EC50 Control Panel Issues

[KR.]

I've having issues with my Sargent EC50 control panel beeping and LEDs illuminating. I did a bit of investigating this morning and found that the panel appears to be live. Note the aluminium backing panel only seems to conduct when the 'inside' of the metal drilled holes is brought into play, the shinier matt surface doesn't seem to give a circuit. I'm assuming the surface is insulating but the material underneath it is conducting? The panel will not switch on unless it's touching those conducting spots panel either which seems odd to me, or is this how it's supposed to be? Something to do with earthing?

I'm not saying it's causing the issues but I'd like to get my head round this first, I'd rather the problem was somewhere I can see as if it's behind the panel or inside the units *and* it's intermittent (I think it's caused with vibration ie only when van moving, especially over bumpy roads) then I'm going to struggle to pin this down.



My workaround for the moment is to remove the data cable from the back of the control panel until it's needed and I plug it back in again. The fridge is still working and all indications (Victron solar, DC charger and battery monitor) appear okay. The control panel is brand new, I'd hoped the fault lay there and a new one would solve things, it hasn't, it's doing the same as the one I removed.

 

[Dellmassive]

i would be looking at all your 0v / earths.


make sure your 12v battery's have a common ground via the chassis.

post come pics of the setup.

batterys, victron kit etc etc.

you might have a dodgy ground somewhere.

 

[KR.]

Dell, here's some photos, important to note that all was working fine for the best part of a year, the control panel issue has only really come to be really annoying recently.

The top of the battery, all connections are tight on checking. Earth point top right, again feels tight. Victron Battery Monitor on top of the battery.



Victron DC charger under drivers seat.



Victron Solar in top rear cupboard.



Sargent EC155 PSU in cupboard below solar.



Another view of the control panel, heater above, 1 x 12v, 1 x 230v below,
Fridge and rear light switches below.

 

[Dellmassive]

what leisure battery is it?

and what's going on here with the main battery ground cable? (yellow below)


is that a metal to metal connection?

is that the rear wheel arch?

 

[KR.]

The Leisure Battery is a Leoch Extreme Adventure 130 AGM
Earthing point is indeed metal to metal through rear wheel arch. Feels tight and secure.

 

[Dellmassive]

can you unbolt that ground point . . . for a better look under the cable.?

how is the stud connected to the body work?

have you got any jump leads? . . . . possible try using a black jump lead to connect that leisure battery NEG post to a good ground / lump of bodywork (as a double chassis ground ) for a re test?

 

[DXX]

Not a low water tank level warning?

 

[Dellmassive]

his sargent display unit is 12v live . . ?




@KR.

have you tried metering out the main body of the Sargent unit . ? ( to see it that's the same potential?)

have you tested all the 12v voltages on the sargent?

have you tested the NEG ground point for the sargent?

have you tried a temp replacement RJ45 cat5 cable . . ? ( to see if the data cable is defective?)


.

 

[KR.]

Yes, I'm thinking that LEDs, beeps and 12v live showing have to be linked. I'll get the meter out again tomorrow but as usual access is the problem. I'll also check that chassis negative point, the guy that fitted it told me he'd scraped the wheel arch and it was bare metal to metal under the wheel arch liner. Checking the cable in theory looks like the easier option and if I get a long enough cable I should be able to link the EC50 panel and the EC155 PSU, drive about and see if the problem persists. I've ordered an 5m RJ45 cable off Amazon, the only other one I have is too short.
I don't know much about the EC155 PSU connections, I'll unscrew the cover and hopefully the cable connection will be obvious.
I'll report back when I've checked what I can.
Thanks for the assistance.

 

[KR.]

Not a low water tank level warning?

The EC50 doesn't have that, the EC51 does. Good try though.

 

[DXX]

Are those massive screw securing the PCB standard? It just doesn’t look original, perhaps the reason the fascia is live?

 

[T6Jay]

Even if it's unrelated to the problem, I'd be re-locating that DIY drilled/bolted ground connection on the wheel arch, to the OEM welded stud one just nearby;



Inside the wheel arch, bolted on to 'scraped off paint' seems to be asking for trouble.

 

[KR.]

We have a result. I hope I'm not speaking too soon but a test drive produced no beeps/LEDs. The panel is no longer live and switches on without having to be in contact with those screw holes drilled in the aluminum backing panel.



Trying to use my short RJ45 cable (I'm impatient, the longer one will be coming later today), I removed the screws in the corners of the EC155 PSU and while the wiring behind is tight I managed to tilt the top forward to about 60 degrees to access the wiring connections at the bottom behind the unit. I swapped out the RJ45 and threaded it to the EC50 control panel (just long enough after all) straight away I thought it's still not switching on, I touched the lugs of the panel to the screw holes on the aluminium panel and it came on. Removing it from the panel I metered it and it was live, so no change. Returning to the EC155 I put things back to normal but now had zero, no live, no leds, no beeps, dead.
I unscrewed the EC155 again and had a look behind and the connection labelled DC IN was visibly loose out so pushed it in securely (thanks to T4 forum for the photo).




The EC50 panel was still hanging loose so I tried to switch it on and it came on - without any contact with the backing panel holes. I also metered it and no longer live.
I don't know enough about electrics but it would appear the DC IN connection might have been loose and any vibration may have momentarily connected and disconnected the connection causing the panel to beep and alarm. Of course it could have been something else and I've no idea why that would make the panel live. I also noted that on securing the EC50 back into the control panel the one that's gone back is the old one, so I've shelled out for that new one for nothing. Ah well.

I get the advice about the earthing point but it's worked for nearly a year and I'd rather leave it be, the guy who installed it (at my request) knows his stuff so I'm happy the connection is good.

Hopefully that's it, thanks to all for giving me pointers, and Dell I didn't realise the cable connecting it was an RJ45, so I'm better informed now.

Need to go, here's the Amazon man with my data cable ....