Nuevo II fridge

Having just returned from a week in Cornwall (dry, sunny, warm, honestly) I noticed that the fridge in my Auto Sleeper Nuevo II was still powered on 12 volt even though the vehicle engine was not running. I was under the impression that this feed was switched by a relay which operated when the vehicle alternator was charging and therefore no 12v power when the engine was stopped. Has any one any ideas on this or know where the relay is situated( if there is one)?

Many thanks

Mike

The fridge will take 12v from the leisure battery to run the electronics but not the element which causes the cooling. Is it just the electronics operating or are you also getting cooling?

Not too sure about the cooling. Problem noticed when I opened fridge to empty it and the internal light came on.
I suspect it is cooling as well because after a 3 week tour of Ireland last year the vehicle battery was completely flat within 24 hours of returning home. Peugeot dealer tested battery and alternator and could not find any problems. They suggested it was habitation electrics which had discharged the battery although no discharge was showing on the Sargent control panel.

Mike

I would be checking the current draw by the fridge or using a digital thermomenter to see if the element is hot. If the fridge is drawing power from the engine battery then the habitation relay is suspect. They have a habbit of hiding them all over the place. The two favourite positions are under the bonnet near to the vehicle fuses or behind the fire.

ubuntu1 wrote:They have a habbit of hiding them all over the place. The two favourite positions are under the bonnet near to the vehicle fuses or behind the fire.

IIRC someone said (in another thread) that with the recent Sargent products the relay is built into the power control box. No doubt it will depend which Sargent model is fitted.

Good point mojo your right.

Many thanks for the help from you both, will check with Sargent tomorrow and also temp of fridge. I'll let you know the outcome.

Mike

Your Neuvo should include a Sargent EM50 Intelligent Interface Adaptor. It is a silver/grey box with a smoked plastic panel covering 9 fuses. The unit is the interface between the chassis and habitation 12v electrics.

The Fridge has two 12v supplies. One from the main Sargent PSU that supplies low current for indicators, lights, gas ign, etc. The second is from the vehicle battery via a relay in the EM50 and is rated at 20 amps to heat the cooling element in the fridge. The relay doesn't operate until the engine is running and a feed derived from the DSR terminal of the engine alternator.

In the unlikely event that the relay had failed as a short circuit and the fridge was left switched to 12v it would be the vehicle battery that would be flattened and as 20 amps would be being drawn that would take 3 to 4 hours.

I'm sure your fridge is not cooling from 12v with the engine off and that if your leisure battery is always discharging with the habitation 12v switched off then there is another cause.

Peter