Electrical I have power to inverter but not to the battery on off switch in jayco expanda18.57-6

[Chaser]

Right, sorry @Drover if my info not great but made sense to me and I didn't want to start an argument been you and @Boots in Action, anyway boat battery in and in voltmeter read 12.69V but did not light up the battery light on the setec or anything else for that matter so seems that power is not for some reason coming back to the setec? Interestingly put 240v power back on and I got 12.99v at the battery took the battery out and still got 12.99v with no battery connected, so seems that the setec wants to charge the battery but not take the charge back from the battery!
I have put the van battery on my 7 stage charger to see if it will take a good charge and keep it, as its a new Eclipse 130AH AGM in April and worked up until now (although it still seems to be working from what the voltmeter tells me as out of the van it still read 12.7V).

 

[Drover]

Not a biggy, Boots and I argue all the time anyway ........................... You will find the Setek will work as happy as larry without a battery connected, possibly a diode or some such thing is shagged so is blocking power from battery, would need to thrown on a bench and looked at properly .......
Batteries sound okay, I have a small solar panel on shed roof which keeps my shed battery juiced up and an old house panel thru my old solar reg which the boat plugs into, boat battery is very happy with the set up.... Van has its panels keeping it fully juiced............ my mains battery chargers get little use......

I know it doesn't have smarts but leave the Setek with no mains connected and no battery but turn a light on and come back later once everything has a chance to cool down, say 30 min, then hook up battery, no mains connected and see what happens ............... I have had strange things happen when all power is removed and any remaining discharged, hot things get cool and close or open, suddenly it all starts working again, I still end up throwing it in bin ........... I know the why buy not going to ramble about it.

Could always just disconnect mains, disconnect battery and hook the battery charger up to the setek battery cables then see if the lights turn on..... no lights its cactus, if the lights come on interesting, smoke, turn off power and grab extinguisher.........

 

[Boots in Action]

Well @Boots in Action Could be, could be I just read that first paragraph to say the battery was supplying 12.7v at battery and at Setek, with mains off and when mains turned on no change to voltage............ so to me the Setek doesn't see or allow the battery to supply power, as a Setek will work happily on mains power supplying 12v without a battery connected and the current battery at 12.7v is way above LVD cut off hence my diagnosis, Setek is cactus or something inside has fell off ..............

Doesn't bother me, not after brownie points, so long as the problem is sorted, online diagnosis is only as good as the info provided and often its a jig saw to sort out.

Hey @Drover , as you said "online diagnosis is only as good as the info provided and often it's a jigsaw to sort out" is oh so true! Don't worry about misreading what @Chaser said. After all the jumbled and incorrect naming of different electrical components, I have had to really concentrate on the latest posts. Just look back at the beginning of this thread at how I went down the completely WRONG path about an INVERTER. We both do our best based on the information provided as we see it. We could still BOTH be wrong!!!

 

[Boots in Action]

Not a biggy, Boots and I argue all the time anyway ........................... You will find the Setek will work as happy as larry without a battery connected, possibly a diode or some such thing is shagged so is blocking power from battery, would need to thrown on a bench and looked at properly .......
Batteries sound okay, I have a small solar panel on shed roof which keeps my shed battery juiced up and an old house panel thru my old solar reg which the boat plugs into, boat battery is very happy with the set up.... Van has its panels keeping it fully juiced............ my mains battery chargers get little use......

I know it doesn't have smarts but leave the Setek with no mains connected and no battery but turn a light on and come back later once everything has a chance to cool down, say 30 min, then hook up battery, no mains connected and see what happens ............... I have had strange things happen when all power is removed and any remaining discharged, hot things get cool and close or open, suddenly it all starts working again, I still end up throwing it in bin ........... I know the why buy not going to ramble about it.

Could always just disconnect mains, disconnect battery and hook the battery charger up to the setek battery cables then see if the lights turn on..... no lights its cactus, if the lights come on interesting, smoke, turn off power and grab extinguisher.........

