T6 Dead control panel - fridge control?

[Badabu]

So, recently bought a pre-loved 2018 Cali T6 Ocean 4Motion. After a couple days, the control unit display went dead, same symptoms as this thread https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/control-panel-dead-on-2017-ocean.38599/
After a day of not working, it came back alive, then dead again another day later. When it was on I checked the diagnostics and no errors were reported.
The buttons seem functional (on-off, control knob make the button lights switch on) but the display shows no information. Had it in the shop today and they said it was probably a faulty unit, needs replacement. I will probably write to the company in the Netherlands to check the options for restoration (or if anyone has any ideas what else to try).

However I have a trip comming up so I'm wondering if it's it possible to control the fridge without the control unit?

 

[WelshGas]

So, recently bought a pre-loved 2018 Cali T6 Ocean 4Motion. After a couple days, the control unit display went dead, same symptoms as this thread https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/control-panel-dead-on-2017-ocean.38599/
After a day of not working, it came back alive, then dead again another day later. When it was on I checked the diagnostics and no errors were reported.
The buttons seem functional (on-off, control knob make the button lights switch on) but the display shows no information. Had it in the shop today and they said it was probably a faulty unit, needs replacement. I will probably write to the company in the Netherlands to check the options for restoration (or if anyone has any ideas what else to try).

However I have a trip comming up so I'm wondering if it's it possible to control the fridge without the control unit?

View attachment 138984

View attachment 138985

If the fault is with the Display screen then the unit might be working behind the scene.
If you press the Fridge button, top R and then the button does the colour change on the top R button. If so the fridge is probably On at the last temperature setting. Any noise from the fridge to confirm not is working?

 

[Badabu]

If the fault is with the Display screen then the unit might be working behind the scene.
If you press the Fridge button, top R and then the button does the colour change on the top R button. If so the fridge is probably On at the last temperature setting. Any noise from the fridge to confirm not is working?

Nothing happens after pressing the button, so I guesd my assumption that only display is at fault is wrong…

 

[vbk1975]

So, recently bought a pre-loved 2018 Cali T6 Ocean 4Motion. After a couple days, the control unit display went dead, same symptoms as this thread https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/control-panel-dead-on-2017-ocean.38599/
After a day of not working, it came back alive, then dead again another day later. When it was on I checked the diagnostics and no errors were reported.
The buttons seem functional (on-off, control knob make the button lights switch on) but the display shows no information. Had it in the shop today and they said it was probably a faulty unit, needs replacement. I will probably write to the company in the Netherlands to check the options for restoration (or if anyone has any ideas what else to try).

However I have a trip comming up so I'm wondering if it's it possible to control the fridge without the control unit?

View attachment 138984

View attachment 138985

There is no way to control the fridge without the control panel as such.

In an emergency situation you can bypass the panel at the fridge and force the fridge on / off, but the temp control is done in the control panel so you would have to manually cycle it. (I can dig out the pins on the fridge panel if you want to do that) but you will freeze the contents if you don't cycle it.

I would contact Ed @ElectronicEquipmentRepair to see if he can fix the panel, he is excellent!

Electronic Equipment Repair - Electronic Equipment Repair - EERepair

Specialising in industrial and electronic equipment - inspection, diagnostic, quote, follow-up support

www.electronicequipmentrepair.com

 

[Badabu]

The plot thickens. Today I was cleaning the van and noticed the tap water pump didn't work. The car was not on EHU for some time and didn't do many miles, so I hooked it up for a while. I measured the two leisure batteries, the one under seat read 14V when on EHU, the one in the rear 12.1V... I checked the fuses again (under seat, behind drink cooler), all good. Then I checked the connections below the cabinet with the sink, in the round hole, and the connector seemed pretty corroded (sorry for the bad quality picture below). I tried to loosen the connection and wiggled it a bit. About a minute later my GF pressed the on button on the camper control panel - and the VW logo showed! We went through all the functions - aux heater works, roof works. But fridge doesn't work. The snowflake on the control panel turns yellow, but the fridge doesn't start. So basically everything in the front works, and everything in the back does not (water pump, fridge, battery charging?).

So first, I guess the panel itself is alive and well.
Two hypothesis spring to mind:
1) The batteries were so depleted that it took a couple of hours to get them to the capacity in which they can power the control panel... seems a bit unlikely, I measured the voltage the panel is getting before and it was 12V. And why wasn't the panel working when driving or on EHU before this? I don't know a lot about car electrics so there might be some logic behind this.
2) The corrosion caused loss of connection between some back components and the panel, causing it to not boot properly?
In any case, I now believe the fault is somewhere in the wiring and not the panel.

 

[WelshGas]

The plot thickens. Today I was cleaning the van and noticed the tap water pump didn't work. The car was not on EHU for some time and didn't do many miles, so I hooked it up for a while. I measured the two leisure batteries, the one under seat read 14V when on EHU, the one in the rear 12.1V... I checked the fuses again (under seat, behind drink cooler), all good. Then I checked the connections below the cabinet with the sink, in the round hole, and the connector seemed pretty corroded (sorry for the bad quality picture below). I tried to loosen the connection and wiggled it a bit. About a minute later my GF pressed the on button on the camper control panel - and the VW logo showed! We went through all the functions - aux heater works, roof works. But fridge doesn't work. The snowflake on the control panel turns yellow, but the fridge doesn't start. So basically everything in the front works, and everything in the back does not (water pump, fridge, battery charging?).

