# Please help. Autotrail Power Loss



## Dogswotsits (Oct 15, 2005)

Can anyone with any model of Autotrail please help me.

I am still having electrical problems with my Arapaho. When I first bought it new 3 years ago I smelled an electrical burning smell on the first day. Since then it frequently loses complete battery power and I have had to jump start it on numerous occasions. It is regularly plugged into the mains to charge the batteries. It has been back to Brownhills several times but they can not seem to find any fault with it.

My control panel above the rear door shows that I have a constant amp drain of 0.7 to 0.9 amps which sounds extremely high. Does anyone else have an Autotrail Arapaho or similar size vehicle with an alarm and Phantom and can give me the figure for their power drain when vehicle is stationary and everything turned off.

Mine was purchased new from Brownhills so if yours was the same then it is likely that the same alarm was used.

Thanks
David


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## 110747 (Mar 21, 2008)

not an autotrail owner, but will try to help.

does the leisure battery also go flat.

do both batteries actually fully charge up when on hook up.

did you find the source of the burning smell, was it in the habitation or vehicle area.

If something was letting the smoke out there should be a sign, unless its inside an electrical unit, such as the charger.

Do you leave the fridge swithed on to DC / travel mode.

Geoff


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## seanoo (Mar 31, 2007)

hi dogswotsits, i have the scout, same as you but shorter. i have a constant power drain of .4 to .6 amp. i read somewhere before that this is caused by the rear view camera and some people have had a switch put in to turn the thing off completely. not sure if it helps you but worth a look . i have two big solar panels on the roof so my power drain is sorted but if you havent then i could see this as a major problem if your van is left idle for a period of time. all the best seanoo


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## Sargent (Feb 1, 2008)

Hi David, if we can be of assistance please give our technical team a call on Monday, i will brief them to expect your call and to try to get resolution of the problems you are experiencing.

01482 678981

Regards

Ian Sargent


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## omgchrisx (Feb 15, 2009)

well i own a 1986 22' auto trail chieftain
and
a 1990 auto trail 30'3" arapaho

and i have heard of so many problems going on in the newer auto trail motorhomes i would not take one as a gift!also there is a lot more room in the older motorhomes.

i can safely say i have never encountered a big problem with my motorhomes! no battery draining, no electricity problems!


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## bigfoot (May 16, 2005)

I received an email today from Autotrail,they now have an 'ask the expert' service. I wish they had put it directly on this site anyway here it is

http://www.auto-trail.co.uk/contact.htm


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## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

Hi We have a 2005 Auto trail Chieftain I renewed both leisure batteries and the vehicle battery last summer, when the vehicle is fully charged the vehicle battery will maintain the alarm for about 4 weeks locked up and the alarm on before it runs down and needs charging. When on hookup ,with the charger in the vehicle on ,it doesn't appear to charge the vehicle battery.I have to charge the vehicle battery with an external charger .


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## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

```
"Good morning Stuart, thank you for your enquiry, the answer is yes. 
On the control panel the button at the top left hand side is the main power button (as you will already know) the button next to it is the vehicle battery selector (which toggles between leisure battery (LED off) and the vehicle battery (LED on)) if this is selected (LED on) and the charger is switched on (On the PSU 2007) then the charge current will be directed to the vehicle battery, one word of warning if the battery has been left for a considerable time and the voltage has fallen to below 10.5v then the control panel will not let you select it, if this is the case then an independent charger should be used to raise the voltage for a short length of time. As soon as the panel see a voltage greater than 10.5 it will allow the battery to be selected and therefore charged, the reason for this is to prevent the leisure system from depleting the vehicle so that it will not start. 

I hope the above information is of use but please do not hesitate to contact either myself or our technical support people on 01482 678981 

Best regards 
Ian Sargent"
```
Lindyloot, I think you will find a previous reply to trackerman solves your charging problem. You'll have to toggle the arrows in the attachment to read the whole reply from Sargent - I don't know how to expand the solution to be visible at one go - Sorry. The panel he describes is above the door in our Autotrail.

Kind regards,
John


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## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

Thanks HurricanSmith, I read something about that in the handbook and you have just refreshed my memory. We had the vehicle parked at a friends farm for 18 months whilst some building work was carried out on our property to accommodate the van. It has only been home since Dec and have just discovered this,


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

To ensure both batteries are charge on hook up i make sure both switches are pressed on the control panel above door on cheyenne. Two blue lights on.
If not vehicle battery geoes flat.
Also ensure rear view monitor is switche off.

Regards

Dave P


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## scept1c (May 10, 2005)

*Please help. Autotrail Power Loss*

Hi David, you may have already checked this but if not I think Seanoo may have been on the right lines with his suggestion about the rear view camera.

When I first collected my last Auto-Trail Cheyenne, the dealer told me that I should turn off the rear view camera display to prevent the batteries being run down. This can be done at the Obserview TV/DVD control panel. There are two rocker switches to control power to the display and the Freeview and you can find them just behind and to either side of the red and yellow audio wires.
Another thing to watch out for is the Radio/DVD, it does not switch off automatically and I once left mine on and the battery was run down quite a lot.

Have a look in the 2007 Auto-Trail handbook which can be downloaded from the Auto-Trail site. In section 9 Integrated Entertainment System page 57 for details.

"On/Off switch (D) is used to isolate the entire system to eliminate battery drain when the entertainment system or reversing camera is not in use (0 = OFF, 1 = ON)".


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## Dogswotsits (Oct 15, 2005)

*Thanks everyone*

Thanks to you all for your help. I have done little with my motorhome over the winter as I have spent a lot of time in sunnier climes, but will get on top of things now the sun is out in the UK.


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## 122177 (Apr 8, 2009)

My Scout is stored in a friend's barn when not in use and I find the best solution to maintain full battery power is to put a trickle charger on the engine battery and simply disconnect both leisure batteries using the quick connectors. Even if left for several weeks all batteries are fine.

Cheers,

Barry


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## lufc (Jun 24, 2007)

Hi

I had a similar problem with my Cheyenne, losing all battery power very quickly. There was also a couple of times that the smoke alarm (just outside cupboard housing EC325) went off during the night. With some help from Sargent I managed to find out that the first multi (left most) plug going into the EC325 was loose, causing it to heat up and melt plastic slightly. Just moving the wiring loom caused all battery power to drop, Sargent sent new parts and I replaced them and it is has been fine since.
Might be worth checking or getting those connections checked.


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