# Manually Select Vehicle Battery Charging?



## Kwaka (Jan 6, 2012)

Just gone out to the motorhome to find a totally dead vehicle battery.
I've put the mains lead in but the Sargent ec400 seems to be happily charging the leisure battery that doesn't need it!
I can't see anyway to manually switch it to the vehicle battery, anyone know if there is a way. 
The ec400 display shows 2.4v in the vehicle battery! Gulp!


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## Bill_OR (Feb 6, 2010)

The EC400 manual is online here:
http://www.sargentltd.co.uk/EC400 System Instructions Issue 2.pdf

Does that solve your problem?
Bill


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## camel1959 (Apr 17, 2011)

Hi

Is the charger light lit up green on the sargent, if not press it on.

If you want to change from charging the leisure battery to the vehicle battery press the 'view levels' and the battery been charged will light up, the rear light shown on the motorhome picture on the control panel is the leisure battery and the light at the front of the picture is the vehicle battery. If you want to change the charge to the vehicle battery press the middle of the words 'vehicle battery v' and the yellow charge light will go to the front. 

Hope this helps

Paul


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## Kwaka (Jan 6, 2012)

Bill_OR said:


> The EC400 manual is online here:
> http://www.sargentltd.co.uk/EC400 System Instructions Issue 2.pdf
> 
> Does that solve your problem?
> Bill


No sorry, I have the printed manual and it doesn't mention anyway to manually set which battery gets charged, only which gets drawn from.

Also to give insult to injury my battery charger won't even charge the vehicle battery as its got less than 5v.


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## Kwaka (Jan 6, 2012)

camel1959 said:


> Hi
> 
> Is the charger light lit up green on the sargent, if not press it on.
> 
> ...


Yes I know its charging as I can see the leisure battery levels.
Reading the manual it suggests that selecting the battery will only change which battery you draw from. In any case I cannot select the vehicle battery. It won't let me.
Thanks for your help. The battery I guess may be too far gone.


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## Jubilado999 (May 27, 2011)

see section 3:7 of the manual. On the power supply unit at he bottom of the wardrobe the LCD at top left cycle through options using the yellow button you should then be able to select using the red button for battery charging - smart - leisure or vehicle.


Ken


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## Kwaka (Jan 6, 2012)

Jubilado999 said:


> see section 3:7 of the manual. On the power supply unit at he bottom of the wardrobe the LCD at top left cycle through options using the yellow button you should then be able to select using the red button for battery charging - smart - leisure or vehicle.
> 
> Ken


Thanks, but I don't see it on mine.
I've now sussed that there is a more advanced menu by holding the top button down, but even in these options I can't select the battery to charge. I can change the charge from auto to manual.
Anyway I've bought a powerpack tonight so after giving that a charge that will get me going tomorrow.


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## Sargent (Feb 1, 2008)

Hi Kwaka, to charge the vehicle battery, press the vehicle battery button on the control panel, as long as the vehicle battery has aa small amount of energy above 2v. 
If the battery is very low then the charger will take a good period to charge the battery sufficient to start the engine.

If you can let us know how you get on? 

On the EC400 the 230v charging can be set to "smart" this can be done from the LCD on the PSU, if you are struggling then please drop our technical support people an email supportsargentltd.co.uk or give them a call on 01482 678981.

Best regards
Ian S


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## Kwaka (Jan 6, 2012)

Thanks Ian.
The PSU shows 2.6V and the control panel will not let me select the vehicle battery.
The charging is set to Smart in the PSU. 
As I've said above I'll give it a boost tomorrow with a booster powerpack and get the engine started. Then I'm sure it will start to charge and hopefully will be recoverable. 

Valuable lesson learnt in not leaving the motorhome too long without starting or mains hookup.


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## Sargent (Feb 1, 2008)

Hi Kwaka okay I didn't realise that the voltage had got that low, so yes you will need to kick start the charging by lifting the voltage.

Please make sure that the solar and the charging are both set to "Smart" that way the 230v will cover both batteries.

Best regards
Ian S


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## 4maddogs (May 4, 2010)

This happened to me too. Sargents were incredibly helpful, talking me through it on the phone. I now have printed off the manual!

Sargent told me that the unit is set to SMART by defaut. I had some work done by the dealer (fitting the new PSU after a failure) and it was them that messed around with the unit. This may have happened to you as it should have been charging both sets of batteries. 

My MH had not had a problem prior to this and not since. I was worried as it the battery went flat twice before I found the reason and I worried it had ruined the vehicle battery. It is fine. I had to get Fiat assist out to start it.

As I understand ut the control panel (above the door?) is for selecting which battery to take the charge from?

Hope it is OK.


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## DJMotorhomer (Apr 15, 2010)

Hi

I have an ec400 you need to put it on SMART CHARGE.

As I remember you hold down the button on the unit until ADVANCED SETTINGS appears then keep pressing the lower button until SMART CHARGE appears this then trickle charges both batteries.

Hope that helps

DJ


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## Kwaka (Jan 6, 2012)

Thanks for the replies but as per the previous posts nothing will work if your battery was as flat as mine, 2.6v.
So after I had used a booster battery to start the engine all now seems fine, just hope I haven't knackered the battery.


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## Sargent (Feb 1, 2008)

Hi Kwaka if you do need any further help please do not hesitate to contact me or our support staff.
[email protected]

Best regards
Ian S


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## Kwaka (Jan 6, 2012)

Sargent said:


> Hi Kwaka if you do need any further help please do not hesitate to contact me or our support staff.
> [email protected]
> 
> Best regards
> Ian S


Thanks for the offer Ian but I seem to ok now.
Thanks for yours and everyone else's help.
Dave


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