Largeboy Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Can anyone give me some advice on the Sergent EC200 Charger I have in our 2003 Autotrail Cheiftain we have just bought. We never wild camp but low and behold our first outing was to a Motorhome show and it seems our leisure battery was defunct but the dealer we bought it from changed if for a new one (shouldn't have sold it like it if you ask me). Anyway, we now have a new battery, had a nice big solar panel fitted at the show and also had a second leisure battery fitted at the same time. My question is: when we are plugged into the 240v at home do we leave the EC200 charger on or not, if left on do we have it charging the leisure batteries or the Vehicle battery or do we not leave it on at all unless we are actually using electric. Your help would be appreciated as I don't want to boil the new batteries dry like the previous one was. Thanks. Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Your solar will be all you need assuming it is 90+ watts. Since I have had a solar panel have never needed to charge off hook-up. MH sat at Alicante airport from November until April and batteries were tip top. Edit If previous battery was "boiled dry" did the installer of your solar panel and additional battery check the charger out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Largeboy Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Not to my knowledge, does that mean the charger could be faulty and boiling the batteries, if so I'll turn the thing off as we had a 140w installed on the roof last week so that should ample. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poursay Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 As originally asked, when connected to the mains, should I have to keep the charger on when using 220/240 v? Or do I have a fault as the microwave etc only works when the charger is on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 What voltage is the microwave? Normally when on hookup everything should work without charger on.. Same Sergent? charger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poursay Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Hi,yes EC200,PSY2007. Fitted 700w microwave which will only work when charger is switched on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I think you need to double check your use. When you say the charger on, do you mean the control panel on EC200 top left switch which is correct The battery charger switch (Red charger power switch) should be off? You have given wattage of microwave and not voltage. Edit Not explained to well. The top left switch on the EC200 remote control panel is switched on to provide power to the 240volt sockets. The charger power switch on the PSU 2007 should be off or on if you are topping up battery. You can check this by using the scroll button on the EC200 to the leisure battery and you will see the voltage change when you switch the charger off/on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 A User Manual and Frequently Asked Questions relating to the EC200/PSU2007 system can be found here http://tinyurl.com/kr5k7zh Regarding leaving the battery-charger operating continuously when the motorhome is connected to a mains power-supply at home, many people do this and many people do not. The upside of the practice is that the battery remains fully charged: the downside is that, if the electrical system (or the battery) develops a fault, damage may result. If you are going to do it - and your battery is not maintenance-free - it would make sense to check the battery's electrolyte-level regularly to minimise the possibility of it 'boiling dry'. As I understand the Sargent User Manual (and as sshortcircuit advises) the top-left "POWER ON/OFF" switch on the remote control-panel needs to be ON to activate the system and for anything useful to happen. The EC200 schematic suggests that there is no direct link between the use of 240V equipment (eg. a 240V microwave-oven) and the battery-charging function. There's a possibility (I guess) that running a 700W 12V microwave might put such a load on the battery that the EC200 system might shut down as a protective measure unless the charger were switched on, but who knows? Similarly (perhaps) if the microwave were 240V but run from the battery via an inverter. But, if the microwave is 240V and run directly from a 240V power-source (ie. when the motorhome is on mains hook-up), I cannot see why there should be a need to have the battery-charger running in order to get the microwave to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poursay Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Hi guys Thanks for info. Yes, now I discovered that the microwave does work when the top left hand button is on! Better late than never. Much useful info as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Very good and a positive result. Thanks for the feed back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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