S
Staxtoncali
- Messages
- 14
- Vehicle
- T5 SE 174
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?
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?