Well @Drover , I have not been successful so admit failure when I was so confident too. Interesting that battery voltage increased when connected to Setec and runs lights, but no power OUT of battery to do anything on its own. Yes, correct - a removal and bench test of Setec called for. Could be something simple too. @Chaser is doing his part too in this testing. Your "out of left field ideas" do sometimes work as in the past and who knows, you might be successful again. Next try could be to disconnect van battery from Setec, , connect up 7 stage battery charger direct to battery terminals and see if any luck. If not, there is definitely something amiss between the battery and distribution point in line or fuses as you initially thought without any part being played by the Setec distribution system. And as for the Setec, a complete removal and set up on bench to see if charging occurs. More time if @Chaser has the patience or motivation.

 

[Drover]

Wouldn't cry "Fail" Booties, I had to read it a couple of times before it clicked but its intriguing, its 12v convertor is working but the circuit to allow flow from battery isn't so would it be a diode or one of those things thats frizzed, I do recall a fuse on the circuit board or but no idea now what its for, it wasn't part of the user fuses it was inside the box....... We look at things from totally different perspectives ....

The option of plugging all the 12v van wires into a fuse board, hooked up to the battery cables with a simple multi stage charger plugged into the power point to charge battery would be a economincal fix if off grid most of time........... $50 for fuse box, $200 for a Ctek 5 stage portable charger and no changes to wiring or elaborate changes to set up other than remove clamps on charger and fit an anderson to feed battery.....

PS: I was Wrong once but then found I was just mistaken and I have possibly been incorrect but never, never, ever fail, I always told my kids and trainee's, you only Fail if you don't learn a lesson, to succeed is to reach your goal not someone else's ............................. even when I'm incorrect I find I usually improved my knowledge.

 

[Boots in Action]

Wouldn't cry "Fail" Booties, I had to read it a couple of times before it clicked but its intriguing, its 12v convertor is working but the circuit to allow flow from battery isn't so would it be a diode or one of those things thats frizzed, I do recall a fuse on the circuit board or but no idea now what its for, it wasn't part of the user fuses it was inside the box....... We look at things from totally different perspectives ....

The option of plugging all the 12v van wires into a fuse board, hooked up to the battery cables with a simple multi stage charger plugged into the power point to charge battery would be a economincal fix if off grid most of time........... $50 for fuse box, $200 for a Ctek 5 stage portable charger and no changes to wiring or elaborate changes to set up other than remove clamps on charger and fit an anderson to feed battery.....

PS: I was Wrong once but then found I was just mistaken and I have possibly been incorrect but never, never, ever fail, I always told my kids and trainee's, you only Fail if you don't learn a lesson, to succeed is to reach your goal not someone else's ............................. even when I'm incorrect I find I usually improved my knowledge.

And well said @Drover . And thanks for the gentle 'let down". l hate to let things beat me. If I had it home, with a little time to work on it, I think I could get it to work or at least find out what happened, just in case it happened to me....Cheers.

 

[mikerezny]

Hi,
I find it frustrating trying to solve these problem remotely. What I can achive in just a few minutes on the job, take days of fumbling around trying to track down extremly simple problems.

Here is a step by step guide that may help you determine what might be the problem. This is EXACTLY what I would do if I was on site.

Work through it SLOWLY and carefully, read and answer each question before moving to the next question. You may or may not know why I am asking these questions, but I can assure you that the tests and the answers eventually support or eliminate possible issues.
It is the basic divide and conquer approach to whittlng a problem down into successively smaller problems.

This following sequence attempts to check the +ve side of the circuit and assumes firstly the the -ve side is connected and working correctly.

1: if the yellow led is not lighting up AND the battery voltage is above 10V, has the battery fuse in the Setec fuse panel been checked?

2: Further, if there is an inline fuse from the +ve battery terminal to the Setec? If so, has this been checked?

3: If yes to both above questions. Disconnect the Setec from 240V. Remove the battery fuse in the Setec fuse compartment. Securely connect the negative probe of your multimeter to the-ve terminal of the battery. Check the voltage on the +ve terminal of the battery. Now check the voltage on each connector of the fuse holder for the battery fuse in the Setec fuse compartment. Is the voltage on ONE of these terminals the same as that measured at the +ve battery terminal? Replace the battery fuse in the Setec fuse compartment.

