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Link up when at home

4554 Views 13 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Kees, 
bonnieboo
Hi
can you tell me if it is ok to keep my motorhome on the link up for a while. how long is ok because I dont want to burn anything out. I think it must be ok because people are sometimes on link up for weeks at a time when they are on site. I ask because it would save me having to empty the freezer each time and it would be good to leave the food in there to save having to eat it and buy more.

Thanks
Jakki :D
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B
Jakki

Yes, keep it on hook up, no problem. The charging circuits should keep your battery topped up & you can run the fridge. Ours is on all the time. One thing we do is to switch off the water pump (on the Schaudt control panel we have a separate fuse switch) - in winter it will stop the pump emptying your water tank if the boiler safety valve dumps the water in the boiler.
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bonnieboo
Thanks for that Bognormike.
Our pump is on a separate button on the control panel so it is always off unless we switch it on.

I don't know if it is the same thing but ours automatically empty the tanks when the temp gets to 0 deg so the water doesn't freeze. is this what you meant? :D
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B
yes that's it - it should empty the boiler; however the water in the pipes / tank should be ok, that's why we switch off the pump. The pump could be going some time after pumping all the water through to the boiler, and may burn out if you don't know it's happened.
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bonnieboo
Hi
the reason I turned the link up off was because when I went into the motorhome I could smell a faint burning, I called my husband and asked him if he could smell anything ( I didnt say burning) and he said he could smell faint burning. we wondered if it could be where the motorhome was shut up. I was worried in case I was cooking the battery of something.

I am sure I am worrying unnecessary, we have only had the motorhome a couple of weeks and we didnt smell anything when we were on link up on the caravan park.
Jakki
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bonnieboo
Just trying to get this page back on the top 20.

need more answers
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bonnieboo
Over cooked battery ( not on the Remoska)

Hi all
We were really looking forward to going to the Hop Farm in Paddock wood for the long week end.
First of all I popped down the paper shop in the discovery, I noticed that I had lost power and when the power came back it belted out black smoke from both exhausts. we took it back to Barratts as it is new and still under warranty. had to leave it.
We started to put some water into the water tank on the motorhome, water was gushing out of the underneath, I checked the leisure battery and it had dropped to 8amps and if it drops under ten amps the boiler dumps the water. checked the battery and it was blown up like a football, we have only had this motorhome a few weeks so went back to the dealer, the mechanic said the battery was about to explode and had we not of noticed it the battery would have exploded whilst we were away. they changed the battery.
I now know what the burning smell was , I put a thread on this site re keeping link up on when at home because I had a burning smell and I was worried.
At least I know to go with my instincts now.
We had a lovely week end after all of that. The Hop Farm was very relaxing, good clean hot showers and 400 acres of lovely country side walks. My husband kept on about the lovely hot showers so I thought I would give them a go. I stripped off and stood under the shower, pressed the shower button and 8O 8O 8O 8O It was freezing, it got hot a few seconds after and then it was too hot. I couldn't wait to get out. it wasn't just my eyes that looked like 8O it was the upper parts of my body as well ha ha
Jakki
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B
Hi I notice you mention leaving it on because of the fridge, now I am no expert but recently we had to have a guy out from Thetford (he was very well informed ref Thetford) and advised us not to leave the fridge on in the MH for long periods as he said due to the design etc they are not like a normal domestic fridge as I say those were his words not mine.

We now have taken his advice and don't leave the fridge on unless we are going to be using the MH again within a short period of time.
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bonnieboo
Hi Briarose
I have now started turning the freezer and fridge off and just putting it on 24 hrs before we are travelling.
The thought of having acid showered all over me has frightened me to death. I have kept the link up on at home just to keep the batteries top up.
Jakki
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K
The original advice you received was quite correct. It is perfectly alright to leave the motorhome hooked-up to mains power forever - providing the battery charger is working correctly and the battery is healthy. Your initial post didn't mention a burning smell. If the dealer has replaced the battery but NOT repaired or replaced the battery charger then you may be in danger or over-charging the battery again (unless the problem occurred because one cell went short-circuit inside the battery which would be very unusual with a nearly-new battery). Check that the battery voltage doesn't go above 13.8 volts with the charger on.
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geraldandannie
Hi Jakki

That's what we do. We're off on Thursday, so the van has gone on hookup today to bring the fridge and freezer down to temperature, ready for loading tomorrow.

I think you should get the charger on the van checked. During the winter, we leave ours on hookup permanently (with an oil-filled radiator to stop the inside freezing up), but the charger is also on permanently. I'd hate for you to have the same problem again.

Gerald



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bonnieboo
Hi
the van is an 06 so the battery might have been the original.
The mechanic put the new battery on and checked it with his meter, he said everything is good. I will still keep an eye open though.
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K
Hi Jakki

What the mechanic did would not necessarily show whether the charger is faulty or not. The battery may take quite a while before it's voltage crept over 13.8 volts, even with a faulty battery charger. You need to leave it on mains power for a few hours, checking the voltage every quarter of an hour. It should rise slowly to 13.8 volts and then remain at that level thereafter. If the charger's faulty, the volts will keep going to 15 volts, 16 volts or more, and then the battery will start to overheat.

Kees
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K
Hi Jakki

What the mechanic did would not necessarily show whether the charger is faulty or not. The battery may take quite a while before it's voltage crept over 13.8 volts, even with a faulty battery charger. You need to leave it on mains power for a few hours, checking the voltage every quarter of an hour. It should rise slowly to 13.8 volts and then remain at that level thereafter. If the charger's faulty, the volts will keep going to 15 volts, 16 volts or more, and then the battery will start to overheat.

Kees
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