Schaudt EBL 99.. kaput.

[scotjimland]

As I have solar panels I seldom plug in and use the charger at home but this winter I noticed they weren't keeping the engine battery fully charged.. I surmised this was due to very poor weather and the constant drain of the Strikeback alarm.

So I plugged in the EHU and put it on charge a couple of weeks ago.. went out yesterday to check all was ok and to unplug the EHU but when I opened the door the EBL was chattering like a chipmunk.. really loud and the charge light on the Hymer controller panel was flickering.. so I switched it off, I checked everything else was working ok.. all 12v circuits fine.

I considered sending it back to Schault in Germany for repair, that was my preferred company, but the postal cost makes that quite expensive, and not sure what the repair cost would be.. considered A&N Caravan services and also an exchange unit from Brownhills at £312 less £50 when you send in your old unit.. and lastly, Apuljack Engineering.

I settled on Apuljack, have read good things about them, they have a fixed price repair and upgrade for the EBL 99 of £166.00 + p&p

Will post when it has been returned with any useful information or comments.

Any others used Apuljack . ?

 

[Ambilkate]

We used A&N caravan services. Same price I think as Apuljack but postage was on top of that as well. We can fully recommend A&N it was back within a few days and alls well thank god. Hope all goes well with yours Jim x
Kate

 

[scotjimland]

We used A&N caravan services. Same price I think as Apuljack but postage was on top of that as well. We can fully recommend A&N it was back within a few days and alls well thank god. Hope all goes well with yours Jim x
Kate

Hi Kate.. still enjoying your Hymer ? Only seems like yesterday since we met at Thetford bash.. three years ago !

did you your EBL stop charging or was it another problem ?

Hope all are well.. Jim 'n Jan

 

[Ambilkate]

it just stopped charging Jim , Bill changed the internal time delay fuse which blew again and caused more probs. .
Gosh 3yrs has gone so quick. Yep still enjoying our Hymer x
Kate.

 

[JeanLuc]

Good luck with it Jim. I used Schaudt to repair mine and the cost was very reasonable including postage.

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[BusyBuilder]

What upgrades do they do ?

 

[BusyBuilder]

I've never understood why there are so many different EBL's surely they all do the same thing ?

 

[scotjimland]

What upgrades do they do ?

not entirely sure.. As far as I know they upgrade some components on the charger that are prone to failure. If required they can also change the charging voltage on the Lead Acid battery setting to make it suitable for AGM. When I get more information will post

I've never understood why there are so many different EBL's surely they all do the same thing ?

Yes and no..
The EBL is both charger and 12v distribution and control unit, it also takes 12v from the engine battery and solar (if fitted). It also charges the vehicle battery when on EHU and from solar when the solar regulator is connected to the EBL.

Down the years there have been improvements and upgrades .. and as motorhome electrics become more complex the EBL has had to keep pace.. the very early models were basic.. the latest ones quite complex.. just as cars electrics have evolved ..

 

[scotjimland]

Will post when it has been returned with any useful information or comments.

unit returned today..

re -installed and tested

all systems go..

turnaround time was exactly one week .. very pleased with that and has one year warranty . No other information ..

Cost >

Repair £166.00
Delivery 7.50
Vat 34.70
Total £ 208.20

Edit .. one year warranty on this repair

 

[JockandRita]

unit returned today..

re -installed and tested

all systems go..

turnaround time was exactly one week .. very pleased with that and has 2 year warranty . No other information ..

Cost >

Repair £166.00
Delivery 7.50
Vat 34.70
Total £ 208.20

Nice one Jim.

Cheers,

Jock.

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[PhilandMena]

As I have solar panels I seldom plug in and use the charger at home but this winter I noticed they weren't keeping the engine battery fully charged.. I surmised this was due to very poor weather and the constant drain of the Strikeback alarm.

So I plugged in the EHU and put it on charge a couple of weeks ago.. went out yesterday to check all was ok and to unplug the EHU but when I opened the door the EBL was chattering like a chipmunk.. really loud and the charge light on the Hymer controller panel was flickering.. so I switched it off, I checked everything else was working ok.. all 12v circuits fine.

I considered sending it back to Schault in Germany for repair, that was my preferred company, but the postal cost makes that quite expensive, and not sure what the repair cost would be.. considered A&N Caravan services and also an exchange unit from Brownhills at £312 less £50 when you send in your old unit.. and lastly, Apuljack Engineering.

I settled on Apuljack, have read good things about them, they have a fixed price repair and upgrade for the EBL 99 of £166.00 + p&p

Will post when it has been returned with any useful information or comments.

Any others used Apuljack . ?

The price from A&A Caravans would be £130 + £12 shipping all in, no extra VAT or other costs. Same 12 month warranty.
Apuljack, charge £166 + £7.50 shipping = £173.50. BUT they 'forget to mention' that VAT is on top, as a result the consumer ends up paying £208.

 

[scotjimland]

The price from A&A Caravans would be £130 + £12 shipping all in, no extra VAT or other costs. Same 12 month warranty.
Apuljack, charge £166 + £7.50 shipping = £173.50. BUT they 'forget to mention' that VAT is on top, as a result the consumer ends up paying £208.

The Apuljack cost is advertised on the website price menu.. there were no hidden costs ..

http://www.apuljackengineering.co.uk/repair_pages/repair_page_ebl_99.html

For items listed as a pair the price is for the repair of BOTH items not each.
All prices exclude VAT

and as I posted, I considered all three before deciding.. and gave my reason.. cost was not the deciding factor.

 

[JockandRita]

@PhilandMena. I'm not trying to be pedantic Phil, honestly (with Jim's Rule No 1 in mind ), but I keep seeing reference to A&A Caravans, rather than A&N Caravan Servicing.

http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/

BTW, when I spoke to A&N about a possible problem with our EBL 4-105, they said that because of it's age, they wouldn't be prepared to repair it, and that I would have to have an alternative model unit as a replacement. That was a few years ago. I sorted the problem out myself, and at 19 years old, it is still going strong. It is aided though by solar and a Sterling B2B charge, so not doing all the work on it's own. In fact, we are hardly ever on EHU.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[JockandRita]

Allen Evans (don't know his forum name) has been in touch with me, re email correspondence from 2016.

BTW, when I spoke to A&N about a possible problem with our EBL 4-105, they said that because of it's age, they wouldn't be prepared to repair it

That still stands, as because he (A&N) felt that the battery bank was too large for the size of the charger, and that it may well have been put under strain. They didn't want to try a repair to find that it had failed again, as that would reflect badly on A&N.
Yep, fair dos Allen.

and that I would have to have an alternative model unit as a replacement.

My mistake. What he said was that I should contact my dealer.
I did Allen, and they informed me that the EBL 4-105 was no longer available, and that a different model would have to be fitted (can't remember the model No.....................at an horrendously expensive price, (can't remember the price, but do remember almost falling off my perch when he told me ). It's no surprise then that I declined.

I hope this clarifies things suitably.

Regards,

Jock.

P.S. I bought a packet of quality surge/ slow blow fuses at the time, knowing that I would have spares.............................and I've not needed to replace another one since. That was 2.5 years ago.