Sargent 328 charging issues 2014 nuevo

I have just had 5 nights off grid using heater ,used about 35 percent of battery capacity. I noticed that the starter batterys dropped down a similar amount as though the hab side was draining the engine battery ,could it be pilot error or a fault any advice please ,

What are your findings based on? I would never believe any Sargent gauge indications. Use a multimeter direct on the batteries if that is not what you are doing already.

As far as I know, the EC328 doesn't have any display of battery capacity. The most you get is Good/Fair/Poor.

So what information leads you to say that you have lost/used 35% of the engine battery capacity?

[quote="Roopert"]As far as I know, the EC328 doesn't have any display of battery capacity. The most you get is Good/Fair/Poor.

So what information leads you to say that you have lost/used 35% of the engine battery capacity?[/quote


NO ,The displays shows volts etc from both batterys , lesure battery is also monitored by a shunt battery monitor ,

Ah, Ok - so you just mean that the engine battery voltage has dropped?

You probably have a EM50 or EM40 unit which controls Step, awning light etc. This is powered by the vehicle battery so will drain when used. Also unless the radio and cab interior lights are hard switched off will further drain the vehicle battery. Could be your noted drop in battery voltage.

Both batterys fully charged at time of park up 12.8 v keys removed cab shut down
After 5 days using hab lights truma heater etc both batteries dropped to 12 2 v
both batterys new this year , readings with heater shut down ,

Not at all surprised that batteries drop to 12.2V on your EC328 display after 5 nights off grid. I reckon mine would be similar but probably slightly lower on hab and slightly higher on vehicle.

inspiredron wrote:Not at all surprised that batteries drop to 12.2V on your EC328 display after 5 nights off grid. I reckon mine would be similar but probably slightly lower on hab and slightly higher on vehicle.

If the starter battery was slightly higher say 12.4 and leisure battery was 12.2 I would not have been concerned . I have a 110 amp lead carbon lesure battery , .at the time of being parked it was thick cloud virtually no solar harvest. . I will check starter battery voltage ay the battery with a M M and compare with the sargent display ,

So reading these posts, is there no way of isolating the engine battery from hab discharge whilst off grid? I thought this could be done?

If the wiring of the EC328 is still as it left the factory then leisure OR  vehicle battery is chosen on control panel. But even if on leisure, which is the default there may still be some things wired to vehicle battery - eg radio, alarm, tracker. You can see current draw on panel from chosen battery but you'd need to cover solar panel (which charges both simultaneously) and also calibrate the current reading. I don't know whether calibration needs to be separate for each battery, though, which would .make comparison pointless. But lookng at vehicle current compared with hab current may give you some clue if there is a drain.

Toffee wrote:So reading these posts, is there no way of isolating the engine battery from hab discharge whilst off grid? I thought this could be done?

I personally would not do that because of lack of knowledge

Hi as you are not sure about electricity, and using a meter ,I suggest next time when you stop disconnect engine battery AT terminals. 
Just use your service battery.
when you will see what you cannot use when the engine battery is disconnected.!
You need your engine battery to start your van, Thats important.

Micky

I’ve never used mine so apologies if I’m wrong but isn’t there a simple red isolate button/switch for the vehicle battery on the steering stalk? Maybe not on a 2014 Boxer?

I thought isolating the vehicle battery could be done on the sergeant control by selecting the leisure battery as the active battery. Is this not correct?

Toffee wrote:I thought isolating the vehicle battery could be done on the sergeant control by selecting the leisure battery as the active battery. Is this not correct?

It's partly correct, in that doing so will switch all of the habitation loads away from the engine battery, but it won't (can't) do anything about the non-habitation loads on the engine battery (i.e. items like radio, alarm, possibly tracker, and anything that has been connected directly to the engine battery itself).

The red ignition switch is different - it disconnects all loads directly from the engine battery itself (though IIRC it has a bypass that can be used for the alarm, for example?).

Roopert wrote:

It's partly correct, in that doing so will switch all of the habitation loads away from the engine battery, but it won't (can't) do anything about the non-habitation loads on the engine battery (i.e. items like radio, alarm, possibly tracker, and anything that has been connected directly to the engine battery itself).

The red ignition switch is to - it disconnects all loads directly from the engine battery itself (though IIRC it has a bypass that can be used for the alarm, for example?).

I personally would
not disconect an engine battery for several days on a vehicle with a canbus system as this may start fault code errors popping up ,

Molly3 wrote:


I personally would
not disconect an engine  battery  for several days on a vehicle  with a canbus system as  this may start  fault code errors  popping up  ,

When my  MB based van is in winter storage I disconnect the VB for weeks on end, with no resultant problems, not even loss of radio code. Peugeots may be different.

PLOUGHLIN wrote:

When my  MB based van is in winter storage I disconnect the VB for weeks on end, with no resultant problems, not even loss of radio code. Peugeots may be different.

that is great is it pre canbus I have read about fiat turning on air bag light after a flat battery .

I'm not sure why CANBUS has such an undeserved reputation as the bad boy of the motoring world! It's just a type of network that connects control modules together - that's all.

The cutoff switch on the Boxer is provided by the manufacturer as something for the owner to use, and IIRC it is specifically documented in the Owner's Manual as a measure to be used when the vehicle is in long-term storage.

I have had many vans,cars etc in long term secure storage.

Always had both batteries disconnected.

Never thought that could be a problem.

Micky

Molly3 wrote:
 that is great  is it pre canbus  I have read about  fiat  turning on air bag light  after a flat battery  .

2011 MB has Canbus.

Going for a off grid trip over new year so will keep a eye on battery voltage .