Leisure battery charging

Hello all,
             I have a problem, I have searched here for, but cannot appear to find a conclusive answer, perhaps I should have looked harder.
So I apologize if this is an often raised topic.

My leisure battery is not charging from the mains plug in
Brief details (I copy and paste from my notes!).....

Year 2000 Autosleepers Symbol petrol
Inter-Power Battery Charger Ser no 6097
240v light working ok
13amp sockets working ok
12v Lights work from battery
disconnect battery and re-connect 240v - no 12v lighting
2 fuses 1-30amp, 1-15amp(I think), next to battery under driver seat
both looked okay but replaced and no difference.
2 Relays, behind fuses not sure about
Battery charges ok from engine alternator

When I check on the battery meter in switches/gauge above backdoor the battery gauge only reports what is in the battery, whether the charger is on or off.
When I switch the charger switch on (under sink next to circuit breakers) the light comes on but there appears to be no-one in.
I can charge the battery from a small charger I have plugged into one of the mains sockets and then when I check the battery on the meter above door whilst charging the meter reports a full battery.

Perhaps I am missing something obvious, can you help.

Very Many Thanks

Roger

Hi,
The first thing to check is that the switch on the charger itself is on,
Chris

Hi Chris,
              Very many thanks for your reply.
I do so hope this is the case   I did look at the charger yesterday (down in it's pit) but did not notice a switch, I shall look again later on.

Roger

I have now looked, found said switch, unfortunately it was in the On position, turned it off and on a few times just in case but still no joy.

Roger

Hi,
The next things require a test meter and a certain amount of electrical expertise. You have to pull the connection plugs out of the charger and make sure that you have mains to it, low voltage coming out and 12 volts from the leisure battery at the charger connecting plug,
Chris

Hi Chris,
              Thanks for that.
I have a work colleague who will be asked a favour of, tomorrow.

Roger

Hi
When we bought our Symbol, I noticed that we had a similar issue.
After checking the output from the charger with a meter it was clear that it had died.
Ours was the original from 2003 and new ones are more sophisticated in the way that they charge and maintain your batteries.
I obtained a new one that is a direct replacement, so no faffing about, just install and reconnect.
If you need a replacement, I can let you have details of where I got mine.
Carver.

Hi Carver,
                Very many thanks for that.
Yes Please, if you could let me know details, that would be great.

Roger

Hi Roger,
I got my replacement charger from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
On the site there is information on identifying your charger and fault diagnosis.

Im sure that other suppliers are available, but I got good service from this company.

Good luck,

Carver

Hi Again Carver,
        Thank You very much for that.
I shall investigate

Roger

Hi Roger,
having re-read your original post, I note that you mention switching on the charger with the switch next to the circuit breakers.  If your van is the same as mine (2003 model) the switch that you mention actually turns on the water heater (truma).  
The charger has its own on-off switch on the unit itself.
Clearly, if your van has been drained down for winter then switching on the water heater while empty is not a good idea !

A couple of general points. General in that they apply to most AS systems and are not specific to your vehicle.
If you disconnect the battery when on mains EHU, you will not get any 12v supply to any of the habitation system. You must have the battery terminals connected.
In my van the meters will show maximum voltage when on EHU, this equates to the charging voltage supplied by the installed battery charger unit and says nothing about the battery.
The simplest way to check whether the battery charger is functioning is to put a multimeter set at 20V DC across the battery terminals without EHU connected, and then with EHU connected. ie. voltage of battery (usually 12.5 to 12.80) and then voltage of battery on charge (usually 13.5 or higher).
Only if this demonstrates that you are not getting a charging voltage from the unit, should you then embark on the various investigations suggested previously.
Keith

Hi again,
  thank you all for your help and advice.
I have contacted the ex plug in man and he can supply a replacement unit.
But now on removing the old unit I have discovered a screw in fuse, it is a T15a 250v slow blow 20x5mm fuse.
I am having a severe problem finding one of these, somewhere in my search I discovered a box of many assorted, and now I cannot re-find it !
Now I am wondering if anyone else had the same problem in the past and had to bulk buy, if so I would gladly buy one or two from you.

Again many thanks for all your help

Roger

Just had same problem with my 2002 Symbol,,,,,charger had shot it. Just fitted a replacement,,,,all ok now,,,BUSBY65.

One Last question, Sorry
Would it be okay to replace it with something like a Ctek XS0.8 Maintenance Charger or the MXS 5.0



Very many thanks to you all for your help


Roger

It would probably work Ok, but the XS0.8 will almost certainly be underspecified for the job. For maintenance it would be Ok (max capacity 100Ah) but it would be slow to charge from a flat battery, and ~might~ refuse to do so (max capacity 32Ah).

If you want to save some money on CTEKs it can pay to look for old stock non-current models on Ebay, though I don't see any there at the moment.

Maybe we are overlooking the fact that the purpose of the charger is not only to charge the battery but to provide sufficient power output to supply the 12v appliances without draining the battery.
This is the reason that the charger units fitted to motorhomes have a high (in the order of 12 amps or 18 amps) output current capability.
A small CTEK charger may well keep the battery charged but will have an inadequate current output to power the 12v appliances.  This will cause the battery to discharge to an unacceptable level before the charger can top it up again.

G

Gram wrote:Maybe we are overlooking the fact that the purpose of the charger is not only to charge the battery but to provide sufficient power output to supply the 12v appliances without draining the battery.

It's a very good point - the current range of power supplies in Sargent controllers typically have a capacity of 20A, split between charging and habitation 12V loads.

You may also find that the fairly sophisticated charge programme in a CTEK will get confused when you turn 12V loads on and off in the van, as it will have no way to distinguish these loads from changes in the battery's internal status. Normally a camper van power supply will be a relatively simple 3-stage charger which can compensate for habitation 12V loads.

Hello Gram and -Mojo-,
Thank you both for your advice, I will not be going down the CTEK route.

Roger

Hello all,
              Just an update for your information.
I purchased from expluginsteve, a PMS6 charger, which is an Amperor 3 Stage 18amp Leisure Battery Charger MV3/180, it plugged straight in with existing cables and worked straight away.
It was delivered just a couple of days after ordering.
Great service from Steve
So thank you all for your advice, and to anyone who finds this after searching with same problem, Steve is your man !!

Happy Days

Roger

Thanks for the update. It's always good to hear about independent specialists that can keep the older systems going - especially when the service is that good.

Well done, Roger.
I'm glad you're sorted.

G