garethdeb Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Hi Folks Well we had a splendid Easter weekend at the CC site in Worthing. Bit of a strange site for the CC as it's surrounded by houses and a leisure centre but quiet and pleasant enough. Arrival on Friday was a bit stressed though. It was absolutely sheeting it down and just to add to the misery the vans battery appeared to be flat. When I switched on the water pump it ran for a while filling up the hot water tank then it just seemed to die off. The light was on for the battery charger but the battery was only showing about 11. 5 volts across it and when ever anything 12v was switched on it died right off to just a couple of volts. Our van is a 1996 Lunar Sunbeam and the panel is the Plug in Systems PMS6 which has the 240v RCD and MCB's and the battery charger built into the back of it. There is a little glass fuze in the top of the charger bit which was fine and a separate switch on the top too which was also lit so it seems to be getting the 240 supply fine but there appears to be nowt coming out of it. So, a dead charger. T'internet googling has revealed a few old discussion forums, some mentioning Arc Systems whome I have emailed tonight and await a reply but I was hoping on the off chance that someone here might have had a similar experience with a similar system. Many thanks and regards Gareth Quote 2004 Kia Sorento 2. 5 tdi tugging a 2002 Elddis Sunseeker with Molly the Collie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennifernn Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 We had a similar one in our Emerald, but as we no longer have that van, I could not say it was identical. Our charger also stopped working. On ours the charger was in a box fixed to the back of the panel. The box was pop riveted together, these had to be drilled out. OH found that the output fuseholder was damaged due to overheating from poor contact somewhere. He also found that the printed wires on the PCB were apparently not heavy enough to carry the current, and part of them had already been overlaid with solder to beef up the current carrying capacity. He thickened them all up with more solder, and instead of the fuseholder he soldered in a length of appropriate fusewire protected by a heat resistant (glass fibre) sleeve. Tested it all and refitted it. This repair lasted as long as we had the van, and is hopefully still going strong. It is however not something to be attempted by an amateur! Quote Jennifer Sterling Elite Searcher, Volvo XC90 SE D5 Auto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethdeb Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 We had a similar one in our Emerald, but as we no longer have that van, I could not say it was identical. Our charger also stopped working. On ours the charger was in a box fixed to the back of the panel. The box was pop riveted together, these had to be drilled out. OH found that the output fuseholder was damaged due to overheating from poor contact somewhere. He also found that the printed wires on the PCB were apparently not heavy enough to carry the current, and part of them had already been overlaid with solder to beef up the current carrying capacity. He thickened them all up with more solder, and instead of the fuseholder he soldered in a length of appropriate fusewire protected by a heat resistant (glass fibre) sleeve. Tested it all and refitted it. This repair lasted as long as we had the van, and is hopefully still going strong. It is however not something to be attempted by an amateur! Many thanks Jennifer I have been looking through ebay this afternoon and I see there are quite a few brand new caravan battery chargers with around 12A output for about 70 quid delivered. All are being sold by caravan dealers, mostly oop north so I may pop into my local dealer and see what they have got on the shelf and what their mechanics say. Anyone ever replaced theirs with an after market one? Thanks all Gareth Quote 2004 Kia Sorento 2. 5 tdi tugging a 2002 Elddis Sunseeker with Molly the Collie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassneck Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Gareth, dont buy one till you talk to Gary on here, he is Mr Arc Systems. (He also frequents Touring and Tenting). The guy is spot on, and knows his onions inside out. (And thats a recommendation from someone who has abused his hospitality for advice only a couple of times.) Quote In Consilio Sapienta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennifernn Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Yes, Gary usually has reconditioned ones for a very good price. Quote Jennifer Sterling Elite Searcher, Volvo XC90 SE D5 Auto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arc Systems Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Thanks for the intro folks but I rarely have time for chargers these day! having said that I have one later unit that will fit. This is a real problem as Plug in Systems don't support older models as they once did, if infact PinS exists anymore?! Given there are 10's of thousands out there I think I might have a long term solution gestating!! Quote Arc Systems are specialist Carver caravan product repairers, committed to providing a comprehensive service as well as spare parts for these popular heaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
