Engine battery low warning buzzer

Hi. I have a 2018 Kingham. I have just returned from 4 weeks in France where most of the time we were on sites with EHU. However for a couple of nights we were wild camping. I left the water pressure switch set to be on EHU not 12v as it was only for a couple of nights. Set like this I would have to turn the pump on at the control panel to get water so as to prevent the pump running on after the tap was shut off. Sometimes and especially towards the end of the evening when off grid if I turned the water pump on to get water from a tap the warning buzzer would sound from the control panel saying that the engine battery level was low even though this battery was showing a healthy 12.5v on the panel. This happened whether the solar panel was set to charge the leisure or the vehicle battery. Does anyone have experience of this and know if this was just the result of the pump being left set to EHU or something more sinister?
Thanks

Hi Dave,
unfortunately I don’t have an answer to your question but I’m interested in this option you have to leave the water pressure switch on EHU?
We have different vans but of the same year so guessing things are pretty much the same. I’m still learning hence the question as I’d not come across this EHU/12v setting.
David

Isn't there a setting on the panel for switching from Peugeot to Fiat which sets a lower voltage for warning buzzer?

12.5v is getting towards 50% discharged, so, any additional power draw (such as turning on the water pump) runs the risk of discharging the battery below what's considered to be the minimum level, hence the alarm.

I'm not familiar with the 12v/EHU setting that you referred to, but, if you're not hooked up, the power to run the pump can only be coming from your battery, irrespective of what that setting says. 

Tommy.

Also, the smart charger will swap the solar panel input between the leisure and vehicle batteries as required. 

It's always a good idea to check at the panel which battery you're drawing power from, if you don't already do so.

I'm guessing but the settings for ehu or 12v is possibly something the poster has marked on the pressure switch as this can often need adjusting when changing from ehu to 12 v but you should be able to find s compromise between the two so that the pump only blips every few hours for a second or two if at all.

Paulmold wrote:I'm guessing but the settings for ehu or 12v is possibly something the poster has marked on the pressure switch as this can often need adjusting when changing from ehu to 12 v but you should be able to find s compromise between the two so that the pump only blips every few hours for a second or two if at all.

On my previous van the pump would run on when off EHU which necessitated adjusting the pressure switch, I fitted a fiamma accumulator which all but stopped it.
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On the Broadway I think I may have cracked it using the pressure switch, don't spend much time off grid but will be next weekend so will see how it goes and if a problem will fit another one although I have 120w solar so hopefully the voltage will not drop too low.

Interested in that accumulator Barry but the link doesn’t work for me.

Doesn't work for me either Dbvwt, strange, try this.
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Should be at the top of the list

Cheers, that works.
We spend our time 50/50 on and off grid, a quick explanation as to how this bit of kit worked for you and may work for us would be appreciated.

I think that the thing that confused me was why was the pump drawing power from the vehicle battery rather than the leisure battery as the leisure battery was also showing about 12.5v. The 12v/EHU thing I was trying to explain is, as Paulmold more clearly put it, is the different setting for the pressure switch when on 12v or EHU.

DaveinKendal wrote:I think that the thing that confused me was why was the pump drawing power from the vehicle battery rather than the leisure battery as the leisure battery was also showing about 12.5v. The 12v/EHU thing I was trying to explain is, as Paulmold more clearly put it, is the different setting for the pressure switch when on 12v or EHU.

Having only owned my Symbol for about the same time you have owned your van Dave...they test the old grey cells do they not!!

They certainly do!

Had the same problem. Check the connections on the back of the EM40 interface unit. The vehicle battery in plug was all burnt.

Thanks bobash. The van is going back into Marquis for some warranty work to replace the sagging vinyl surround around the fixed bed base so will get them to check the vehicle battery inplug then

Very easy to check. Remove the 4 screws securing the EM40 and lift the unit out. There is plenty of length in  cables to do this. The EM40 is the unit housing the 20 amp vehicle battery fuse and the 20 amp fridge fuse.

I regularly get low battery warnings, both leisure and vehicle. When the leisure one appears we just turn it off then on again and it's gone, for the vehicle battery warning, start the engine and that disappears. I don't know why or how, l only know they do.

Thanks bobash. I’ll give it a go

If it has an EC480 control panel you can try the following:

GP1069 wrote:Try changing it to FIAT thats what I had to do with mine, from Sargent info below.

MH Vehicle Type
This setting is used to change the system from the standard Fiat configuration to one tailored to meet the requirements of Peugeot. 
When set at Fiat the vehicle battery voltage cut-off is set at 10.9V, a usable yet safe level approved by Fiat.


When set at Peugeot the vehicle battery voltage cut-off is set at 12.4V, a level stipulated by Peugeot to meet type approval. This basically makes the vehicle battery unusable because as current is drawn the voltage drops and the cut-off is triggered. We recommend that all system are operated on the Fiat setting.

I have just looked behind the EM40 unit and the vehicle battery input plug and fuse looks fine so doesn’t look likely to be the cause in this case bobash.
Peter, the van does have a EC480 control panel. The Peugot handbook says that the vehicle battery level cut off is set at 10.9v, the Fiat level that you mentioned, though the vehicle battery level reading was showing 12.5v when the warning buzzer went off which would suggest that it is more likely to be set at 12.4v. Can you tell me where on the EC480 panel you can see which it is set to?

I think on the Sargent panels, you press and hold both up and down arrows to enter the "hidden" menu, then scroll through till you find the relevant setting.

Following Peter L’s advice I pressed and held both up and down arrows and entered the hidden menu, down arrowed to vehicle type and changed the vehicle type from Peugot to Fiat so will see what happens when we go wild camping next and see if that solves the problem. However it took me a while to get back into the normal menu but In the end I did this by turning the water pump on which gave a low water warning message and when I pressed the down arrow I went back to the normal menu. Complicated eh? Thanks to everyone for all the help given on this problem and hopefully it will be resolved. I’ll make another posting in the future to let you all know. Thanks again.
Dave

Daveinkendal, I had exactly the same problem and altered it to fiat and I haven't had a problem since. Plus remember both batterys are on load from the Sargent system and the permanently on vehicle electronics so the voltage you see is not the resting voltage and will therefore be lower than older vehicles. Personally I would prefer a few clunky old style switches but that's progress I guess.

Yeah, guess so. Thanks for the info