Bessacarr electricity problems

[Drifters3]

Hi am very new to this and having a Motorhome, which I just got a few months ago, it a bassacarr 2001, my problem is that if am not hooked up to electricity my water won't work, am not sure if it's me not doing something right or if there is something wrong, also my cooker stopped igniting so now use lighter but because of this the fridge won't work on gas, please can anyone help with those problems

Julie

[paulmold]

All these items need 12v supply as well to ignite. Sounds like you have no 12v supply.

[Drifters3]

Thank you for answering, yes we do have a 12v but to be honest, I still don't know how all that works

Please can you advice

Thanks Julie

[Brian Kirby]

1 Does everything work as it should when on mains hook-up Julie?

 

2 How long is it since the van was on hook-up?

 

3 Do the lights work when not on mains hook-up? If not, I think the 12V supply from the habitation battery may have failed. However, there may be a battery switch in your van that you need to turn on to energise the 12V supply. Do you have a manual for the van, and does it mention switching on the 12V supply?

 

If all is turned on and the 12V still doesn't work, there may be a bad connection to the habitation battery, a fuse at the battery that has failed, or the battery may be flat, or have itself failed.

 

Easiest place to start would be to get the habitation battery voltage checked directly at the battery terminals (with mains hook-up disconnected), to see what reading is obtained. For a fully charged battery it should be about 12.8V. This will fall as power is consumed, but should not be allowed to fall below about 12.3V (about 50% discharged). Anything lower is liable to damage the battery. At 12.2 V the battery is only 25% charged, and in the permanent damage zone unless it is immediately put on charge, at 12.0V the battery is essentially flat and may already have been damaged. Readings below 12V are highly likely to indicate a damaged, or failed, battery.

[Robbo]

Wecome to the forum.

 

You may get a better response if you gave your post a Subject Title. Perhaps site admin could add a suitable title for you.

 

Your symptoms would indicate that the leisure battery is less than 12 volts. Suggest you purchase a multimeter and check the voltage. As a temporary measure, hook up with EHU to charge the leisure battery. On some systems there is a switch to charge either the engine battery or leisure battery. My 240v charger charges both batteries at the same time. Best to read your MH's instruction manual.

 

Leisure batteries don't last for ever so maybe time to replace it.

 

PS. Brian beat me to it - must type quicker.

[Derek Uzzell]

I’ve added a “Bessacarr electricity problems” subject-title to each of the previous postings, and this link is to a 2001 Swift Motorhome Owner’s Handbook

 

https://assets.swiftgroup.co.uk/uploads/HandBooks/motorhomes/Previous%20handbooks/1042554%20MH%20Owners%20Hbook%202001.pdf

 

As Julie is apparently a complete novice regarding motorhomes, I suspect it will be difficult for her to follow the good advice given above as it demands a modicum of understanding of the basics of motorhome electrics and how to address electrical problems.

 

Unless Julie can find a friendly motorcaravanner with sufficient expertise to accurately diagnose the cause of the fault - which may be very minor or simply fixed by, say, replacing the habitation-battery - it might be wiser for her to take her Bessacarr to a motorhome dealership for attention rather than attempt a by-guess-and-by-god DIY fix.

 

For the future, this book should be helpful

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorcaravan-Manual-Choosing-Using-Maintaining/dp/0857331248/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[Robinhood]

...the original post is a little open to interpretation as to what works (has worked) and when, but perusing the wiring diagrams there isn't a simple explanation as to why some of the 12v won't work if the vehicle is not hooked up (as I don't think the 12v circuits are differently fused for these methods).

 

In Swift Group vehicles of that vintage there is an explanation why all 12v circuits will only work on hook-up, and that is that the battery switch on the control panel is in the central, off position (neither hab or cab battery selected). In this case, the transformer/charger will still provide 12v power (if hooked up), but nothing will be available off hook-up.

 

Derek has posted a link to the handbook, but if anyone is checking the wiring out, then the "Technical Handbook" for the year will be more useful:

 

https://assets.swiftgroup.co.uk/uploads/HandBooks/motorhomes/2001%20MH%20Tech%20Books/1201496%20Bess%20MH%20Service%20Book%202001.pdf

 

 

(Though, looking again at the diagram, it isn't at all clear what the effect of the EMC relay being stuck open would be, as the battery and charger feeds may be at different ends of this - the diagram is far from clear - but this wouldn't necessarily be illogical). I'd certainly try to check it out.

[Drifters3]

Thanks Brain, the lights do work when not hooked up, so not sure what's going on, the water never works unless we're hooked up, even when we're hooked up it doesn't last long, as I said am very new to all this so haven't a clue what to do, the book isn't that much help either, grateful for any ideas

Thanks Julie

[Derek Uzzell]

Julie

 

It might be helpful if you said which 2001 Bessacarr model (eg. E425 or E765) you own, as the technical specification will not necessarily be the same for all models.

