Sargent EC155 - stupid questions

Smiffi · May 6, 2018

Hi guys, recently bought a converted T5 so still getting used to the electrical set-up. Stupid question is..... when hooked up and the switch in on the EC155 illuminated, are both he leisure and van battery being charged or do I have to switch the control panel on in the van and select which battery I wish to charge?

Also, the other day I was on hook up and decided to play the van stereo for a little while. All good. Next morning I tried the same and the radio display said low battery and wouldn't turn on even though I was external power and the EC50 said the van battery was half full.

Any thoughts on either would be very welcome

Thanks in advance!

triffic · May 6, 2018

In general, the "lesser" Sargent controllers such as the EC155 (and EC325 and EC328) only allow you to charge one battery at a time - so the battery that's selected on the panel is the one that is charged, and the one that power is taken from by loads in the habitation area. The default on the EC325/328 when the panel is turned off is to charge the leisure battery, but I don't know if that is true of the EC155.

The "low battery" on the radio is entirely a function of the radio - some OEM radios are set up very conservatively and will auto switch off when the battery is still only partially depleted. On the other hand, your vehicle battery may be knackered!

Smiffi · May 8, 2018

Thanks for the info Triffic. I just left the panel off and it seems the leisure battery was charged. I will have a little play to see if I can get it to charge the van battery. I don't seem to be able to get either battery to display full on the panel.

Hoovie · May 6, 2018

Just a word of caution... The EC155 is (IMO) a nice unit in terms of integrated power distribution and control BUT - and it is a BIG but - the battery charging part leaves a lot to be desired. It is limited to a recommended 100Ah max battery size and it is very much a dumb charger.

I would strongly suggest you get a modern smart charger that will provide optimal charging to your batteries.

Smiffi · May 8, 2018

Thanks, when you say smart charger, do you mean something like a CTEK smart charger that connects to the car battery or ciggi lighter?

Hoovie · May 10, 2018

OK .... back

The RED SWITCH is certainly labelled "CHARGER" - and so is as I recalled, a switch for the Charger ON or OFF.

FUSE #12 is for the Charger - actually 15A not 20A as I recalled in last post - remove that will stop it outputing (but Red Switch is better way).

THIRD-MOST MCD (Nearest to RHS) is the Mains in for the Charger plus Fridge and Boiler. Now it depends on how the unit is installed, but on a vehicle the size of a T5, that output may not be used for anything other than the Charger.

So actually potentially 3 different ways to stop the built-in charger doing anything - flicking the switch is by far the easiest

Smiffi · May 10, 2018

Thank you Hoovie, fantastic help!

Sargent EC155 - stupid questions

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