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Post Info TOPIC: Alko ESC Problem


Senior Member

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Alko ESC Problem


I was chatting with a Bloke at Stockton Dam about his problem, that being 16mth old Jayco van went to drive off from home and all the Van Brakes locked on. After disconnecting car still locked on so being Xmas time no one open, so only way was to cut the brake wires at the backing plates to move the van. Has anyone come across this, I suggested maybe one of the Sensors were Faulty keeping Power switched on to the Elec Brakes. Brake away switch was still intact and P/Brake was Off.

I advised him to either take to a Jayco agent or Alko approved ESC fitter and phone Jayco as to the newish age of the van and not much use as to could the inspect and repair under an Out of Warranty repair. his reply was you got to be Kidding I have given up after 12 months of taking van back for minor problems to be sorted without any success and Jayco agents saying OK we'll look into that and get back to you. But Never had.!!!???.

Not good to hear this about Dealers/Agents in the Caravan Industry. It's just like Dometic though after I had some problems with Leaking Truma Hot Water and after an Intensive E-mail to Germany I have always been attended to courteously with the continuing Leaking Problems over 6 yrs.

Cheers Kev. 



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Guru

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Had a similar problem with ALKO ESC - Brakes locked on when vehicle turned around corner - Avida claimed not a problem yet it was condemned by RTA inspector - After NCAT tribunal they somehow managed to have it re-wired.

Note if pin pulled on Break-away, brakes will lock on it and will take about 20 minutes for them to release after pin replaced.

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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan

Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.



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Hi kev,

I might be on or off the track here.

We took delivery of our new Jayco right on Christmas eve. There is a separate battery up front that needs to be charged via a plug in charger to a power point under the bed. If it starts to bip bip. That works the breakaway system. If this battery is low I think he said that it would lock up the brakes (I will have to pull out all the booklets to read up and confirm this.

Jim



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What weight is your van? Does it have a break-away system on it? If it does then how did you determine that the problem was the ESC and not the break-away system?

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PeterD
Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top
Retired radio and electronics technician.
NSW Central Coast.

 



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I had my ELKO ESC fitted by the Dealer before I took delivery. Done about 30K with it and no problems at all. I can tell the system is working as the 'van doesn't "suck in" towards a road train passing or overtaking me, as vans have a tendency to do

We have a Swift hot water system and had exceptionally great service from them when it seemed to develop a fault (in fact it was bad installation by the van maker), but Swift sorted us out a repairer in a remote area - told him how to fix what might be the problem (as the repairer was unfamiliar with the Swift water heater) and told him to swap it out with a new one of another make if necessary. This took about 3 hours to organize and throughout Swift kept phoning me to keep me updated

When we bought the new van the rubber seal on the Dometic fridge/freezer was twisted. The Dealer straightened it out, but that only lasted a couple of weeks. I phoned Dometic and they said the seal would have a "memory" and couldn't be repaired. They said they would replace the door and asked if I wanted it sent to me or to any repairer I cared to nominate. I got it sent to me - it came by express delivery 2 days later from the east to Perth and I arranged a repairer who just phoned up Dometic and got a work order number.

So with both my dealings with the parts suppliers, I had fantastic customer service !!

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Cheers Bruce

 

The amazing things you see when nomading Australia



Guru

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Hey Jim wrote:

Hi kev,

I might be on or off the track here.

We took delivery of our new Jayco right on Christmas eve. There is a separate battery up front that needs to be charged via a plug in charger to a power point under the bed. If it starts to bip bip. That works the breakaway system. If this battery is low I think he said that it would lock up the brakes (I will have to pull out all the booklets to read up and confirm this.

Jim


 Jim, I fail to understand how the breakaway brakes would come on if the battery was low or flat. They are still relying on power unless it only needs a small amount.

However, whilst not directly related to this topic, can anyone tell me if it is not possible to charge a battery if it has gone too low. Our breakaway battery hasn't been charged because of faulty wiring in the van. Just measured it now and it is around 6 volts but battery charger is not acknowledging its existence. In other words it is showing zero charge? 

What I meant about faulty wiring is the following. On the breakaway battery box is a switch that allows you to turn off, charge 12v from car (presumably) or charge from house charger. Apparently these morons DO NOT connect the house charger side. So while I thought I was doing the right thing by having on house charger whilst plugged into 240v, nothing was happening.

Any ideas about the charging of the battery?

Larry



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Ex software engineer, now chef



Guru

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Date:

Need to use an old charger, one without electronics and force a charge down it's throat (take battery out of van), may take several hours/overnight. If battery not too old it may revive.

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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan

Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.