 

Regarding the water not ‘working’ except on 230V hook-up, I’m guessing that you mean that water cannot be heated except when on 230V hook-up. The 2001 Swift handbook suggests that Bessacarr motorhomes built then could have various air and water heating systems all of which could be run on gas. However, it would have been fairly common for water heating to also have been possible via 230V mains electricity. Even if your water-heater can heat water using 230V when the motorhome is on hook-up, the water-heater must be operated from GAS when the motorhome is not on 230V hook-up.

 

Motorhomes are complex and, if you have absolutely no technical ‘feel’ for them, when a problem occurs it can be a real challenge identifying the cause. I sold my first motorhome to a very reputable dealer who soon sold it on. I know the dealer would have given the new owner a comprehensive briefing at the handover stage, but the new owner still found it worthwhile getting in touch with me to arrange a visit to my home so that I could give him a fuller explanation on how the motorhome’s heating system worked.

 

Would it be practicable for you to get whoever sold you the motorhome to demonstrate how to operate its equipment and quickly check what’s happening? Unless the problem you’ve tried to describe is something genuinely simple that you can spot (like a switch being in the wrong position) it seems certain you’ll need to involve someone with the necessary expertise to sort it out.

 

Are you prepared to say (roughly) where you live? There may be a kindly forum-member near you who can take a look at your motorhome.

[Drifters3]

Thank you so much for all your help and advice, am going to really read up on thing and if I can't find out what's wrong will take it back to dealer as I've not had it long, was never away off road till now so just started to get all the problems, apart from cooker not igniting by it self, then didn't realise the fridge wouldn't work because of that,

Thank again all

From a very grateful

Julie

[Derek Uzzell]

Julie

 

If your motorhome is still under warranty it would be sensible to return to the dealer without delay. Although the problems you are having may well be minor and easily rectified, one never knows!! At present, although you can light the cooker’s burners with a gas-lighter, you cannot do the same with the fridge and this will limit your use of the motorhome to campsites with 230V electricity. Even if your Bessacarr is no longer under warranty, as you’ve only owned it for a few months a reputable dealer could be expected to show goodwill to a recent lady buyer with no motorhome background.

 

Besides looking at the 12V problem, you could get the dealer to talk you through the things that are not clear to you and were not adequately covered when you bought the motorhome.

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

I echo Derek's advice re going back to the dealer Julie. As he says, it may be a minor fault, or even a matter of a switch you haven't yet discovered, but it could be more serious. As you have only had the van a few months, and as it was presumably sold as a working van, you were legally entitled to expect that everything on board was then in working order. It would be very odd for a van in which everything was working at the point of sale, to suddenly suffer those same things all to have failed in a matter of a few months.

 

I have only one caveat to the above. Has the van been connected to mains during the time you have had it - either continually, or at regular intervals (say monthly) for about 24 hours at a time, or has it regularly been driven (at least monthly) for about a hour at a time? Unless the dealer provided a new habitation battery when selling, there is no telling how old the battery is, or what condition it was in when sold, so it must be the first suspect. Dead battery = no 12V supply. Simples! :-)

 

If your van has been unused and standing without a mains supply to keep the battery charged over those few months, it is quite likely the battery has simply lost its charge and failed, especially if it was old and already in poor condition when sold . If that is the case, I think you may struggle to get much more than sympathy from the dealer, as he will be likely to view the battery as having been abused - albeit inadvertently.

 

Battery aside, you have some leverage with the dealer since, as said above, you should have had a handover during which the workings of all equipment were explained and demonstrated. If however, the fault is just an old battery that has failed, in part because it hasn't been kept charged, you may end up having to buy a replacement battery. Not of itself the end of the world. (Come back on here for advice on habitation batteries if that is the case, as they are a bit of a technical minefield.)

 

If the fault is not the battery, irrespective of any written guaranty, the dealer is obliged under Consumer Legislation to take responsibility for putting it right, irrespective of the age of the van, or (within reason) how long it is since you bought it. However, what he would be legally obliged to do would be guided by what it was reasonable to expect when buying a (if I've understood correctly) 15 year old motorhome.

 

Whatever the actual cause of the problems you describe, your first port of call should therefore be to take it back to the dealer, explain the problems and ask him to investigate. You have first to give the seller the chance to rectify defects in the goods he sold. If you don't do this and instead turn to others, and it later turns out that there is a serious fault that is expensive to rectify, you will have prejudiced your legal rights against the dealer, should you then feel that you want to pursue him for remedy.