Not a good start to 2025's camping season, in that somehow an electrical surge while I was at the Salisbury C&CC campsite managed to kill my Numax 12V battery charger on the first night of my stay.
Spent the second day fault-finding (the 240V input socket was functioning properly) and worrying about my two leisure batteries being drained right before my eyes!
Could not use the diesel heater as it needed sufficient 12V to power its pump. The roof top air con unit also struggled to warm up the van which puzzled me as that is on the 240V supply; perhaps I was just impatient to wait for the van to heat up.
Had to call the gentleman who performed the habitation check last year to see if he could help.
He was able to meet me at my house early in the morning. Good job I was only 45min's drive away, planned it that way for the first trip to be close to home in case of any issues.
Slept without any heating that night (2nd night), good job it was not that cold and the 7.5Tog duvet kept me sufficiently warm; however, I have 2 blankets available if needed.
Next morning, the battery charger was confirmed to be dead by the engineer, and he hooked up a small trickle charger so that it would charge up my batteries slowly with 2A input, allowing me to continue with my trip.
The trickle charger also struggled to keep up with charging when I used diesel heater overnight (3rd night) and it stopped charging and I don't know why!
I had to switched it off and on again so that it would charge the leisure batteries again. I checked throughout the day to make sure the batteries were sufficiently charged before I went to bed with diesel heater on and slept very well with no reported issues with the batteries (4th night).
Good job a spare 12V 20A was found by the engineer, who popped round to Salisbury C&CC to fit it for me this morning (5th last full day/night).
All good now, PHEW, as I am off again next week on Wednesday to North Wales and it is a long drive away!
The plan is for the two leisure batteries to be replaced next year which was what he advised when he did the habitation check last July 2024.
And I know what I need to do if I have to replace the 12V battery charger which involves joining 2 wires to the existing 12V circuit, as long as the 240V main power socket is working properly.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Go for a lithium battery when you replace, the 100ah is fully usable, they charge fast too unlike gels so they make the most of the limited UK sunshine. 10kg weight saving and they are down to under £200 now 🥰
There's a coincidence. On the first night of my outing, the Zig X70 died and blew a fuse in the mains circuit. However, I don't use the diesel heater as it's too noisy, I don't have air conditioning and I carry a small mains convector heater to use when I have EHU.
With careful use, the leisure battery lasted till we got home, and I confirmed that the Zig had died. I replaced it with a Sargent charger, and this is working well.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: First trip & the battery charger failed!
via mobile 23/4/2025 at 6:24am
