Electrical Gremlin

I kept getting alerted by vehicle tracker that vehicle battery low…It was not… eventually came to a head when I was locked out trying to get into van on x channel ferry. Opened with emergency key and vehicle started straight off…. Panel showed zero volts on vehicle battery!
Spoke to Robin at AS and he said change vehicle battery 20 amp fuse on control panel by fuse boxes . Sure it had blown . He said replace with 30 amp…. Result all fine for a couple of weeks.
Now it’s displaying all the vehicle battery failure symptoms and showing zero volts again ( although fully charged) but this time the fuse that fixed it last time hasn’t blown.
I dare to suggest that something has overloaded and burnt out in the circuit as the 30 amp fuse didn’t blow to protect it.
I’m being driven mad by this.
Help!!…. Anyone

Ps this is a brand new Fairford…..

Pps.
I’ve already filed out £300 in France as mechanic said must be battery failure!!!!!

Unfortunately the electrical installation in AS models built in the past couple of years is largely an unknown quantity that varies from van to van. Factors that vary include type and size of leisure battery, split charging or B2B charging, smart alternators, vehicle start/stop systems, etc.

Fuse are there to prevent wires and other components overheating/failing under fault conditions and are sized appropriately. Its been a common practice in the last couple of years to uprate the 20A battery fuse for a Lithium leisure battery to 25A but (unless the size of wiring has been increased as part of a B2B installation) I believe increasing to 30A is a step too far from a safety point of you.

I think back to your dealer is the only safe option for you,

Thank you Peter! I’ll be honest….. Im a bit shocked by that. I’ve never spent so much on anything in my life ..apart from my house…and now it all sounds a bit Mickey Mouse! Wondering if I’ve made a mistake going with AS…..
I’ll be talking to their people at Worcester tomorrow with a view to returning the van to the factory to sort out. They need to rebuild my confidence in the brand rapidly…..

From my personal experience, AS are as good as you'll get for design, quality and aftersales but they are not perfect. Be patient and polite and you will be sorted but never forget that your contract is with the selling dealer so don't try and bypass him.

Unfortunately the matter is complicated because although brand new …..I am not the first owner and bought from a non AS dealer. The original owner died before he could use it I believe. I obviously have the supplier warranty but they are clueless as to the idiosyncrasies of the model’s electrical quirks  .. …. So I have to rely on the manufacturer warranty.
I hope to be able to report positively on a helpful response from the company and will afford them every opportunity through courteous discourse to enable them to do so!
I look forward to reporting on this thread how this has been resolved and that my confidence in the brand has been restored.

I understand. In the circumstances, if not too late, I would suggest you have a conversation with Karen who manages the AS Service Centre at Willersey where the vans are made. Explain what you have just posted here and ask her to suggest how you should best progress to solutions to your problems - ie getting a sanctioned direct relationship with the service centre.

You’ve been extremely helpful Peter. Very grateful for your advice.This issue as caused the cancellation of what was to have been a fantastic trip to Spain.. so “unhappy” doesn’t begin to cover how we feel..I will take your advice and report back. Thanks again.

Have you looked at the back of the EM40 fuse board to see if you have any burnt melted connections, normally located behind the drivers seat

Thanks Chris.. my EM40 board is underneath the bench seat in front of wc. Nothing readily apparent and, more significantly it passed the “sniff test” . In my experience a residual burnt smell often lingers and characterises a component that has burnt out….
Given the mostly sporadic nature of the fault and the fact that often a reboot seemed to fix it for a while ( before vehicle battery fuse finally blew leaving us stranded on a ferry) I am inclined to think that there is a dodgy hardware issue somwhere…

BungalowBill wrote:Thanks Chris.. my EM40 board is underneath the bench seat in front of wc. Nothing readily apparent and, more significantly it passed the “sniff test” . In my experience a residual burnt smell often lingers and characterises a component that has burnt out….
Given the mostly sporadic nature of the fault and the fact that often a reboot seemed to fix it for a while ( before vehicle battery fuse finally blew leaving us stranded on a ferry) I am inclined to think that there is a dodgy hardware issue somwhere…

I would be inclined to unscrew it and have a look behind, they have been many instances of the connection been loose and not pushed home full causing problems

I had a similar problem with fuses in my 21 reg Nuevo on one occasion it entailed a drive from Llanddudno to Willersea to have a 10p fuse changed the 20amp blown and was swapped with a 30 amp.

