Leisure battery not powering the bits it should - views sort

[dobby]

Agreed

If you breath in sharp and get that heavy leisure battery moved to a nice safe position up front under the bonnet, you can turn a negative into a positive (no pun) and gain some more storage in the conversion.

[missfixit70]

I would think a little complaint to wherever you bought it from wouldnt go amiss either !!
Good Luck

Dabs

I sent a complaint to them yesterday, also about the tyres as lumps are coming off them. I was going to get an AA report done on the vehicle prior to buying it, but they advised me that they would get an independent mechanics report, which I have, and together with the warranty nothing else would be needed.

Cas x

Trading standards should be involved in my opinion, that's absolutley appaling if that's supposed to be a proffesional conversion Get lots of photos taken & an independent report done asap. touch nothing, other than remove the gas bottle.

[dave_aber]

Good point about the battery fumes.

The concern over the gas issue I raised as that if you had a propane or butane leak then you may have a source of ignition with all that iffy wiring. What I had overlooked was the fact that the battery is sitting right in the middle of it all. When recharging, most car batteries give off hydrogen. Not nice in a confined space with a spark...

As for certification, I am not sure what the legal requirement is. However, Lifesure advised me when I started my insurance with them and stated my intention to convert it to a camper that they would be OK with this, but they would excude any gas related fire / explosion / etc losses unless I had the gas installaton certified by a Corgi registered installer. I understand that Corgi has now been replaced with "Gas Safe".

They made no mention of electrical safety certificates. To be honest, I doubt that there is a single recognised body for certifying 12v car / camper electrics. Any mains installation in a caravan or motorhome should comply with 17th edition wiring regs, and any qualified sparky should be able to inspect / certify this for you. I do know that there is some mention in the 17th edition for caravan wiring, in as much that 12v and 240v wiring can run together (not allowed in a house), as long as the 12v cabling is insulated suitably for 240v in case of any cross-connection.

[Alison01326]

Agree with Kirsty that trading standards should be aware of what you have been sold. As it's unsafe, it's not really fit for purpose as a camper. I certainly wouldn't want to go to sleep in it in case I didn't wake up. You've had a split hose, and your tyres are in a poor state - quite a litany of problems in the first few weeks.

I don't know how bad it would have to be to take the heartbreaking decision to return it to the dealer and ask for a refund, but so far it does not appear to have served you well. I have no idea of ho the law works in this case, but I suspect with the backup of trading standards you could well have a case for a refund.

[casls650]

Hi, I finally managed to get hold of the company. The guy is incredibly articulate, and i struggled to get a word in. Being dyslexic I do struggle sometimes to get the words out, and he just talked at me and it was awful. The call was 22 minutes long and for 18 mins and 20 seconds of this it was him who talked! He hung up on me at the end. I felt so small and out of my depth. At one time he offered me my money back, but when I said yes and that I would want money for the necessary fixes he changed his mind. He told me that if I contact him again he will take action. I dont know what that means. When I told him I had posted on the forum he said he would come on and say I was an awkward customer. All I want is my van to be fixed and in working order I dont think that is being awkward, particularly as I have only had it 2 1/2 months. I have contacted trading standards and I am now going to pursue it that way. Even tho he did say that he would laugh at me if I took him to court.
Thanks to all the support, its a shame there are people like that.

Cas x

[missfixit70]

Typical car dealer attitude then lets hope trading standards already have a file on him, wouldn't be surprised if they do with that attitude. I think as a customer you've been pretty good considering the issues you've had. Could his words be perceived as a threat worth taking to the police?
Fingers crossed for you

[Alison01326]

How absolutely awful for you. I appreciate that you are dyslexic but any communication with this chap from now on should be in writing otherwise it will be your word against his if it comes to the crunch. Do you have someone who can write letters for you, or check those that you write before you send them?

As far as being awkward is concerned, from what I've read on here from you, you've put up with all the faults and tried to sort them out without recourse to the seller. Stick to your guns, keep the pressure up on Trading Standards if you need to, and if they don't appear to be as helpful as they could be, or you need a second opinion, someone at your local Citizens Advice Bureau should also be able to advise on consumer law.

[walty666]

If you don't mind me asking, who did the conversion and wiring?

[casls650]

If you don't mind me asking, who did the conversion and wiring?

in the intrest of fairness I dont really want to name the company here, but I will say they are in hull. Will PM you with the actual company who did the conversion.

Cas x

[dreamwarrioruk]

my twopences worth as a sparkie/diy converter. that electrical work is shocking (no pun). that will realisticaly need completely ripping out and doing corectly using the correct items. the split charge relay will fuse (if not already) and needs to be a better model. the battery could do with moving into the bonnet area for risk of the fumes/fire risk as mentioned. regards the gas does the bottle housing area have a drop vent and a method of securing the bottle in a upright position.
then there is the issue of 240v and 12v running next to each other as also mentioned.
if you were closer i would be willing to redo it all for you and i could at least issue a certificate for the 240v side of things. im also assuming that there is the correct distribution board with an rcd. mind you judging by the state of the 12v electrics i wouldnt want to look inside the mainsboard.
i have seen some "proffesional" installations that were bad but this one is the worst ive seen.
i sugest that you contact trading standards regard this and cab.

fingers crossed for you

[321Away]

personally would suspect your automatic switch over relay (last pic)those units, altho rated at 30Amps, arent much use when put between a main n leisure battery, as a flat leisure battery will spike and draw approx 50Amps, which will thermally load and over a period of time burn out the unit, as an auto electrician i'd do a quick check over the input/output voltages of the units and then give the option to try and repair or replace the system,but it looks like quite a mess! As siad in general a split charging system is usually quite simple with only a few components, check prices with local electricians as some of them can be very expensive.
Julian