Re: mysterious beeping 2013 Nuevo EK - part II

by PLOUGHLIN Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:00 pm

Molly3 wrote:You could go to Sargent website and email them your problems .I have contacted them twice and have received their advice ,they do take a few days to reply .

Sargent have closed for the Cov19, Tech help by email still operating but reduced times.

by inspiredron Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:16 pm

Allan wrote:Ok - again thanks for suggestions/thoughts - I'll remove the smoke/carbon mono. alarms' batteries.

Smoke alarm may have a ten year battery sealed inside but removing it from it's backing plate will switch it off or reveal the battery.
The CO alarm will have a sealed ten year battery. When new they have a "hairpin" type tag which is removed from the bottom to make them function. If you still have that tag you can replace it to switch the alarm off again. If you have lost it then bend a very fine paper clip or some stiff but fine wire into a U and insert the two ends into the holes that you can see at the bottom of the alarm. You will feel a slight resistance as it is inserted.

by gassygassy Thu Apr 02, 2020 10:02 am

Actually I am pretty sure I remember this beep, 90 seconds apart, when lying in bed in my Nuevo. It came from the control panel and was indicating a low water tank level. The cure was to switch off the control panel, then get the water tank filled. However, as there is this little beeper in the control panel, I guess there would be a number of different reasons for it.

by Dbvwt Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:25 pm

gassygassy wrote:Actually I am pretty sure I remember this beep, 90 seconds apart, when lying in bed in my Nuevo. It came from the control panel and was indicating a low water tank level. The cure was to switch off the control panel, then get the water tank filled. However, as there is this little beeper in the control panel, I guess there would be a number of different reasons for it.

There may well be different reasons gassy but at least that test would actually eliminate (or point to) the panel and things can progress.
Sorry if I’ve missed something in a previous post but we don’t actually seem to have eliminated anything yet? As a maintenance engineer the process of elimination was fundamental in finding difficult to locate faults/problems.

by gassygassy Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:16 pm

Silly me, I have just realised something so fundamentally daft I, and all of us should have said it in post 2 as soon as the question was asked: where is it coming from? I don't think anyone has said this yet: Press any button on the control panel and you get a beep. Is this the same beep as the 90 second one? if it is, then the beep is coming from the control panel. Simple.
That doesn't tell you what is causing it though but it eliminates things like smoke alarm & fridge.

by Dbvwt Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:37 pm

Here’s how I would progress.....

1- Turn the control panel/main unit off
2- Turn the fridge off
3- unclip the smoke detector and put it in a bedroom
4- unclip the carbon monoxide detector and put it in a separate bedroom

Report back if there is still bleeping and if so where the bleep is bleeping! If there is no bleeping then we can start switching things back on one at a time.

by Guest Thu Apr 02, 2020 6:00 pm

Id add to that....disconnect the leisure battery, to elimiate any 12v system connected item first...
if beep remains then must be some local battery driven system (not either of two alarms disconnected as above).
if beep disappears then it MUST be either or the alarms OR a habitation 12v item.
retest with alarm batteries reinstalled to eliminate these and then move to 12v circuits as described above.
good luck.

by marconi Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:45 pm

gassygassy wrote:
It is like a lorry slowly labouring up a hill, and it comes on and switches off. It is at a very low frequency, quite the opposite of tinnitus and the cadence varies totally randomly. Wierd.

Totally off topic BUT.
You are not taking Ramipril for Blood Pressure are you, I had that symptom and of course the Doctors think you are mad, I described it as a Pile Driver outside. Not until another user described these noises as a Lorry ticking over in his bedroom did the GP listen, changed the dreaded Ramipril, and it all cleared away.

by Allan Thu Apr 02, 2020 8:52 pm

Do you know ...I'd forgotten the date...yes, it worked ! ...well done - you got me!! ... good stuff.... nice to know we can have a joke in these days of doom & gloom! - Took me a while though ...I was thinking why is he being so definite about copper pipe sizes? so, thanks knick knack.
But, back to the more tedious serious stuff and this b****y beeping noise which is driving me daft, 'cos I can't work out what's going on. I've contacted Sargent via their website (thanks molly3) and described the problem to them. I'll wait a few days. Again thanks everyone for suggestions so far!
Allan

by gassygassy Thu Apr 02, 2020 8:54 pm

Thanks Marconi. No, I am not taking Ramipril though it seems to be dished out like smarties to all and sundry. I (allegedly) have Perniciuos Anaemia whatever that is and I have to have Vitamin B12 injections every three months which is a pain (oops I didn't mean that. Yes I did!) when I am trying to be somewhere else on holiday. I expect the next dose will be cancelled. It is an acid, injected into the muscle tissue so it can be quite painful, to the extent that when I have some other injection I don't notice they have done it.
What did the doc change it to? Perppermint flavoured Ramapril?

by gassygassy Thu Apr 02, 2020 8:56 pm

Looking at your avatar marconi, I must dig out the photo I have of my chateau in Normandy. I am apparently descended from the Duke of Normandy. There is a chateau there open to the public but each time we go there to claim the East Wing, the notice on the gate says 'Chateau Ferme'

by Allan Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:03 pm

Ok - OK.... OK...I finally managed to locate the source of the intermittent beep (hooray!) It's coming from a junction box screwed underneath the van. The grey Gewiss junction box covers a relay (?) (a small black unit "labelled www.titantowbars.co.uk" with several differently coloured wires going in and coming out of it.) The previous owner had a towbar retrofitted and this is the unit (I think) which sends the lights signals to the towbar lighting socket. Why it should be beeping I don't know though! Anyway I'll google titantowbars and see what I can find out. Any one any idea why a relay should be beeping every 90 seconds?
Allan

by PLOUGHLIN Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:17 pm

Does it look like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-7-Way-Bypass-Relay-Towing-Electrics-Towbar-Wiring-/270633362973

