Hi i have a 1999 hobby 540 uk i have just discoverd a battery under the rear bed box.Do the vans come with a battery or do they have a transformer from 240 to 12 v? If they do have a transformer where is it located and what does it look like?
Cheers David
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Electrics/Battery?
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Electrics/Battery?
by teaser » Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:14 pm
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- Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 10:25 pm
by Chubbs » Fri Aug 31, 2007 10:34 pm
Hi David,
Welcome to the Hobby site.
I have a 2003 540UF but the basic approach to electrics is much the same. Hobby caravans are designed to operate without the need for a battery on-board at all. However, having experienced a site power cut, I would now never dream of going without a battery - it is not always convenient or desirable to hook up to the car for its 12v supply instead.
The mains electric distribution box (usually in the wardrobe) contains the 12v transformer and the necessary relays to switch over between car 12volts and caravan 12v automatically - but never connect the car to the caravan electrically when hooked up to mains on site, for obvious reasons.
However, the caravan transformer may well supply two types of low voltage (as mine does). It gives normally expected 12 volts dc (which is for electric motors like water pump, heating fan, extractor fan and possibly a couple of lights too) but it may also provide another circuit with 12 - 14 volts ac, i.e. alternating current, which is absolutely fine for things like lights but NOT for motors. Both types come from the transformer in the wardobe, which is why it is so important to know which is which before connecting another battery (your leisure battery) into the caravan circuitry.
If you have battery under a bed box, then it stands to reason that someone has already made the right connections, but the caravan should still work perfectly without that battery being connected up (unless the on-board transformer has been deliberately disconnected when the leisure battery was fitted - I know some other Hobby owners did that as a safety precaution I think.
Anyway, you should explore the electrics thoroughly and carefully so that you knoe exactly what is connected up to what and on which circuits.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Welcome to the Hobby site.
I have a 2003 540UF but the basic approach to electrics is much the same. Hobby caravans are designed to operate without the need for a battery on-board at all. However, having experienced a site power cut, I would now never dream of going without a battery - it is not always convenient or desirable to hook up to the car for its 12v supply instead.
The mains electric distribution box (usually in the wardrobe) contains the 12v transformer and the necessary relays to switch over between car 12volts and caravan 12v automatically - but never connect the car to the caravan electrically when hooked up to mains on site, for obvious reasons.
However, the caravan transformer may well supply two types of low voltage (as mine does). It gives normally expected 12 volts dc (which is for electric motors like water pump, heating fan, extractor fan and possibly a couple of lights too) but it may also provide another circuit with 12 - 14 volts ac, i.e. alternating current, which is absolutely fine for things like lights but NOT for motors. Both types come from the transformer in the wardobe, which is why it is so important to know which is which before connecting another battery (your leisure battery) into the caravan circuitry.
If you have battery under a bed box, then it stands to reason that someone has already made the right connections, but the caravan should still work perfectly without that battery being connected up (unless the on-board transformer has been deliberately disconnected when the leisure battery was fitted - I know some other Hobby owners did that as a safety precaution I think.
Anyway, you should explore the electrics thoroughly and carefully so that you knoe exactly what is connected up to what and on which circuits.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Volvo V70 (170bhp), traded in;
Hobby Prestige 540UF now SOLD:
Now (Oct 2010) Volvo XC90 tugs a Sprite Alpine 4
Hobby Prestige 540UF now SOLD:
Now (Oct 2010) Volvo XC90 tugs a Sprite Alpine 4
- Chubbs
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- Location: South West Scotland
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