help with my control panel

My control panel(Sargent EC51) is not working,it will not turn on and a light is flashing in the top bar on the right hand side of the panel.
I have connected it to an electric hook up and it turned on the i pushed the button to charge the vehicle it looked ok.
I left it for some time and i have just checked it and no lights on the panel just the one in the top bar flashing and i cant turn the panel on,so i have no power,
Any suggestions please

rich

According to the User Manual - which you can download from Sargent's website - a flashing LED at the top of the bar on the right suggests an over-voltage situation on the leisure battery. This ~could~ indicate either major corrosion on the leisure battery terminals (effectively taking it out of circuit) or a complete failure of the battery itself. Neither seems very likely to me (in fact I ~think~ that most Sargent PSUs will operate relatively normally with the leisure battery completely disconnected) but you can determine whether this is a possibility by measuring the leisure battery voltage while EHU is connected. It's possible that the PSU is outputting too high a voltage due to an internal fault - but they are designed to make that very unlikely too.

Otherwise I would first suspect unshipped cables - the one on the back of the control panel has been known to work loose on some models, and also the cables that plug into the power supply can be partially disconnected in some circumstances. If not that, could be a failure of the control panel itself - they generally seem to be pretty reliable, but everything electrical/electronic is going to fail eventually...

I have just phoned Sargent there is to much power getting into the battery. and the reason being its the solar panel regulator is not working.
I have just phone A/S and they cant get me booked in until 10 Nov.So now i have to find someone able to do it.

Uh? Is it really that sunny where you are? Can you disconnect the solar panel and/or regulator yourself?

I had the electric hook up on and the extra charge was to much.I have looked for the regulator but without success

rich g wrote:I had the electric hook up on and the extra charge was to much.

This suggests a fault in either the solar system or the power controller, but it's difficult to say which. The built-in charger and the solar regulator should be able to work together without conflict - if the solar panel is outputting a voltage that's high enough then it will just suppress the output from the power supply (or vice versa).

On some of the Sargent control units (the big box hidden away) the solar controller is built in - though those types are not common used with the EC51 control panel. What main power control box do you have?

with the EC51 control panel. What main power control box do you have


Its not built in with the model that i have its a 


Sargent EC 155 Power Supply Unit

Yes - the EC51 control panel and EC155 power supply seems to be the favoured combination. Other models such as the EC325, EC328 (what I have) and higher have a built-in solar controller but yours does not - so you should have a separate solar controller, and it should be possible to find it.

In case you don't have a copy, the EC51/EC155 combination is described here:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

We also have the EC155/EC51 combination and on our first trip out after purchasing our van in late 2014 I had to stop and investigate a flashing light in the level gauge.

There was no information in my handbook and had to download 'User Instructions Issue 1E' for the detail " the centre LED in the level gauge will flash to indicate the engine is running and the leisure battery is being charged from the alternator".

Following this thread I've now downloaded 'User Instructions Issue 2' to get the information as described.

I'm now struggling to understand how the control fitted to a 2009 van is of a later version to my 2011 vehicle.

I get more confused each day ... Jeff

The plot thickens,i have had some one in today to try and replace the charge controller /regulator but he cant find it,so he thinks he has detached the lead from the leisure battery to the solar panel,we have had no sun today so i don't know if it was the right lead.I need to know before next Thursday as we are booked to go away.
I will have  to get it fixed when i get back,looks like i will have to wait until A/S have a slot,when i phoned a few days ago the earliest they could fit me in was mid November.

Do you know who fitted the solar panel, or was it done before you got the van?

Just wondering if someone has installed a panel without using a regulator? That would certainly have a tendency to trip the over-voltage cutout on the Sargent power supply, as a solar panel can typically output 20V+ in bright sunlight...

I have no idea who fitted it and there are no markings on the panel,I have had the van 3 yrs and traveled to France and Italy when it has beed really hot