UistCamper Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Right here goes straight in at the deep end! Just picked up our first camper van a month ago, a 2004 Autotrail Tracker SE on a Fiat. Anyway all seemed fine and we brought it home to the Hebrides from Somerset. But the first night of the trip back we we stayed on a campsite and on plugging into the mains I was surprised to see the display showing a negative value for amps (charger turned on). The book says a negative value means current being drawn from the battery. When not hooked up the the mains it shows a postive value for the current. Anyway all was well in the morning, Leisure battery voltage fine. Drove home over the next three nights without mains hookup and voltages remained fine. Been home for a couple of weeks with no use and voltages fine. Hooked up to mains and again display showed negative value for amps (around -8 amps). Next morning unplugged and leisure battery still showing good voltage (12.5V). Left it for another week and hooked it up to the mains for a few hours one afternoon but the next morning I went out to find leisure battery on 1.5V OMG!!! Looked at battery and discovered one terminal loose opps!. Tightened up connection but still showing 1.5V. Hooked up to mains and current shows as 50amps (positive value) for about five minutes and then drops to -8.5 amps where it has stayed for a couple of hours. Voltage showing 13.2V. So why is it showing negative amps on charge. Would a loose connection have resulted in a discharge of the battery (possibly when I last put it on charge)?. The battery is new but will it recover from such a major discharge? I know very little about lecky! The reverse polarity is NOT illuminated Help help help (lol) Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Welcome to the forum. May I suggest that you check the habitation (leisure) battery current with only the control system switched ON. You should get a reading close to zero, if not please read on. Please see page 4 of Sergent's PSU2007 instructions. First look at the "Control Panel display erratic / corrupt" section. I would recommend attempting to reboot the control panel by following the instructions given. If this does not clear the problem, please see the section lower down the page entitled "Control Panel current reading incorrect". I hope that is exactly what you have! Unfortunately Sergent do not see fit to publish their calibration procedure. It could be quite simple. ( With the CBE PC200 system installed on my PVC the calibration mode is entered by holding down a button as you swich on the control system. In setup mode the first button is used to select the reading, and two further buttons raise or lower the displayed reading.) I hope that the Sergent system is similar. I suggest that you try their technical support section for advice. As regards the actual setting, with all lights,12V appliances and Charger OFF, you want to read zero or minimal negative current (allows for control system power). If you really had 50A flowing through a 20A fuse, I would expect it to blow. The loose connection on the battery would not cause it to discharge, but would could hinder recharging. Taking the battery voltage so low will have at least shortened its life. The reverse polarity light refers to reversed or crossed mains connection, not to any 12V functions. There could be something else wrong, but lets hope not. You have troubles enough. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Alanb - 2017-11-01 10:30 PM Unfortunately Sergent do not see fit to publish their calibration procedure. It could be quite simple......... Alan https://www.sargentltd.co.uk/tech-support/article/24/download/236 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Thanks Robin. I was expecting to find it in their user instructions! Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UistCamper Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 Thanks for the info, I give it a go. Thinking about it logically the 50 amps can't have been right can it with a 13 amp fuse in my extension lead (lol) Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 Hi Andy, I am afraid its not as simple as that. The battery charger integrated with the PSU2007 has a rated output of 16A at a nominal voltage of 13.5V DC. The mains input current at full load is stated as 3.15A, so the 13A fuse in your mains lead would not find it a problem. More technically you have to consider the efficiency of the charger as well as the charger and mains voltages. Even then its an over simplification with modern switch mode chargers. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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