Cali Stops Charging leisure battery from the mains.

[Staxtoncali]

Had similar problem last year on one occasion our summer trip to France. Needed to plug in to mains to charge battery due to them getting low after a week of drive-stop. Very frustrating. Plugged in to mains and everything appeared as normal. Mains cut out after a while and couldn't get it to charge, thought it might be a dodgy voltage on the campsite. Left it plugged in overnight and all seemed ok in the morning, so forgot about it.

Same problem again this year. Battery level down to 30%, so camped with mains hook-up. Everything seemd ok for a while, but again, the hook-up light drops back to the battery light. Tried unplugging, replugging etc. Nothing worked, on re-connect, hook-up light flashes on and then off again almost immediately.

It was a very hot day (35c) and I noticed the fridge was running almost continuously. Wondered if maybe the 12v charging/inverter system had a max current limit from the mains (which I suppose it must have because there is no guarantee that an electric hook up can supply more than, say, 3amps and the charging system must be limited to a level so as not to trip any breakers on the campsite whilst also taking into account some use of the mains supply would be used by mains appliances within the van.)

So, following this logic, switched the fridge off, re-plugged the mains and, hey ho, the hook-up light stays on. May just be a coincidence that this worked. Anyway, was very annoying to have to leave the fridge off for a couple of hours on a hot day.

Is it possible then, that the system is set by default to drop off the charging of the battery when the current limit is exceeded rather than drop off any 12volt appliances or lighting etc?

 

[Mark_Dyche]

Its unlikely the charger would draw much current on its own. The most I have seen it putting in to the battery is 13A, at about 13V: so the total power output is about 170 Watts. Assuming about 70% effeciency this would give about 250 Watts drawn from the mains, about 1 amp. The 13A into the battery soon drops so the average power drawn from the mains will be less.

 

[igmac]

Hi Guys, although not new to the forum I am now happy to say i'm the proud owner of a brand spanking new (well ex-demonstrator with 600 miles) 140 in reflex siver . Anyway, back to the thread, I tried charging from mains for the first time tonight and was disapointed not to see the nice little plug in the display. After much checking of the supply with my meter it was clearly a fault with the cali (yet to be named). so, after a fruitless check of the manual i decided to have a poke around, fuses ok, 240 socket ok, next stop lets check the connections to the charger. first time around all looked ok but then when i had a closer look i could see that the mains plug to the charger was not even plugged into the charger, I could see the pins on the socket of the charger but no plug , clearly there was a plug in there somewhere! sure enough said plug was there just difficult to see. Plugged it in and away we go now working perfectly. Although very disapointed that a fault like this existed in the first place and hope it's a one-off, I'm glad I dont have to take it back to the dealers for several days. I'm not sure though if the plug not being in correctly may be causing one or two of the faults descibed above. might be worth a check!

Ian

 

[Iain&Shani]

Thanks for this last (first!) post Ian. I've had a look via the circular "door" in the bottom of the fridge-side cupboard. All looks ok in mine but my experience matches your; particularly no "hook up" symbol. Is there a particular plug I should be looking at?

 

[igmac]

Ok, when you look into the round access hole you see a wiring harness with a white block connector, this is the DC output of the charger which is fixed directly to the bottom of the fridge. If you look at the charger you can see where these wires come out, outboard of these wires (on the same side) there is the AC input to the charger looks like a standard IEC (PC power cable) plug and socket. It’s a bit difficult to see at first but persevere. I would even say un-plug it and plug it back in making sure it’s fully home.

Ian

 

[Iain&Shani]

Had a good look around but couldn't see/feel anything untoward.
Control panel isn't showing that the Cali is currently plugged into the mains despite having power to the 240v socket. use box bears ne resemblance to the handbook!

Now awaiting call back from dealer.....been over an hour now! grrr

 

[jts46]

Don't know whether this helps but on sites this year in France, have plugged in and still had battery symbol in overhead display. Then fitted my home made reverse mains lead and everything was ok

 

[Iain&Shani]

Thanks John.....the Cali was plugged in outside the house and no symbol. The sites in France were OK.

Two dealers contacted at lunchtime today and neither got back! Second call to one and I'm expecting a date to take it in tomorrow!

 

[Freeley]

I seem to have got to the bottom of our charging problem - when charging at home I use the euro - blue camping plug lead that was supplied with the cali via an adapter to fit the uk 3 pin mains plug.
By replacing all this with a uk 3 pin - blue plug adapter the problem has disappeared and it now charges continuously.
Don't know if this will be of help to anyone else?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SimplyDubs]

I seem to have got to the bottom of our charging problem - when charging at home I use the euro - blue camping plug lead that was supplied with the cali via an adapter to fit the uk 3 pin mains plug.
By replacing all this with a uk 3 pin - blue plug adapter the problem has disappeared and it now charges continuously.
Don't know if this will be of help to anyone else?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

Interesting... so likely an earthing problem or a crossover Live/Neutral issue. Can't be much else if it was fixed by changing the cable.

Definitely one to look out for.

Glad you are sorted.

Thanks
Mark

 

[Iain&Shani]

Just had a call from Listers Worcester. Problem sorted!

It appears that there was a "loose connection" under the fridge related to charging. I'll find out more when I pick it up tomorrow.

Edit - there was no more to find out! Everything was working but a connection under the fridge had "come adrift". They did give it a mini valet also.

 

[777111]

Hi Guys, although not new to the forum I am now happy to say i'm the proud owner of a brand spanking new (well ex-demonstrator with 600 miles) 140 in reflex siver . Anyway, back to the thread, I tried charging from mains for the first time tonight and was disapointed not to see the nice little plug in the display. After much checking of the supply with my meter it was clearly a fault with the cali (yet to be named). so, after a fruitless check of the manual i decided to have a poke around, fuses ok, 240 socket ok, next stop lets check the connections to the charger. first time around all looked ok but then when i had a closer look i could see that the mains plug to the charger was not even plugged into the charger, I could see the pins on the socket of the charger but no plug , clearly there was a plug in there somewhere! sure enough said plug was there just difficult to see. Plugged it in and away we go now working perfectly. Although very disapointed that a fault like this existed in the first place and hope it's a one-off, I'm glad I dont have to take it back to the dealers for several days. I'm not sure though if the plug not being in correctly may be causing one or two of the faults descibed above. might be worth a check!


Thanks to this man! I had exact same thing - the plug to the charger unit was only half way engaged with the socket so no charging. Symptom was no plug symbol on the control unit display but 240v socket was live (so mains connection was ok) . Worked the first time I topped up the batteries and not the second so plug had just eased out a little more to not power the charger.
Thanks for the post -saved me some stress & pain!

Cheers,

Simon
Ian