Lunar Alaria TI 2017

[Miles172]

·         Battery drainage and solar panel wiring.   We often use our caravan on sites with no electric hook up in the summer months for festivals (for no longer than 5 days).  The first festival we attended with this caravan the battery went flat despite using a generator for brief periods of time during the day.  The weather was red hot with plenty of sunshine, however the Truma Solar panel regulator wouldn’t charge the battery and was indicating that the battery was faulty so we purchased a brand new one (115Amp Leisure Battery).  We then attended the Malvern Caravan show and after 3 nights this new battery also went flat despite generator use in the day again.   On getting home I checked the battery for an amperage discharge by putting a multi meter between the negative battery terminal and the negative battery cable, I found that there was a discharge when nothing was running, my findings below:

Things I've tried 

With all the 12v fuses taken out of the PSU except 20amp LEISURE fuse and with the over door SARGENT control panel turned ON there was a discharge of 0. 47 amp.

With the VEHICLE fuse in the PSU and the Sargent panel over the door ON there was a disch of 0. 47. With the Sargent panel turned OFF disch. went down to 0. 28.

With all the top row fuses on the PSU replaced, and the over door panel ON had a disch. of 0. 65.  when I turned off the PSU Master switch the disch. went down to 0. 06 (acceptable I think)

With all fuses back in, PSU master switch ON and with the over door Sargent panel switched OFF there was disch. of 0. 34. and with the over door panel switched ON there was a disch. of 0. 79.  Every appliance is switched off but have noticed tv booster light is on.

If the Red Master Mover/E&P key is left turned ON there is a disch. of 0. 78.

The solar panel puts out voltage ok but the regulator very seldom puts charge to the battery

The solar panel charge regulator is connected to the PSU and not directly to the battery terminals (I think) I had a word with the Truma rep at the show and explained the above to him and he said the Truma regulator won’t charge the battery if the voltage goes below a certain voltage.

Now I’m not an electrician (I’m 71 years old and a carpenter/joiner by trade so a practical guy) and have a suspicion that there is an electrical fault somewhere.   We do run the TV in the evenings and use lights sparingly, as with our previous caravans, but have never experienced this before.   The original battery that we thought was defunct has now been charged up satisfactorily at home and is holding its charge, so buying a new battery was unnecessary.

The Van has a Sargent Panel fitted over the door and I was told that "it" will discharge  and everything is fine, so have refused to look into it.

Not convinced, any comments welcome 

[Durbanite]

Surely this caravan is still under warranty?  Why haven't you taken it back to the dealer.   The battery would have been covered under Consumer legislation and there would have been no need to purchase a battery.

[Miles172]

Thanks for reply, new caravans don't come with batteries they transfer your old one from your exchange caravan which is a good battery.

I have also purchased a new one but it has made no differance, there is 0. 4 of an amp drain when the van is not being used. I informed a Luner service agent and was told it is because I have a SARGENT control panel fitted over the door and this is ok, even with the panel turned off the battery goes flat in 7 days.

[Paul_B]

I'm not an electrician either I'm a carpainter  and I couple my controllers direct to the battery (with fuse).  What size panel is on the caravan? even this time of year a panel will put out 20ish volts, however the watts/amps will be on the low side.
I haven't a clue as to what your controller looks like but as there's power to the controller can you check whats coming out of it, this will tell you (or should) if its the controller or a problem in the wiring from the controller.

Your dealer ought to be doing this for you.

[Miles172]

7 minutes ago, Paul_B said:

I'm not an electrician either I'm a carpainter  and I couple my controllers direct to the battery (with fuse).  What size panel is on the caravan? even this time of year a panel will put out 20ish volts, however the watts/amps will be on the low side.
I haven't a clue as to what your controller looks like but as there's power to the controller can you check whats coming out of it, this will tell you (or should) if its the controller or a problem in the wiring from the controller.

Your dealer ought to be doing this for you.

Thank, the controler is the type where you turn on/off the lights, water pump, awning lights etc. When it's turned off every thing goes off so I think any drain on the battery should be very minimal, just a little to keep the tracker alive.

[bubble2015]

Here are a few thougts based on info from our Delta TI.

The Sargent control system, even on standby, uses between 0. 5 & 1. 0 amps/hr.

If you turn off the radio but leave the panel illuminated, it uses (I think) almost 1. 0 amps/hr.

If you have a Phantom tracker, there have been reports here that will discharge your battery in a week.

If you have a 100watt solar panel, at this time if year, I doubt it will keep up with the discharge of these systems, before you turn on anything else!

I think these caravans are designed to be connected to electric at all times!

We have 200 watts of solar panels and we can just manage overnight in June/July if we dont use heating/hot water and dont watch too much TV.  We really need to add a 2nd battery but have a lot of kit on the caravan so the weight is always an issue.

[Miles172]

Thanks, that's a good reply, I think I must be expecting too much when i go away, this time of year my van is in a she'd so the solar panel having no effect at all but I do have a hook up.