Quite a drive and expensive fuel wise and not the first time, all seems okay now but, you would think that this would have been sorted for all new van owners by now, surely?

Pete

Thanks Pete….. mmmmm interesting.
What is different in my case is that they gave me the fix over the phone…. And all seemed good for a week or two… then it’s all kicked off again!!!

Both sergeant and AS tried to be honest to fix over the phone but that can always be difficult.

Auto Sleeper thought that it may have been the battery and as we had a few difficult battery problems (wish i had a battery tester then if only to check it was fully charged ) (it was) hence the drive to willersea and within 10 minuets the blown fuse was found and replaced wit some I had bought the previous day.

I feel your disappointment as this was our first opportunity to have a week away in the van but returned because of a fuse.

Thanks Pete 
Out of interest… did your problem affect your ability to use remote lock.?
AS have rather latched onto this ( only affected remote twice) to suggest it may be a “base vehicle issue”
I don’t think so……the vehicle battery has at all times been fully charged even when indicator was saying zero or almost zero vehicle battery bolts on the habitation indicator.
Wondering if the installation of tracker could have upset something….I did not realise it was constantly feeding back info to Phantom on parameters apart from location.
Also very surprised to hear AS have an active data/position link to van too!!
Am taking van to Willesley on Wednesday…. Let’s see…..

Hi Bill,
No, remote locking was never a problem and it could well be a base vehicle problem, I often give the contacts on the door and in the door frame a rub (maybe for luck) lol but mainly to keep them clean and stop any dirt building up.

Mostly fuses on my van but I think that two years on and people are still having to change fuses to 30 amp, surely this should be done on production by now.

Pete

Well I took van to Autosleeper. Very friendly and helpful reception from Karen and staff.
Despite hours spent….. no fault found!!!!!
What did transpire was that Alan Kerr from whom I bought vehicle had fitted a Phantom tracker… having told me the vehicle didn’t have one. Considering they are a big multi- type dealer/agent then I am surprised they didn’t know AS have been fitting trackers on all new vans for years.
They speculated that the tracker was in some way upsetting the electrics and recommended its immediate removal… which I have done. (£1000 down the drain thank you Alan Kerr)
Am about to set off to south of Spain…. So… here’s hoping…

You’re not the first to have relayed such a tale of that dealership, BB. We visited their showroom once and found the salesman totally lacking in knowledge of MHs in general. 

Hope all is well now.

Arggh I have been scrolling down this post then had sudden panic. I have AS windrush 2013 bought from Alan Kerr has electrical fault where the battery does not hold charge. Currently been with AK for over a week and they have found that it doesn’t hold charge. Finally had a call back today to state that the fault is with the Sargent box. They need to send the box to Sargent for testing. Will see what sargeant say. But interesting about phantom tracker. This has me worried…

Jg ….I feel your pain! Based on my own dealings with that company I would strongly advise a second opinion. My problem was only resolved when I took my van back to AS and they pointed out the Phantom tracker quite unnecessarily fitted by AK was causing my electrical issues. I had been to and from AK but they were quite clueless and offered no solution. 
No substitute for taking your van to an AS dealer/agent  IMHO . AK of course are not approved AS agents and clearly not familiar with AS electrical architecture.

PS ….to close out my original thread.
Once I removed the phantom tracker ( no reply from
Alan Kerr to my request for refund) all the issues went away ………….

This is good news for you in terms of the issue (not the time and money lost though) but glad that the phantom tracker removal resolved your issue. We are taking the van back off them tomorrow so that we can go away locally and whilst on HU there is no issue for us. Will Definately heed your advice and seek a second opinion. Will also raise the issue with Alan Kerr. If they are doing this to their numerous vans, from multiple manufacturers heaven knows what damage they are causing. Glad you challenged them about it though perhaps they will be a little less cavalier moving forward.

Well good luck!
All I can say is that I wish I had read the Trust Pilot reviews on AK before dealing with them……………last time I looked 44% of reporting customers only gave them one star………alongside some pretty spicy comments ( with which I entirely concur)
Moral of the story is …..go to an AS agent!

This web site is well worth checking before using any dealership, AK scored 37%.

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