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Date:

deverall11 wrote:
Hey Jim wrote:

Hi kev,

I might be on or off the track here.

We took delivery of our new Jayco right on Christmas eve. There is a separate battery up front that needs to be charged via a plug in charger to a power point under the bed. If it starts to bip bip. That works the breakaway system. If this battery is low I think he said that it would lock up the brakes (I will have to pull out all the booklets to read up and confirm this.

Jim


 Jim, I fail to understand how the breakaway brakes would come on if the battery was low or flat. They are still relying on power unless it only needs a small amount.

However, whilst not directly related to this topic, can anyone tell me if it is not possible to charge a battery if it has gone too low. Our breakaway battery hasn't been charged because of faulty wiring in the van. Just measured it now and it is around 6 volts but battery charger is not acknowledging its existence. In other words it is showing zero charge? 

What I meant about faulty wiring is the following. On the breakaway battery box is a switch that allows you to turn off, charge 12v from car (presumably) or charge from house charger. Apparently these morons DO NOT connect the house charger side. So while I thought I was doing the right thing by having on house charger whilst plugged into 240v, nothing was happening.

Any ideas about the charging of the battery?

Larry


Come on Larry, Give me A break.

I'm a Newbe to full on Caravans. This Is our first, I have to read up on the lot. I'm only guessing. Knowledge is power and I'm charging my brain. Its on trickle charge right now.crycrycry

Jim



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Date:

Hey Jim wrote:
Come on Larry, Give me A break.

I'm a Newbe to full on Caravans. This Is our first, I have to read up on the lot. I'm only guessing. Knowledge is power and I'm charging my brain. Its on trickle charge right now.crycrycry

Jim


 Jim, it does not matter how long you have been of forums, if you make an inaccurate statements someone will attempt to correct them. What makes you exempt just because you are a newbe? It's best to check facts before posting them. I too have not heard this gem regarding low battery charge applying the vans brakes.



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PeterD
Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top
Retired radio and electronics technician.
NSW Central Coast.

 



Guru

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Posts: 4730
Date:

Kev, can you please keep across the problem if possible and report back on the fix for the problem.

The main cause of the problem is the pin in the break-away switch gets pulled out or the switch goes faulty

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PeterD
Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top
Retired radio and electronics technician.
NSW Central Coast.

 



Member

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Posts: 14
Date:

deverall11 wrote:
Hey Jim wrote:

Hi kev,

I might be on or off the track here.

We took delivery of our new Jayco right on Christmas eve. There is a separate battery up front that needs to be charged via a plug in charger to a power point under the bed. If it starts to bip bip. That works the breakaway system. If this battery is low I think he said that it would lock up the brakes (I will have to pull out all the booklets to read up and confirm this.

Jim


 Jim, I fail to understand how the breakaway brakes would come on if the battery was low or flat. They are still relying on power unless it only needs a small amount.

However, whilst not directly related to this topic, can anyone tell me if it is not possible to charge a battery if it has gone too low. Our breakaway battery hasn't been charged because of faulty wiring in the van. Just measured it now and it is around 6 volts but battery charger is not acknowledging its existence. In other words it is showing zero charge? 

What I meant about faulty wiring is the following. On the breakaway battery box is a switch that allows you to turn off, charge 12v from car (presumably) or charge from house charger. Apparently these morons DO NOT connect the house charger side. So while I thought I was doing the right thing by having on house charger whilst plugged into 240v, nothing was happening.

Any ideas about the charging of the battery?

Larry


 Our break away battery is charged from the house battery which in turn is charged  via the solar panal on roof of our Manta Ray,thats what we were told by the dealer when we purchased  van.

Last checked the battery 6weeks ago (van not used since March 2017)both batteries  were  fully charged .



-- Edited by x_pac on Friday 17th of November 2017 03:00:06 AM

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Newbie

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Date:

Recently had a problem with the ESC system, on a 3 year old Avan Frances, which was fitted new by Avan.

One caravan wheel hit the gravel at 50klm per hour and the Esc system went on, for the very first time and locked, for about 5klms.

The next time we used the van, about 3 months later, green light was still working and after only travelling 100 metres, before i stopped, because i could see smoke, the wiring for the anderson plug, to the caravan had caught alight. The next problem was of course no 12 volt system , as the transformer and solar regulator, also burnt out.

This anderson plug was installed by Hyundai, over 4 years ago and used on several caravans. It was since checked by an auto electrician and found to be ok, fortunately the car fuse had worked and cut out the power to the vehicle.

Avan didnt want to know about it, as we were out of warranty and NRMA insurance refused to pay. so it cost us $1650, for a new Electro Bloc, transformer and removal of the ESC system.



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