touch Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 not knowing your electrical setup i may be way off the mark but here goes what happened to me. While away over easter i was on hook up but noticed that my fully charged battery was dropping in power. I had a look at the charger and it was lit so i assumed it was working. I then checked if everythign was working by bypassing the battery for 12v. I did this as the lelectric panel has 3 switches car - when using the car battery for electrics, Van - when the van is providing all 12 v and battery is charged and finally the middle - by-passing the battery and supplying the 12v circuits from the charger (hope this made sense). Anyway on van everything was fine except no charging so i switched to the middle and no 12v was working. I then found another fuse which dealt with the lights, fridge and importantly charger. This had gone. replaced this and all was well. May be worth checking for another fuse rather than replacing the charger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethdeb Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 Thanks for the intro folks but I rarely have time for chargers these day! having said that I have one later unit that will fit. This is a real problem as Plug in Systems don't support older models as they once did, if infact PinS exists anymore?! Given there are 10's of thousands out there I think I might have a long term solution gestating!! Hi Many thanks for responding. We've just got back from a week at the CC site in Pembrey Country Park (which was lovely by the way!) We spent the week with just a 4 amp motorcycle battery charger permanently connected to the battery. With the coolbox running off the 12v socket in the awning the 4 amp charger wasn't man enough but switching the coolbox over to the 240v adapter allowed the 12v lights, water pump and loo pump to run fine with no discernable drop in battery charge although you DO notice the dip when the water pump is running. Anyway, this is not the ideal solution so I have been investigating. I spoke to one of the mechanics at Blazers in Swansea who recommended the PowerPart charger they had on the shelf for just over 72 quid. It states it has a fixed output to prevent overcharging, overcurrent and thermal protection and, as it's designed for a caravan or motorhome, can be left permanently on so therefore can be wired in as a replacement charger. It states a 12v 12A output so a slight improvement on the original Plug in Systems 10A too. So, do you recommend buying this? Yes the original charger is going to need the rivets drilled out to remove it from the backplate of the panel and then new holes to mount the new one but I can cope with that. And I take it the switch on the control panel to switch the charger on and of is just an inline switch for the 240v supply to the charger? So it should just be a case of wiring in the live, neutral and earth lead for the 240v supply and the pos and neg 12 output, yes? Or am I being a bit too naive here?!! I know there are a few other solutions here but what I really want is to return the caravan to as close it's original state as possible, ie using the original switch on the control panel switching the charger on and off and getting a battery condition reading on the meter, also built into the panel. Many thanks all and I hope I haven't bored you with this one! Regards Gareth Quote 2004 Kia Sorento 2. 5 tdi tugging a 2002 Elddis Sunseeker with Molly the Collie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBS Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 HiMany thanks for responding. We've just got back from a week at the CC site in Pembrey Country Park (which was lovely by the way!) We spent the week with just a 4 amp motorcycle battery charger permanently connected to the battery. With the coolbox running off the 12v socket in the awning the 4 amp charger wasn't man enough but switching the coolbox over to the 240v adapter allowed the 12v lights, water pump and loo pump to run fine with no discernable drop in battery charge although you DO notice the dip when the water pump is running. Anyway, this is not the ideal solution so I have been investigating. I spoke to one of the mechanics at Blazers in Swansea who recommended the PowerPart charger they had on the shelf for just over 72 quid. It states it has a fixed output to prevent overcharging, overcurrent and thermal protection and, as it's designed for a caravan or motorhome, can be left permanently on so therefore can be wired in as a replacement charger. It states a 12v 12A output so a slight improvement on the original Plug in Systems 10A too. So, do you recommend buying this? Yes the original charger is going to need the rivets drilled out to remove it from the backplate of the panel and then new holes to mount the new one but I can cope with that. And I take it the switch on the control panel to switch the charger on and of is just an inline switch for the 240v supply to the charger? So it should just be a case of wiring in the live, neutral and earth lead for the 240v supply and the pos and neg 12 output, yes? Or am I being a bit too naive here?!! I know there are a few other solutions here but what I really want is to return the caravan to as close it's original state as possible, ie using the original switch on the control panel switching the charger on and off and getting a battery condition reading on the meter, also built into the panel. Many thanks all and I hope I haven't bored you with this one! Regards Gareth What about the one Gary says he has? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethdeb Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 What about the one Gary says he has? Mike There's only the fuse in the top of the charger unit, no others. I'll have another look tomorrow when I'm at the van but I had a really good look when I had the panel out in Worthing. Regards Gareth Quote 2004 Kia Sorento 2. 5 tdi tugging a 2002 Elddis Sunseeker with Molly the Collie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TANNERS Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 i think i have a similar problem i picked my van up from storage yesterday LUNAR PREMIERE 515 bought last year, and i have no 12v supply from my tremaco charger supply i cant test the 12v from the car no pleg and the battery is dead so i tested the outcoming side of the psu and ive got 0. 395v so im assuming its not working but. .. but. .. this is my first van, and my first look at understanding the wiring but on with the assuming i should get 12 - 14v out ?????????? SORRY FOR THE LACK OF SOLUTION AND THE INCREASE IN PROBLEM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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