Several electrical issues - any help appreciated.

[marchie]

It seems a lot more complicated than my build was, I had 230V inlet which powered the fridge and the Ctek plus two sockets we never used except for the vacuum, 12v via a fuse board to the hob, oven, Truma E4000, fridge light/fans, Carver Cascade, a couple of battery voltage gauges USB sockets & LEDs, a MPPT controller, but no structured access point as such, I put things as close to where they were needed as possibe, the solar controller was electrically midway between the panel and the LBs, Ctek right next to the batteries, 230v inlet next to the fridge and the air blower.

Having said that I was and still am clueless so it had to be simple.

Kev, when the ECU blew in November 2021, almost half of the £855 total bill was labour charges for tracing the wiring systems manually to pinpoint the fault that was causing a backfeed from the Vehicle Battery to the Leisure Battery, because Burstner wouldn't provide any schematic diagrams 'because we have to protect the expertise and economic interests of our partners [Dealers]' who told me just to pull the fuse! So the autoelectrician had to trace the fault one circuit at a time [and I told hom not to spend [chargeable] time replacing covers, upholstery etc, so I could see an open Manual for each of the Water Heater, the Water System, the Fridge/Freezer etc etc at the location of each bit of kit!

So a 'Keep It Simple Stupid' approach, with marked cables/switches et al is more logical, easier to trace and understand, and therefore cheaper to maintain and repair!

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I also went over the top on the cabling even for the LEDs at 4mm2, I did use a lot of LEDs each cupboard has at least 2 groups of these The biggest cable was 6mm2 for the solar connections, I did try to minimise risk by under doing the fuses, most were 3 amp, I had hundreds given to me so my theory was put a 3a in and if it blows on normal use then it's too small so I went up in increments to find the ones which didn't blow.

 

[Frank Crow]

Coming back from a month away, yesterday we encountered several issues which I'd be really grateful for some insight into if possible. Our MH is a 2017 Autotrail Comanche with a Sargent EC500 Power Supply unit with an EC480 Control Panel above the door. It has a small bank of fuses set into the floor immediately behind the drivers seat which would be above the hab batteries which are underneath in a locker accessible from outside.

Issue No1 - The small bank of fuses set in the floor behind the drivers seat (above the leisure batteries) started buzzing yesterday: an on/off regular buzz. This only happens when the ignition is not on. When I remove the 5A Tan coloured fuse marked 'Marker Lights' the buzzer stops. I have checked the fuse (looks OK) and also changed the fuse, to no avail. With a new fuse in, it still buzzes. As it stops buzzing with the ignition on I'm guessing it is something to do with the 12v electrics?

Issue No2 - The ECU500 has twice come up with a warning that the 'Vehicle Battery Voltage is Low'. This is accompanied by the bleeping warning and clears after 1 minute or so. The EC480 panel then shows the vehicle battery level as either around 12v or the display goes haywire between Green and Red and the max/min voltage. NB I fitted a brand new vehicle battery in April and the MH starts first time, no problem.

Issue No3 - The EC500 has started to switch itself off after only being on for a matter of seconds. I'm guessing that this could be a fail safe and maybe to do with the other problems.

Has anyone had any of the above issues? Or if not, could anyone make any sensible suggestions as to the causes and what I can do to solve? We are due to be going away again in 3 weeks time so I need to get this sorted sharpish.

I'm happy to add any more info; answer questions; or add piccies if needed.

Thanks

Have you gone into the hidden menu on your EC 480 control panel, my EC 500 was doing the same switching itself off when not on EHU so went into hidden menu and set Solar panel to "leisure"and that sorted out no buzzing noise from marker 5A which none of my bulbs where blown and EC 500 staying on.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Have you gone into the hidden menu on your EC 480 control panel, my EC 500 was doing the same switching itself off when not on EHU so went into hidden menu and set Solar panel to "leisure"and that sorted out no buzzing noise from marker 5A which none of my bulbs where blown and EC 500 staying on.

And how do you get into this hidden menu?

 

[wildebus]

And how do you get into this hidden menu?

 

[GMJ]

Have you gone into the hidden menu on your EC 480 control panel, my EC 500 was doing the same switching itself off when not on EHU so went into hidden menu and set Solar panel to "leisure"and that sorted out no buzzing noise from marker 5A which none of my bulbs where blown and EC 500 staying on.

No because as I updated in December, it was the EM40 floor box causing the issue as a contact had melted in that.

 

[wildebus]

Have you gone into the hidden menu on your EC 480 control panel, my EC 500 was doing the same switching itself off when not on EHU so went into hidden menu and set Solar panel to "leisure"and that sorted out no buzzing noise from marker 5A which none of my bulbs where blown and EC 500 staying on.

As an aside, I don't see how changing the solar panel from Auto to Leisure will actually fix anything?
What it probably did was stop a faulty circuit being actively used (be like 'fixing' a broken electric window by not using the switch again to lower it).