Having a nightmare with my sterling europa 525 2004 I thought it was my battery not holding charge after putting multimeter on battery was getting 13.3v with charger on 13.9v the problem is when I disconnect from mains and have it run on its battery nothing works but I have very dim lights but battery remains on 13.3v any ideas what could be the problem quite desperate as were away in it Friday for Christmas and New year
If you have access to a spare battery, try it out and see if the problem persists, if it does it’s obviously the battery.
Alternatively take the battery to a battery supplier, (halfords will test it ) , I would suggest start at the battery and go from there
How old is the battery?
It's old which is why I thought it was the battery but it's thrown me that it still has 13v of charge I've took it in the garage to charge off my charger in there and that won't charge it because it's showing full of charge can the battery lose its ampage and could this cause the low lighting my control panel is giving me no volts on the display but if I put the multimeter in the lights I'm getting a 13v reading
The battery’s amperage is what supply’s the power, as above either try another battery first or take the old battery to be tested on a drop tester at a battery centre or at a garage.
The leisure battery could be sulphating whereby the lead plates have crumbled causing a sediment at the base of the battery which will short circuit the current even though it showing over 13 volts. The best solution is to take the battery to an auto electric centre which they will conduct a drop charge and provide you with accurate results of the state of the battery. Sulphating can start to happen to fairly new batteries if they are not charged on a regular basis so if the leisure battery has been left for long periods without being charged then this is the most likely cause.
I would advise to check the onboard charger/transformer too. Just switch off the mains power, remove the leisure battery and connect the multimeter direct to the battery contacts. Switch back on the mains power and the reading should be between 13.8 to 14 volts so if it's anything less then it proves that the charger is defective. When the leisure battery is connected it's under load so you will only get a reading of around 13 volts which doesn't prove if the charger itself is functioning efficiently. When I tested my charger (on my previous caravan) I was receiving less than 1 volt so I knew that the charger needed replacing. When I replaced it with a new one I did the test first and Bingo! there was a current of 14 volts.
Check the cleanliness of the terminals, what I’m reading is the battery looks fine but the source is not getting to where it should. I once found the terminals were fine but the copper wire clamped into the terminals had gone black and sulphated (for want of a better description). I cut the blackened wire off and put ‘fresh’ copper wire into the terminal, it worked fine after that. Good luck
whenever I had this sort of problem when we had the motorhome it always came down to the age of the battery and luckily we never had a problem with the charger.
If as you say the battery is old just change it anyway or it will only come back to bite you
Hi sorry to but in but I have a pagnet Bailey 1997 2 birth with a miter mover and when I plug the 240v lead in the sockets all work fridge and corner lights but the main light on walls and awning light don’t work I have checked under seat and the switch has a light on it and not coming on when I switch it on does any 1 no what would be up
The lights you mention as not working are all probably battery powered, so it would seem you have no power from your battery. The switch you mention under the seat is probably for the battery charger, so if it doesn't light up when you turn it on it may have tripped a circuit breaker. There should be two or three of them in a small consumer unit which is probably under the seat too. If the lights don't work and the battery charger has tripped the circuit breaker, its likely that your battery is completely flat too. You do have a battery I presume?
Hi thanks. Yes I have a battery outside van which is under the seat we’re the switch is I have took the fuse out of it it’s a 10 amp 20 mm glass fuse but looks ok I have orderd some new 1ns do you think that will be the problem
The lights are working just not the main 1ns that work of the 240 lead there is 2 of them 1 on each cupboard they have a pull down lead on them to switch them on
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Topic: Sterling Europa 525 12v electric problems
via mobile 15/12/2019 at 6:13pm