So first, I guess the panel itself is alive and well.
Two hypothesis spring to mind:
1) The batteries were so depleted that it took a couple of hours to get them to the capacity in which they can power the control panel... seems a bit unlikely, I measured the voltage the panel is getting before and it was 12V. And why wasn't the panel working when driving or on EHU before this? I don't know a lot about car electrics so there might be some logic behind this.
2) The corrosion caused loss of connection between some back components and the panel, causing it to not boot properly?
In any case, I now believe the fault is somewhere in the wiring and not the panel.

View attachment 139027

You have 2 Leisure Batteries wired in parallel.
The rear battery has a 75 or 100 amp cube fuse on the red +tve connection. If that fails the rear battery will NOT be charged on EHU hookup.
The Control Panel has, I believe, 2 power sources from the Engine and Leisure batteries. That’s why Ignition has to be On to operate the roof.
I would check the Cube fuse and disconnect that connector and clean it well.

 

[vbk1975]

The plot thickens. Today I was cleaning the van and noticed the tap water pump didn't work. The car was not on EHU for some time and didn't do many miles, so I hooked it up for a while. I measured the two leisure batteries, the one under seat read 14V when on EHU, the one in the rear 12.1V... I checked the fuses again (under seat, behind drink cooler), all good. Then I checked the connections below the cabinet with the sink, in the round hole, and the connector seemed pretty corroded (sorry for the bad quality picture below). I tried to loosen the connection and wiggled it a bit. About a minute later my GF pressed the on button on the camper control panel - and the VW logo showed! We went through all the functions - aux heater works, roof works. But fridge doesn't work. The snowflake on the control panel turns yellow, but the fridge doesn't start. So basically everything in the front works, and everything in the back does not (water pump, fridge, battery charging?).

So first, I guess the panel itself is alive and well.
Two hypothesis spring to mind:
1) The batteries were so depleted that it took a couple of hours to get them to the capacity in which they can power the control panel... seems a bit unlikely, I measured the voltage the panel is getting before and it was 12V. And why wasn't the panel working when driving or on EHU before this? I don't know a lot about car electrics so there might be some logic behind this.
2) The corrosion caused loss of connection between some back components and the panel, causing it to not boot properly?
In any case, I now believe the fault is somewhere in the wiring and not the panel.

View attachment 139027

There has clearly been fluid or very high humidity in the void underneath. It is clearly not ideal and from you photo it does look like you have mineral growth on some of the wires. The growths form between positive and negative connections. They can lead to short circuits.

It isn’t necessarily going to require a new harness. I would disconnect the connector and inspect the inside of the connector looking at the state of the terminals, if the pins look reasonable then I would buy electrical contact cleaner, deionised water (aka battery too up) and soft brushes, glass fibre brush is also an option. And work to clean out any growths on the inside or outside. In the early stages these can almost look like little white lines. Ideally you would de-pin the connector and clean the terminals one by one, but whilst not hard if you are experienced can be fiddly, terminal tools can be really helpful but you need to work out the right one (Amazon has lots of kits and you get a big selection in the kit)

If the terminals are badly corroded after cleaning then that is going to require either a new harness, repair terminals (VW or online - lengths of wires with the terminals already crimped on and you join them on ) or I would definitely consider cutting out the connector completely and joining the cables with splices. That connector is there to allow the whole living /kitchen unit to be installed at the factory and removed if a drastic repair action is needed.

I agree with @WelshGas it is likely a fuse has gone in the circuit between the front and back batteries and the root cause could well be the growth shorting out some of the circuits.

 

[Badabu]

This is quickly becoming my favourite forum Thank you guys.

The rear battery 75 amp fuse failed. I managed to also disconnect the connector under the sink. It is mounted on a little bracket attached to the side of the bottom of the cabinet so it needs to be slided out of this and then you can manipulate it . The connectors inside seem quite corroded. I am tempted to just replace the fuse now as I'm leaving for a two week trip, and replace the connector when I return. But alternatively, if the replaced fuse blows right away, would it be ok to cut the cables from the connector and join them back using wago connectors? Don't want to splice them by twisting or soldering.

Also, when I disconnected the connector, the icons on the control panel for fresh water, waste water and coolbox started flashing. Makes sense as it lost connections, just interesting to know that it recognizes that and displays.

I'm attaching some photos for future reference if anyone finds this thread helpful.

 

[vbk1975]

This is quickly becoming my favourite forum Thank you guys.

The rear battery 75 amp fuse failed. I managed to also disconnect the connector under the sink. It is mounted on a little bracket attached to the side of the bottom of the cabinet so it needs to be slided out of this and then you can manipulate it . The connectors inside seem quite corroded. I am tempted to just replace the fuse now as I'm leaving for a two week trip, and replace the connector when I return. But alternatively, if the replaced fuse blows right away, would it be ok to cut the cables from the connector and join them back using wago connectors? Don't want to splice them by twisting or soldering.

Also, when I disconnected the connector, the icons on the control panel for fresh water, waste water and coolbox started flashing. Makes sense as it lost connections, just interesting to know that it recognizes that and displays.

I'm attaching some photos for future reference if anyone finds this thread helpful.

View attachment 139044View attachment 139045View attachment 139046View attachment 139047View attachment 139048View attachment 139049

Edit: some of those terminals look bad on the male side, definitely try cleaning them, but not good.

 

[Badabu]

Ok the connector isn’t that bad, but definitely get some contact cleaner and a toothbrush can get the worst of the green stuff off the external and internal parts. The tin contact material looks in reasonable state, definitely NOT worth chopping out.

Just plain toothbrush will do?

 

[vbk1975]

Just plain toothbrush will do?

Yes, but apologies I am in a poor signal area and hadn’t seen the last photo, the male connector side is bad, I would still clean it anyway. Yes just a standard toothbrush