

It's an NE 183 M 8. Thanks

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[JulieH]

The touch button that has a circle with a line through it is the 12v power on/off on that control panel (one of the 3 x buttons at the bottom centre of the control panel)

So are you saying leave that panel switched off when I'm hooked up for the electric to work? I always switch it on regardless

 

[JulieH]

Do you have a 12V fusebox, maybe like this:
View attachment 863409
Also do you have a box with mains trip switches, maybe like this:
View attachment 863408
And a panel like this?

View attachment 863412

Yes to all 3 of these

 

[GeoffnDee]

So are you saying leave that panel switched off when I'm hooked up for the electric to work? I always switch it on regardless

I thought the problem was lack of 12v power but , as that is not the problem , Leave the control panel on whenever you are using the van habitation area. (with or without hook up). Are the switches in the grey mains power isolator box , shown by autorouters photo, on , also ,if you press the black test button in the box , does the mains power isolator switch operate (when connected to Mains power supply)

 

[scotzsue]

In the winter months in the UK, a solar panel does almost nothing. The hab battery might be thoroughly discharged, possibly unrecoverably so.

Have been using various ones for 14 years, they do no matter what the weather keep both batteries topped up whilst in storage, area is quite open, so very little shadow problems. We did off grid in fog so thick you couldn't see the fence behind the van, was still ok after 4 days and nights. all depends on the system remembering to turn unneeded electrics off and a good battery master system.

 

[autorouter]

Just to be sure, those mains trip switches are UP for ON, the opposite of normal wall switches in the UK. The trip switch on the left, with the 'Test' button, is an RCD and switches all the mains supply off when it trips. The trip switches on the right are MCBs, and control individual circuits. If one of those trips, only the power to that circuit is cut, the others carry on working.

The RCD protects against earth leakage and electric shock. If you press the 'Test' button, it should trip and cut off all the mains supply. That is a good test to see if the mains supply is reaching the mains trip switch box. If it doesn't trip, there's no mains supply.

As I said, most motorhomes don't have an inverter, so it was probably fitted as an aftermarket upgrade. The wiring of the inverter mains output is decided by whoever installed it. Sometimes some sockets are 'inverter only', and others are 'hookup only'. Alternatively the sockets could be switched between hookup and inverter. That's a choice by whoever wired in the inverter. The switchover can be automatic (whenever the hookup is connected) or manual.

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