[sandy]

Hi

I have a 2017 Clubman it's presently in storage with the battery connected and the alarm and tracker on. The battery lasts about 6/7 weeks before it needs recharging. I have a spare battery and when I get the warning of low battery level from Phantom I simply swap them over. My old 75amp/hour battery lasts about 5weeks.  

Sandy

[Miles172]

Thanks, what make control panel is fitted over the door, mine is a Sargent.

[Steamdrivenandy]

Surely they'll all be the same on similar vans. Lunar don't swap electrical fitting about mid production run.

[Paul_B]

11 hours ago, Miles172 said:

Thank, the controler is the type where you turn on/off the lights, water pump, awning lights etc. When it's turned off every thing goes off so I think any drain on the battery should be very minimal, just a little to keep the tracker alive.

I was referring to the solar controller/regulator not the control panel  have you checked the output from this?

[Durbanite]

14 hours ago, Miles172 said:

Thanks for reply, new caravans don't come with batteries they transfer your old one from your exchange caravan which is a good battery.

I have also purchased a new one but it has made no differance, there is 0. 4 of an amp drain when the van is not being used. I informed a Luner service agent and was told it is because I have a SARGENT control panel fitted over the door and this is ok, even with the panel turned off the battery goes flat in 7 days.

Our Buccaneer came standard with the battery as it has the E&P system same as the Alaria so would have thought the battery would be standard especially at the price of the Alaria.   I suggest you check direct with Lunar as the dealer could be pulling a fast one.  

It is the responsibility of the dealer to sort out any issues and clearly in this case the dealer maybe fobbing you off, but I can see from other posts you are unsure whether it is you causing the issue or not.   No harm in submitting it for a warranty claim anyway.   On our 2011 Lunar TI the fridge drained the battery even when on gas and also when the mains and 12v were switched off.

BTW the Phantom tracker will last about a month if no solar panel before you get a low battery indication.   If the radio lights stay on when it is switched off the drain will be very low and probably less than 0. 01amp as they are LED lights.

[Miles172]

I have spoken to SARGENT Tec:  Department on the phone today (very helpful) and the guy told me that with the Power Service Unit switched on (thats the one under the bed) and nothing else the drain on the battery will be about 0. 4 of an amp, so that tells me that I don't have a wiring fault I just need to start the genny more often and run it for a bit longer.

Thanks for all your comments.

[firstimer]

22 hours ago, bubble2015 said:

Here are a few thougts based on info from our Delta TI.

The Sargent control system, even on standby, uses between 0. 5 & 1. 0 amps/hr.

If you turn off the radio but leave the panel illuminated, it uses (I think) almost 1. 0 amps/hr.

If you have a Phantom tracker, there have been reports here that will discharge your battery in a week.

If you have a 100watt solar panel, at this time if year, I doubt it will keep up with the discharge of these systems, before you turn on anything else!

I think these caravans are designed to be connected to electric at all times!

We have 200 watts of solar panels and we can just manage overnight in June/July if we dont use heating/hot water and dont watch too much TV.  We really need to add a 2nd battery but have a lot of kit on the caravan so the weight is always an issue.

I have an 80 watt panel fixed to the roof of my Delta RS and i can manage much more than an overnight with no battery issues at all, I was fine off grid for 11 nights in July and had no issues. My van also is in storage and only has the solar panel to keep the battery supplying the tracker and alarm system and still have no battery issues over winter months. I feel if you struggle with an overnight stay off grid then you should be getting a new battery sourced ASAP as there seems to be a problem with the one you have just now.

[bubble2015]

Thanks firstimer

Battery was cheapish and is now 3 years old, will get it checked.

OH likes her TV, which we watch using an inverter when off ehu, that does drain the battery quite fast.

[Craig M]

I have the exact same caravan and this issue drives me nuts. I do however have the solution. This solution has to be done each and every time you arrive at the caravan and plug in the EHU. The solution is - Cycle through the screens on the Sargent control panel over the door until you see the Alaria symbol. Press and hold together both the up and down arrow for 5 seconds. This enters the advanced settings menu. Cycle through the settings until you see 'solar charging'. Now no matter what is selected 'leisure or vehicle', YOU HAVE to cycle the options again by pressing the middle left arrow button. So even if the option selected is 'leisure', press the left arrow once (this will display 'vehicle' and then press it again to cycle back to 'leisure'. Each time you cycle this setting you will hear a small click from the PSU under the bed. Now cycle through settings to the option to 'exit advanced settings' and select. Have a look at the screen and if its sunny you should now see an output from the solar charging bar. Even after you has turned everything off (including the black system shutdown button on the PSU) the solar panel will continue to charge. This can be confimed by the solar charge controller on the kitchen cupboard. However as soon as you plug the EHU in again and turn the system on, it reverts back and you need to run through the setting s again, very annoying but it works. Thanks,