a strange series of electrical events ?

[g8dhe]

Regarding the "Fuse 1"(BF style) that feeds 11 different things! Including the ECU and its that which causes the flashing lights.

I will shortly be adding the complete list of which fuse feeds what on the online manual, just working out the best format to display the information in.

[thedogsbollox]

Oh yes and i forgot to mention that when i first installed my LB it was pretty flat and the Glow light flashed for a bit. A few long runs and it is all hunky dory now though.

It's been reported on here before that L/B equipped cars with a Willinton kit will have a flashing glow light if the L/B is removed.

ok thats nicce to know its not another electrical gremlin kicking in !

You may have read that i snapped the stud on the Leisure battery Positive Terminal whilst relocating my inverter. I had to drive on Saturday and this was with no connection at the LB+ My radio went on and off with the willington kit relay kicking in and out.
So my guess is that it is either the connections or the battery is dead.

i hope its the connections - the LB is less than 6 months old. however i doubt if i have kept the receipt - only a card staement.

i'll post back once all above suggestions have been exhausted.

cheers

[Bombadilo]

just reporting back.

what a glorious night to have your head under the bonnet !

just wish it was somewhere else and not on my drive !

anyway. all fuses checked with volt meter - no probs.

vehicle battery voltage 12.9 v without engine - 14v with engine running.
LB has been on charge in garage all day - only 12.06 volts !

replaced LB earth lead with the one that came with the willington kit and ensured a good chassis connection.

checked continuity with voltmeter - all ok.

cleaned up and checked vehicle battery earth, likewise - ok.

just waiting now for the LB to charge up (if it ever will) i thought 9 hrs would have been enough ?

if the LB is knackered i hope my local caravan shop where i bought it will exchange it. its only a few months old.

noticed that the doors to the bongo had been left unlocked all day while i was in work !

i assume the leisure battery controls the central locking as well, if the internal mod is done with the radio,blinds, lights etc ?

phill

[thedogsbollox]

just reporting back.

what a glorious night to have your head under the bonnet !

just wish it was somewhere else and not on my drive !

anyway. all fuses checked with volt meter - no probs.

vehicle battery voltage 12.9 v without engine - 14v with engine running.
LB has been on charge in garage all day - only 12.06 volts !

replaced LB earth lead with the one that came with the willington kit and ensured a good chassis connection.

checked continuity with voltmeter - all ok.

cleaned up and checked vehicle battery earth, likewise - ok.

just waiting now for the LB to charge up (if it ever will) i thought 9 hrs would have been enough ?

if the LB is knackered i hope my local caravan shop where i bought it will exchange it. its only a few months old.

noticed that the doors to the bongo had been left unlocked all day while i was in work !

i assume the leisure battery controls the central locking as well, if the internal mod is done with the radio,blinds, lights etc ?

phill

That is right. I had to use the central locking from inside with the engine running, close blinds, fold mirrors, then get out and lock the door.

[Bombadilo]

LB now charged (took 30 hrs)

put it back in place having done all checks above.

still no power to radio ? and glow plug light flashing on dash.

i'm thinking about disconnecting the willington kit and putting internal fuses back as they were in january prior to installation of LB and mod to run radio,blinds, lights from LB.

i was going down to dorset tonight, i need my blinds to sleep in the van and my radio to work for the journey down.

that will be the quickest work around and also eliminate any probs from the original elecs.

when i get back i'll get someone to look at the willington relay.

i know they're great bits of kit and i've not heard of any reliability probs but its someting i must consider in the scheme of things.

phill

[dave_aber]

Drop Martin an email via eBay and he'll no doubt advise how to test / fix the kit.

[g8dhe]

Have you checked the top left fuse position, I say it that way as it will have moved to the willinton fuse box, that is the fuse that controls the radio and ECU power ?

[Bombadilo]

removed the willington kit and LB.

put the 1 red fuse and 3 blue fuses back in.

everything back to normal. radio, central locking, glow plug light.

i'll have a stereo for the journey down & blinds so we can sleep.

the kids wont be able to watch the laptop for too long as i've taken the inverter out as well - but hey its a cyder festival !

they'll have to entertain themselves otherwise.

i will email martin for advice on checks next week

he seemed really helpful via email last time i contacted him.

thanks for all the tips folks.

have a good weekend !

phill

[gmaczbongo]

I would move the steering column up and down when you next have problems and see if this has any effect. This will move the main connectors in that area and may show up a dodgy connection or two.

[Bombadilo]

problem solved !

as mentioned in the above post, i removed the willington split charger relay, put fuses back and everything was back to normal.

i contacted martin, who suggested i return the relay to him for tests.

he kindly paid the postage fees to return it and promptly discovered a zenner diode had failed in the relay.

he returned the relay within a few days.

i fitted it today and all seems well.

the LB wasn't charging up when the bongo was started so over the weeks the radio/blinds/internal lights drained the LB without me realising.

the other problems mentioned in my first post were unrelated red herrings.

however the plasma dials still give a high pitched whine when the lights are on. has anyone experienced this ?

at least now i have a stereo i can turn up to drown out the noise !

cheers to all who contributed to solution and especially to martin bird for his customer service - well recommended.

phill

[ronhud]

Interesting thread. Going back to the first message why would the Willinton diode failure affect the glowplugs and starting?
Ron

[g8dhe]

however the plasma dials still give a high pitched whine when the lights are on. has anyone experienced this ?

The whine will come from the small transformer that steps the voltage up to drive the Plasma dials. Normally when the unit is sealed in the black potting compound it stops any vibration but it can still occour obviously, not a lot you can do other than change it out, might be worth while contacting the company and see if they will send you a new one.

[thedogsbollox]

Interesting thread. Going back to the first message why would the Willinton diode failure affect the glowplugs and starting?
Ron

Think it just flashes the glowplug light. The glowplugs keep working ok i think.

[g8dhe]

Interesting thread. Going back to the first message why would the Willinton diode failure affect the glowplugs and starting?
Ron

Quite likely the top left fuse had been switched to the L/B, and this powers the ECU (PCM) when the ignition is off, its the ECU that flashes the Glowplug to flash indicating a fault.

[Bombadilo]

Interesting thread. Going back to the first message why would the Willinton diode failure affect the glowplugs and starting?
Ron

the failure of the willington diode did not effect the glowplugs.

the fact that i removed the leisure battery to recharge it from the mains while the willington relay was still in place (with wires attached into fuse 1,6,7,& 8 ) meant that the light for the glowplugs on the dash flashed while i was driving.

the problem of turning the ignition key and getting no power seems to have been unrelated to the relay failing.

as regards to the whining of my plasma dials. don't think they would be too impressed if a moaned about the noise, considering i've taken the potentiometer and switch apart so that i could fit them into spare switch voids on the dash.

phill