4: If you have identified that the +ve voltage on the side of the fuse in test 3 is the same as that on the battery terminal, we need to check that the battery switch is indeed performing its function. Get to the back of the battery switch and disconnect the two wires. Does this turn the yellow led on or not? From the Setec manual: When the switch contacts are closed, the battery will be isolated from the loads.

If you have got this far, then the most likely possibilities to investigate are a faulty Setec or faulty -ve wiring.

take care
Mike

 

[Boots in Action]

Hi,
I find it frustrating trying to solve these problem remotely. What I can achive in just a few minutes on the job, take days of fumbling around trying to track down extremly simple problems.

Here is a step by step guide that may help you determine what might be the problem. This is EXACTLY what I would do if I was on site.

Work through it SLOWLY and carefully, read and answer each question before moving to the next question. You may or may not know why I am asking these questions, but I can assure you that the tests and the answers eventually support or eliminate possible issues.
It is the basic divide and conquer approach to whittlng a problem down into successively smaller problems.

This following sequence attempts to check the +ve side of the circuit and assumes firstly the the -ve side is connected.

1: if the yellow led is not lighting up AND the battery voltage is above 10V, has the battery fuse in the Setec fuse panel been checked?

2: Further, if there is an inline fuse from the +ve battery terminal to the Setec? If so, has this been checked?

3: If yes to both above questions. Disconnect the Setec from 240V. Remove the battery fuse in the Setec fuse compartment. Securely connect the negative probe of your multimeter to the-ve terminal of the battery. Check the voltage on the +ve terminal of the battery. Now check the voltage on each connector of the fuse holder for the battery fuse in the Setec fuse compartment. Is the voltage on ONE of these terminals the same as that measured at the +ve battery terminal? Replace the battery fuse in the Setec fuse compartment.

4: If you have identified that the +ve voltage on the side of the fuse in test 3 is the same as that on the battery terminal, we need to check that the battery switch is indeed performing its function. Get to the back of the battery switch and disconnect the two wires. Does this turn the yellow led on or not? From the Setec manual: When the switch contacts are closed, the battery will be isolated from the loads.

If you have got this far, then the most likely possibilities to investigate are a faulty Setec or faulty -ve wiring.

take care
Mike

Thanks for coming in at this hour @mikerezny . I believe that most options have been tried as you can probably see. But not being on site, it is hard to be sure as we have had to depend on @Chaser's knowledge and feedback. Your highlighted sentence is noted and I am aware of this function and believe that @Chaser has tried it in both positions without success. If you have any more ideas, I am happy to listen and learn too, but I think your last sentence is probably one of the problems.

 

[Chaser]

Ok @mikerezny

1. yes
2. yes
3. No the fuse terminals read 11.71v and the battery having charged it up over the weekend reads 13.04v. The leads from the battery at the setek read 13.04v going into the setek.
4. made no difference the lights do not come on.

 

[mikerezny]

Ok @mikerezny

1. yes
2. yes
3. No the fuse terminals read 11.71v and the battery having charged it up over the weekend reads 13.04v. The leads from the battery at the setek read 13.04v going into the setek.
4. made no difference the lights do not come on.

Hi,
something is not right.
First off, if you have 11.71V at any of the load fuse terminals, I would expect that your internal lights must then be working.

I still do not understand, why the Setec is then dropping the input voltage of 13.04V at the Setec +ve input terminal down to 11.71V at the Setec load terminals.

Are all these voltages measured with the -ve probe of your multimeter connected to the -ve battery terminal?

If not, then firmly connect your -ve multimeter terminal to the -ve battery terminal even if you have to extend the multimeter lead to reach it.
Then take the measurements again.

take care
Mike

 

[Chaser]

Ok will have another look tomorrow as having to do that work thing now!

