Leisure battery not charging

Hi all,

We've got a problem with our van that I'm hoping is going to be fairly easy to rectify, but just wanted to check if anyone had any advice. After a weekend away this week, we've noticed that the leisure battery isn't charging on mains hookup. Details are:

- Van is a 2000 Symbol (Peugeot Boxer base)
- Battery charges fine on alternator (14V measured across the terminals)
- Charging light doesn't illuminate on the control panel, and battery reads low volts when on mains hookup
- The under-sink charger switch is turned to "on" and the light is illuminated on the socket
- 12V systems generally work
- Fridge works fine on mains and gas, but doesn't work on 12V
- On inspection, there are two fuses under the driver seat near the leisure battery. A green 30A one that looks fine, and a red 10A one that appears to have melted. Picture below.

Fuses, red one melted:

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Underside of fuse block and relays:

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I'm guessing that the red melted fuse could explain some of the problems we've been having. The wiring diagram in the manual suggests this should be a 15A fuse... does anyone know if this is the case?

And would this explain the lack of charging as well?

Any help greatly appreciated :)

Dave

Hi

davetansley wrote:
- On inspection, there are two fuses under the driver seat near the leisure battery. A green 30A one that looks fine, and a red 10A one that appears to have melted.

My guess would be that the red fuse is the fridge fuse and the green fuse is the habitation fuse. You can confirm that by removing the green fuse and checking that there is no 12V in the habitation area (off hookup).

If that’s the case the fridge fuse is normally 15A. So why did it melt? The fuse holders are known for developing high resistance and fitting a smaller fuse could add to the overheating (though probably not the sole cause). You could try cleaning and re-tentioning the holder but It’s probably easier to fit an inline fuse instead.

davetansley wrote:And would this explain the lack of charging as well?

Probably not! If the battery is low on hook up and the 12V system works it's likely that the power supply isn’t working for some reason.

An easy way to check is to remove the negative lead from the leisure battery (or the fuse), then connect the EHU and see if the 12V system still works. If it does the power supply is working, if it doesn’t it isn’t. I’d check that before going any further.

Brod

Great, that all makes sense, thanks for the reply!

Do you happen to know where the charger is located on this model? It's a Zig X7. Do they still even make that unit any more?

Hi

davetansley wrote:Do you happen to know where the charger is located on this model? It's a Zig X7. Do they still even make that unit any more?

I’m not sure where it is on a symbol. Probably not far from the mains inlet / consumer unit. Mine is behind the panel in the cupboard under the cooker. Look for a small cut out in a panel with a switch behind it (it may simply be that the Zig is switched off).

The X7 is obsolete but there is an updated version the X70 available. There are several other units also available so it’s worth checking back on the forum if you need a replacement.

Brod

Made some progress on this. We've located the Zig X7 unit (in a secret panel under the oven, alongside the water pump).

The charger was indeed set to the off position. But when we connected to the mains and turned the unit on, there was an almighty spark from the unit and the circuit breaker clicked off. Guess that explains why it was turned off! :(

So unless I can see anything obviously wrong with it, it'll be an X70 replacement.

Hi

That’s what I’d do as well, but some people (OK probably most) would advise replacing it with a smart charger. The pros and cons have been gone over before so no point in repeating them here.

Have a look at this old thread and make your own mind up:

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There are smart chargers with a “power supply” mode that would seem to give the best of both worlds but to my mind Zigs have been tried and tested for years so that’s the way I’d go. Someone with a different opinion will probably be along shortly.

Brod

Hi  I have a 2001 Peugeot Harmony need to locate the battery charger,think it may be behind panel in cupboard      thanks    [ Snowded ]