isolator switch Forums

Jacobite

Hello,

sorry to appear so stupid - we are just now getting down to sorting out water in the van etc. and have discovered the leisure battery seems to be kind of flat so have now connected up the electricity.

Some water has been put in - not that easy to fill we think, not as easy as previous van. When water is put into the tank - does this then fill the water heater first or would it only go into the water heater if the water heater was switched on?

We read the water taps will only work with the water pump switched on.
How then does the electric flush on the toilet work? We were not shown that on handover, just shown the blue button.

Depending on answer, do we have to have something on the control panel switched on when we are travelling? We will obviously have the fridge switched on which should come off the leisure battery which should be charging as we drive.

We had switched off the red lever under the driver's seat (550), we were told this should still charge the leisure battery, now we are not so sure. Also, we find that the fan on the fridge is not still going.

Thanks in advance.

Jacobite

Malc

Hi Jacobite,
To fill the hot water tank (boiler), you will have to run the hot tap to expel the air until water comes out of the tap, to do this you will have to turn on the electric for the taps if they are isolated by a switch. If the toilet flushes from the water tank (I am not familiar with the Trigano) the same applies with 12 volts and you could find initially that some air is expelled until primed. Dependant on the type of `fridge, either select 12v on the switches (12v,240v or gas) or if a AOS place the switch on auto and whilst travelling 12v will automatically be selected. Hope this helps.
Malc

oldenstar

Hi Jacobite
Will answer what I can. Personally I have never turned off the leisure battery, and had no problems to date, so I personally I will leave the red lever alone, unless parking up for months.
When you say you have connected up the electricity, do you mean connected to 240v (home system)? If so you will see the top left light on the control panel come on-this means van is running on 240v and is charging the leisure battery.
You will need to switch on the pump on the control panel for all the taps and the toilet flush to work. I think the water heater will fill as and when you switch it on. Personally used to switch ours off overnight and switch on again first thing in morning-it is pretty quick, and generally the lower temp setting is adequate.
I don't have anything switched on when travelling but don't forget to switch on the interior light and water pump switches when you stop. Main thing is fridge-I connect up to house electrics for a few hours before setting off to get temp down, then switch 12v switch on whilst travelling (Don't forget switches are upside down to most household switches)
Then if elec on site don't forget to turn the 12v switch off and the 240v switch on.
Also don't forget the tv system needs the interior light switch on.
The fan on the fridge only works when the sliding door is open and blocking the vents, probably working off the door light sensor.
HTH
Paul

motoroamin

Looks like the help you've had on here has been much more worthwhile than the dealers' handover.....

The red key switch is a 'dead man' switch for turning off the 12v to the internal system when you lay the vehicle up. The battery will still gradually drain over a long period and requires periodic charging, even with nothing powered.

Tribute_650

Hi Jacobite, I have found that the control panel will cut-off the Leisure battery when it drops below 2/3 s charge so will appear to go flat quickly if not been "top-up" charged.

I agree with other posters that the red switch is to isolate the batt, only turn off in emergencies or long layups. I usually take off batt over winter so I can charge periodically on the bench along with my MGB and Harley batts which also get no use over winter. I have found that a new battery will only last 3 years if allowed to go flat and stay flat over the winter months.

To fill up water tank push hose well in to filler hole till it goes into tank ( make sure end is clean first !)

Jacobite

Thanks to all who answered previous points.

We have now established, from a few replies regarding the red lever under the driver's seat, we shouldn't have been told to switch this off.

Can't find the previous forum about this. Basically when we collected our van on 4th July and got home, the fridge van ran continuously. Not only when the sliding door is open - all the time. We contacted dealer, Dyce Caravans , and were told to turn the red lever. We were also told that the leisure battery would still charge when running. This is obviously not the case.

Oldenstar may remember previous forum messages re this fridge fan.

Yesterday we have found the leisure battery flat - OK, we now still have the electricity plugged in to the van and things are working. The fridge fan is now running continuously again

This has nothing to do with whether the side door is open or not.

Does the fridge fan run all the time on the Trigano 550 whether the fridge is switched on or off?

We are wondering whether the man who fitted the Cobra alarm has maybe done something to the electrics.

The "electricity" was not working when we viewed this van, we had to climb up to get into the van as the elec. step did not work, presumably everything was switched off. At handover, the van was plugged in to the electricity, we did not at that time notice the fan as we were being shown some of the other things in the van.

Am considering phoning Trigano direct on this.

Thanks,
Jacobite

Tribute_650

Hi Jacobite,

Maybe thats why the battery is going flat if the Fridge fan is on all the time. Sounds like a faulty switch. The 650 does not switch the fan on when the door is open as it has large external vents ( the downside is they let in heavy rain !) so I can not investigate further for you. Oldenstar established that the 550 fan comes on with door open / off when shut so it looks like your door switch could be short circuit.

Would be interested if you get ANY reply from Trigano UK. I have now sent them 3 e-mails re fridge vents and have been totally ignored. To test I sent them a sales enquiry from another e-mail address and got a reply next day which seems to indicate that they are only interested in selling you a new van but "stuff you" when it comes to support !!! ( sorry but sore point with me) I have emailed Italy about the lack of UK support but guess what, NOWT.

Sorry to ramble, back on topic, I would take the van back to the dealer as it seems to me that that is the only route Trigano will look at, if you have problems getting the dealer to take things seriously, as I did, then thats where I am .. Stuck ! but yours does sound like a solid case.

sheppyboy

Hi All

Does anyone else have this problem. When the red isolator switch under the drivers seat is switched to isolate the 12v internal battery, I find that I cannot lock the motorhome with the remote key fob for cental locking or with the normal key.

My fridge fan runs when the sliding door is open and switches off with it shut.

Sheppyboy