 

[JohngQld]

Hi Chaser,
For those of us who were following your posts, did you end up fixing the issue or is it still a work in progress.
John

 

[Chaser]

Hi John
Still in progress been a busy couple of weeks so will hopefully be able to have another go at Mikes instructions!
cheers
Chaser

 

[Chaser]

Hi all,
I have still not sorted the issue, and as previous it’s been busy (just so you all know I’m a Nurse and not had much time for the van!). Anyway as it’s working on 240v we are away in a caravan park enjoying the stormy weather, some fishing and water skiing as I finally got some leave approved!
Whilst here I’ve been checking everything and all systems work, even checked the fridge on gas and the hot water service on gas. The only thing is nothing works off the battery, I’ve gone through Mikes stages again as I brought my multi meter with me and no joy, so before our next free camp I will have to get a new converter.
Thanks for all your help support and advice over the last couple of months.
now it’s time to either crack a cold one or chuck a line out as the rain has stopped!
Cheers Chaser

 

[Boots in Action]

Hi all,
I have still not sorted the issue, and as previous it’s been busy (just so you all know I’m a Nurse and not had much time for the van!). Anyway as it’s working on 240v we are away in a caravan park enjoying the stormy weather, some fishing and water skiing as I finally got some leave approved!
Whilst here I’ve been checking everything and all systems work, even checked the fridge on gas and the hot water service on gas. The only thing is nothing works off the battery, I’ve gone through Mikes stages again as I brought my multi meter with me and no joy, so before our next free camp I will have to get a new converter.
Thanks for all your help support and advice over the last couple of months.
now it’s time to either crack a cold one or chuck a line out as the rain has stopped!
Cheers Chaser

@Chaser , just remember it is NOT a converter by name. It is called a BMS (battery management system), If you ask for a "converter", you might get some strange and confused looks, not to mention the wrong equipment. Good luck- pity the problem could not be identified - not only for you but for a lot of us interested members in case it happens to us.

 

[Chaser]

@Chaser , just remember it is NOT a converter by name. It is called a BMS (battery management system), If you ask for a "converter", you might get some strange and confused looks, not to mention the wrong equipment. Good luck- pity the problem could not be identified - not only for you but for a lot of us interested members in case it happens to us.

@Boots in Action thanks someone has to be the first to have a non fixable problem!
I’m just enjoying the rain sitting under my awning currently with a cuppa.
Cheers
Chaser

 

[Drover]

@Boots in Action thanks someone has to be the first to have a non fixable problem!
I’m just enjoying the rain sitting under my awning currently with a cuppa.
Cheers
Chaser

Sadly sometimes things just fail .................. When you start shopping for a replacement, have a good idea of the style of camping you will be doing, the range of units available and what they are suited for is large along with the price tags.........

 

[Chaser]

Sadly sometimes things just fail .................. When you start shopping for a replacement, have a good idea of the style of camping you will be doing, the range of units available and what they are suited for is large along with the price tags.........

Very true I’ve noticed that already, not that I need anything to complicated usually means more to go wrong! I like the idea of the battery charger and a fuse box, just not sure how to set that up? So will look at the current box that Jayco use and work out if that’s a simple change over.
I will let you all know!
Cheers
Chaser

 

[Chaser]

Ok so its been awhile, as trying to get this fixed has been a bit drawn out! Sadly the repair guy has had issues with staff being off sick with covid! So today I finally dropped of the van to have a fuse box and battery charger installed fingers crossed it all goes well, as we are free camping as of Thursday!

 

[Chaser]

So the van is fixed finally, so I now have a projecta intellicharge 15A 12V battery charger installed, with a 10way blade fuse box and it all works!! So as I understand it the battery now runs everything and gets charged when on 240v by the projecta, while connected to the truck driving and when I connect my portable solar. The battery switch now works as a isolator switch so the battery is not trying to run stuff like the radio etc when parked up. The old Setck is still there otherwise the would be a big hole in the end of the bench seat on the dinette.
Now all I need to do is pack the thing for Thursday.
Thanks for all the input from @Boots in Action @Drover @mikerezny I feel that I leant a lot even if things didn't work out from the advise given. Hopefully the above is simpler to sort out if there are any future problems!

Cheers

Chaser