We have a carver motor mover fitted to our van. We went to use it recently and the red light on the controller would not come on, I replaces the batteries in the controller, but the mover still would not work. WE are 70 and 80 respectively and a motor mover is crucial to us. Any suggestions what the problem might be. I am not sure which model it is our caravan is a 1994 Bailey Ranger, I am not sure when the mover was fitted.
Sorry if this sounds patronising, but did you remember to press the red button twice in quick succession to turn it on?
Easily forgotten if not done for a while. Is battery in the right way round? Try the easy things first!
Yes I did remember to press the button twice, its not the first time we have had a caravan with a motor mover. and yes I checked the batteries were in right. The red light came on but even though the mover was engaged nothing happened.
We had to get help to site the van and until we sort out the mover we cannot use the van, its too heavy to move and the last time we moved it on the car I was afraid the clutch was going to burn out.
Have you tried the mover without engaging it on the tyres?
Try it without engaging it and see if the rollers turn freely, if they don't then try tapping the end of the motor gently with a hammer or the winder handle, this may loosen things up and the motors will work again. If this doesn't work check that power is getting to the control box and motors, you'll probably need an agile person with a meter for this. Lack of power could be from corroded terminals but I have come across cables that have been eaten by mice!
I had this problem with a different make of mover, tapping the end of the motor sorted it out. This problem only happened after the mover had not been used over the winter, frequent use over the rest of the year didn't produce any more problems.
Sounds like your main battery is flat.a mover needs a full battery to work.try it without being on the rollers.if they turn at all then it most sure to be the main battery.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
Quote: Originally posted by csarina on 04/5/2013
Yes I did remember to press the button twice, its not the first time we have had a caravan with a motor mover. and yes I checked the batteries were in right. The red light came on but even though the mover was engaged nothing happened.
We had to get help to site the van and until we sort out the mover we cannot use the van, its too heavy to move and the last time we moved it on the car I was afraid the clutch was going to burn out.
But in your original post you said the red light did not come on?
Can you check again and confirm the handset remote red light is operating? Then try as above.
And remember to take off the handbrake - I forgot when I got home from the first outing of the year and was wondering why it was making such a hard job of moving the van - until I noticed!
If all else fails, phone Carver and see if they can get someone out to fix it for you.
But in your original post you said the red light did not come on?
Can you check again and confirm the handset remote red light is operating? Then try as above.
If you read my post you would see that I replaced the batteries before trying the control again, still would not work.
It had worked perfectly a few weeks before when we had the van out and we had been on power and also had the caravan switched to car whilst travelling down from Scotland (we were moving house) It was on the Friday when we came to move the van onto a site for an overnight stay it did not work. On our second night we did not take the van off the car, just disconnected the cables and re-connected them in the morning, it was when we moved the van onto our Sunday night stop that we had to get help to push the van back. When we left the site on Monday we reversed the car onto the van because the mover would not move......and had to get help again here to push it onto its parking spot.
I need to get it sorted as we are wanting to go out with the van and unless I can get the motor to move it will be difficult for us, as I said earlier we are not in the first or even second flush of youth.
I did have a look at one of the sites recommended, I understand Carver have been taken over, but was not able to find anything relevant. I have no idea how old the mover is, we bought the van with it on.
Ok but you did not say the red light on the remote came on.
Have you tested your caravan battery? Do the 12 volt lights and pump work when the mains is disconnected?
Have you checked all fuses? The fuse for mover may have blown.
Take your time and work through all the possibilities, then perhaps ask help from warden or person on site who has experience.
Did you try the PDF fault finder as suggested?
Did you also try the roller operation with the drives turner back off the wheels?
Next try phoning the mover manufacturer or the new owners - they have an excellent phone help service or they can give you the contact details for a local fitter who will charge for a call out and fix.
Good luck
If you say what you have eliminated maybe we can help further.
For us it was the caravan battery even though it appeared to be charged it wasn't so we got a new leisure battery, next time it was the actual remote control the connections inside were loose luckily a friend redid all the connections,3rd time again it was the controller think was really cold over winter and then would not work properly, used a hairdryer to warm it /remove any slight damp and now all ok
------------- Live life to the full you are a long time dead
Have you got a master switch in caravan( ours under front bed) check it has not been switched off by mistake or automatically when battery is disconnected Alan
We had problems with our mover first time out this year. We checked the battery was OK, but it was only when we took it off the van and charged it properly that it worked! I got suspicious when we had connected the van to the electricity overnight and it appeared to be fully charged but as soon as we put it on battery only we couldn't get 12v lights to work. We took it off the van and charged it separately. It really does need a full charge to work.
Good luck. Carol
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Topic: Carver Motor Mover
and was wondering why it was making such a hard job of moving the van - until I noticed!