Buzzer is 90 sec reminder that trailer fogs only activated. Sounds like it is faulty, rip it out.

by Dbvwt Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:24 pm

Well done for finally locating the beep. Does it look like this universally used box?
I’ve fitted a couple of these, putting the vehicle into reverse and/or the indicators generates a beep, I can’t remember which but it’s legally required I believe.
Maybe yours is faulty? If not used why not disconnect and insulate the 12v going into the box.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Bypass-Towing-Electrics-UTRELAYACCSPZMUK1/dp/B01MFDI2CM

Edit.....beat me to it Ploughlin smile!

by glyne lock Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:36 pm

You should have a + feed going into the box by removing this will sort your problem tape over wire and then remove feed fuse

by Allan Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:47 pm

Thanks again Ploughlin, Dbvwt and Glyne - (and everyone else who has helped with suggestions (- except the April Fool one!)... Isn't it a lovely feeling when you finally locate the source of a warning beep ? I didn't think to go under the van! - It's a bit like finding the lost car keys!
Anyway...I do want to use the towbar for my towbar-bike rack. So, my current thinking is:-

- The relay is intermittently reproducing the audible beep that confirms that the towbar electrics are functioning
- So the fault might be in the relay.

I've plugged in the towbar-bike rack and both turn-signals work and the audible confirmation beep is working, but when the towbar electrics are unplugged - the 90 second-interval beep continues......(* Inappropriate Word *!)
I'm happy to replace the relay - if I can get a replacement in these difficult times (it looks a fairly straightforward job), but..I'm wondering whether there's something else. I don't suppose I'll know until I change the relay.

Anyway a big thank you to all who have helped so far...I'm still open to suggestions!!
Cheers
Allan

by Roopert Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:53 pm

As Glyn suggested, I would disconnect the power input to the module and see if it stops. Assuming that you haven't got the lights turned on (surely you would have noticed that!) then it seems likely that the module is faulty.

It is fairly common for bypass relays to suffer from water ingress and then malfunction, though it seems odd in this case, as I doubt there have been many reasons for it to get wet recently?

by glyne lock Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:54 pm

To test the box you need to remove the indicator wires going in to the box and see if this stops your fault next

by PLOUGHLIN Fri Apr 03, 2020 6:16 pm

The bypass I linked to has a 90 sec beep related to having switched the rear fog light to the trailer fog, seem suspiciously like the OP's problem.

by Roopert Fri Apr 03, 2020 6:20 pm

PLOUGHLIN wrote:The bypass I linked to has a 90 sec beep related to having switched the rear fog light to the trailer fog, seem suspiciously like the OP's problem.

Indeed - but if so it should only do it with sidelights on, which means that it's faulty! As you said already.

by gassygassy Fri Apr 03, 2020 6:41 pm

Just cut the beeping beeper. You don't need fog or reversing lights on a bike rack anyway! I have a trailer with a 13 pin plug that has gone broke. I will just replace it and the car socket with a 7 pin one which can carry all the signals the trailer wants. I would think you could do that with yours.
Anyway congratulations on finding it, you weren't on the way to the funny farm after all!
And as has been said you could replace the trailer board lights with LED ones and just direct wire the socket to the vehicle, and the vehicle computer bits wouldn't mind.

by Allan Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:55 pm

Well - I've finally stopped the "beeping" beeping....But not without help from this forum...thanks to all for your thoughts/suggestions/medical histories/ April Fool tricks, and perseverance. In the end, I followed the advice above and cut the power supply to the relay. So at least I can now sit in the garden without having to listen to a beep every 90 seconds. I'll tackle the repair nearer the end of the lock-down (when I can get a new relay) ....but for the moment I can relax! I've found out a lot about my van over the past few day, too...including finding out why my external T.V. aerial socket doesn't work >>>there's a sliced-through aerial cable next to the electric step!
Cheers everyone!

by gassygassy Sat Apr 04, 2020 10:04 pm

We're all learning a lot about our vans aen't we? allthumbz

Chap down the road was washing his caravan as I walked past today. I exchanged greetings from a distance and said you aren't planning on going away yet are you? He said he was just minimising the workload for when we are all released. We agreed that there will be a massive rush when that happens. I imagine when the camp sites can open again they will double their prices and still be full.
What I meant to say about the 13 pin socket in my last post was that the reason they introduced 13 pins was for things like electric brakes and leisure batteries which caravans might have but trailer boards, trailers and so on do not, so you don't need a 13 pin socket, only a 7 pin. Then at the MOT, if you have a 13 pin socket they have to test all of them to see if they are working, if not, it's an MOT failure. Whereas they don't have to test a 7 pin socket. So if you just have a bike rack, or a bike trailer you don't need a 13 pin socket.

by Gromit Sat Apr 04, 2020 10:28 pm

gassygassy wrote:We agreed that there will be a massive rush when that happens. I imagine when the camp sites can open again they will double their prices and still be full.

Yes - I think we can effectively write off the entire season until after Christmas at least.

The virus isn't going to suddenly disappear, so I expect we wrinklies and other vulnerable groups will still be advised to avoid too much social contact for some time to come - probably until a vaccination becomes available, or the promised tests to see if we have already had it and are (hopefully) immune.

Not an encouraging prospect, especially when so much is uncertain, but fingers crossed eh? No point in fretting about something over which we have absolutely no control. rolleyes