Someone else at the rally said you cannot run a Fleetwood of this year direct from the car. Could you please shed some light on this problem for us?
Thank you in advance.
Response
The only way you can charge the leisure battery from the car is to plug in the 12S lead into the car and have the engine running.
This is done to ensure you cannot discharge the car battery.
The control panel PDU has auto sensing through a set of relays which will isolate the caravan 12v system when it senses car battery voltage of approx 12.75v and below, however, it will switch over at approx 13.5v to allow a charge to the leisure battery and a supply to the fridge while in transit providing the fridge is set on battery operation.
Other manufacturers followed this lead sometime after and a new standard was born.
I take it you understand why your battery went flat in the first place?
Hope the explanation above helps.
Feedback
Thanks for the quick reply, yes I know why the battery went flat, we were on a rally with no hook up and was only using an 85 amp battery.
But my question was, in the Fleetwood handbook for 2004 and 2006 (somehow we have both) it says plug in the grey plug, switch the switch to car and you can run the caravan off the car until the sensor's say the battery is down then it cuts out.
But I can't find the switch that's says car-caravan to switch it over like I had in previous van's. If it is the case that you can't run off the car, why is it explained how to do it in the handbook?
Thanks again for the reply
Response
I've had a read of the 2004 Owners Handbook, and take your point from what's said on page 74.
However, Fleetwood produced a single manual covering their range of caravans for each year, and of course the specification and level of equipment varied greatly. So I think your caravan must be one of higher spec where the detail for what you are looking for is covered on page 68.
Please let me have the caravan particulars,
Year of Manufacture & serial number
Model and layout numbers i.e., Heritage 560/4
Can you check on your PDU that you do not have the car/caravan switch?
Is your unit identified as a PDU1?
We can progress one step nearer to resolve your issue when I have the detail requested.
Feedback
Thanks again for the swift reply. Right, the unit in my van is the same as the one on page 69 of the 2004 manual and not a PDU1.
This is the same as on page 5-3 of the 2006 handbook.
The details of my van are:- Colchester 420-2, year of manufacture 2004
Response
I am of the opinion the control panel you have is fitted with the auto relays and will not allow you to use your tow car battery to run the 12 volt systems in the caravan.
However I will seek some advice from an ex-Fleetwood dealer and I'll go back to the OEM manufacturer of the control panel to have their view on it.
Feedback
Many thanks for getting back so quickly. I think that you are right in what you say but would appreciate any info you can get for me.
Response
This is the reply I've had form Ben Cutting of Pentlow Leisure, re your 12 volt issue.........
Pin 4 (green) and its earth return pin 3 (white) should be 'live' on the car all the time. These should run caravan internal equipment and battery charging.
Pin 6 (red) power to the fridge is only live when the engine is running. Pin 7 earth for the fridge is connected all the time.
There is also another wiring with Pin 2 (blue) being used as a signal to the caravan that the car is connected. This is very rare, however as I said before some caravans do need the engine running to trigger the relay, if this is the case it could be rewired.
In conclusion your caravan, and as I suspect most Fleetwoods are, wired such that they will not run the 12 volt system from the car without the engine running........... BUT, it does look like that it can be changed from what Ben is saying.
Ben has working for him two ex Fleetwood long serving employees, one was in the prototype shop while the other was their electrical guy who used to be all over the country sorting issues out for the factory, so these guys really do know their stuff.
If it's your plan to alter the wiring to give you what you need, and Pentlow are too distant for you to have them do it, give me an indication of where you are located and I'll see if one of our supportive ex Fleetwood dealers are nearby to help you out. Please mention the Club when making contact.
Feedback
Thanks again for the reply. It does seem to be getting a bit complicated so I think I will leave it alone for now. At least I know that if needed I can hook the car up for 15 minutes or so and put a bit of life back in the battery.
OK and thanks again for all the help and info.
