Regulated Power Supply
Submitted: Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 09:24
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Member - PeterLP
I recently bought a 2006 Roadstar caravan and have a problem with the Regulated Power Supply. The problem started when the van is plugged in to 240v power, when I changed the switch inside the van over from 12V to 240v the lights went dim and my voltage metre dropped down to about 8 volts. after operating the switch a few times all was good and everything worked OK. I figured it was the switch so had that replaced but that didn't change anything. When checking the output of the power supply I found it slowly increases from 12V to 13v over about 5 minutes. The power supply is a Hybralec model S220A. Has anyone got any suggestions on how to fix or where I can get a replacement
Reply By: HKB Electronics - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 09:49
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 09:49
If your van has batteries I would be checking them first as 8V doesn't sound good.
AnswerID:
619001
Follow Up By: Member - PeterLP - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 10:31
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 10:31
The batteries are ok the problem is when I switch from
battery power to the 12v power produced by the regulated power supply unit (240v to 12V)
FollowupID:
891143
Follow Up By: HKB Electronics - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 11:08
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 11:08
Had a quick look and couldn't find anything on that charger, possibly simplest solution might be to replace it with a more common brand.
FollowupID:
891145
Reply By: Erad - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 11:14
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 11:14
I think that what HKB Electronics means is that your batteries may be getting low, and when you hook the 240 V in, they are sucking the charge initially. As they get a bit of charge into them the voltage will then come up. Before you plug the 240V in,
check the battery voltage and see if it is 8 V.
AnswerID:
619002
Follow Up By: Member - PeterLP - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 11:47
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 11:47
I don't think the batteries are the problem as I just had a second 130ah battery fitted and the voltage is usually over the 13v level on the meter. This problem was happening before the second battery was fitted. I guess HKB Electronics were correct and I just need to replace the power supply.
FollowupID:
891146
Reply By: RMD - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 12:00
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 12:00
If a battery gets down to 8v it is usually stuffed or the low voltage has made it so.
The charger is most likely a switchmode powersupply and if used for the last 12 years it may have one or more faulty electrolytic capacitors on it's circuit.
Having all of them replaced by a competent person may fix the charge situation, but the cost of labour and parts possibly means a new charger is the way to go for continued reliable life and good charging.
AnswerID:
619004
Follow Up By: Member - PeterLP - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 12:19
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 12:19
Sorry I seem to be confusing people. This unit is not the caravan charger, what this unit does is take power from the 240v input and provide a 12v output to things such as lights,radio, refrigerator and water pump etc hence the name Regulated Power Supply. The caravan has a separate battery charger for when it on 240 at a powered site at a caravan park. I could in fact leave this unit switched off and just use
battery power when I am connected to 240v power as the batteries will still be getting charged up. I don't know if I have clarified the issue or made it more confusing! I think the answer is it's buggered and I need a new one.
FollowupID:
891147
Follow Up By: HKB Electronics - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 14:06
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 14:06
Grey area is are the batteries connected to the 12V circuit all the time or are you saying the batteries are isolated from the 12V circuit when the regulated power supply is turned on?
FollowupID:
891148
Follow Up By: Member - PeterLP - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 14:25
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 14:25
I believe that is the case as there is a 3 position switch that has 12v, Off and 240v.
If I have the lights on in the 12v position and switch to off and then 240v the lights go off and then back on again in the 240v position. The problem has been that when I initially connect 240v power to the caravan and switch to the 240v position on the rotary switch the lights are very dim and there is a very low reading on the voltage gauge. If I leave the switch on 12 volts for a while and then switch it over to the 240 volts position it works fine and the voltage on the meter is showing normal.
From all the discussion I guess the conclusion is that the regulated power supply is not functioning correctly and needs replacing
FollowupID:
891149
Follow Up By: HKB Electronics - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 14:37
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 14:37
Sounds like the power supply doesn't like the surge current when trying to start up, when you have had it running on 12V then quickly switch to 240V the surge is less and it fires up.
If the charger has a power supply mode and can handle the 12V load you might be better off just using it and leaving the batteries connected, same if it has a float stage. If the charger can't handle the load then again, if you need to replace the regulated supply maybe replace the charger instead with a larger unit that has a supply function if you dont want to float the batteries for long periods of time and get rid of the regulated supply.
FollowupID:
891150
Follow Up By: Member - PeterLP - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 14:54
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 14:54
I think I will just find a replacement for the Hybralec regulated power supply. It would be easier as it is located under the refrigerator and the battery charger is in the front boot. This would mean less rewiring. From what I have seen this is a older system of power set up for caravans as I can't find any wiring diagrams that match this set up. Thank you for your input it has been very helpful.
FollowupID:
891152
Follow Up By: Member - Keith C (NSW) - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 15:06
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 15:06
peter , sounds to me like your 240/12 transformer has gone, is it plugged into a 240v outlet somewhere, if you can get at it, unplug it and put a battery charger with a supply mode in it,eg.,ctek into the 240 out let and try it, if it works your transformers gone
FollowupID:
891153
Follow Up By: Member - PeterLP - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 15:28
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 15:28
Fortunately I have a charger like that and sure enough on the charger the lights etc worked. To make sure I checked the performance of the power supply before and after using the power from the charger and it failed both times. So a new Regulated Power Supply required. Thanks for your help
FollowupID:
891154
Follow Up By: Shaker - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:45
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:45
The way I read the post is that it is not a charger, but a 12 volt power supply which is totally independent from the batteries.
So it should be easy to simply install a replacement power supply of a similar rated output.
FollowupID:
891160
Follow Up By: Member - PeterLP - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:52
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:52
Yes got it in one. I get the impression that regulated power supplies are rare in caravans hence the confusion some members had about what I was talking about more than likely my fault though. Love your saying my favorite is "the closest we ever get to perfection is in our resume"
FollowupID:
891162
Follow Up By: Shaker - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:57
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:57
Or, “the older we get, the better we were”!
FollowupID:
891164
Reply By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:00
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:00
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Hi Peter,
I was able to find a number of references online about the Hybralec S220A power supply. All these references were regarding failed Hybralec's and no links to supply of these devices. From what I could glean it would seem that they performed as both a 12v power supply and also charged the caravan battery. Some consumers replaced the Hybralec with another 12v power supply. I would guess that your van has been modified to add a separate battery charger and leave the Hybralec to supply the lights when 240v is available but that the Hybralec has now failed.
If the Hybralec has failed (likely) then you have the options to replace it with an equivalent or re-arrange your wiring so that the lights are always fed from the battery and the existing charger supports the lighting load. You may need proficient assistance to achieve this.
AnswerID:
619010
Follow Up By: Member - PeterLP - Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:21
Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 18:21
Hi Allan I believe the caravan has been modified as it now has
solar power and the battery charger set up in the front boot does not look like and OE arrangement. I could just remove the power supply unit and use the batteries to run the 12volt items in the van when I have 240v input and this would work as the batteries would be charging from the 240v charger. I think I will arrange for a replacement power supply though just to keep the system operational if required. I have an excellent auto electrical specialist helping me but unfortunately he had to leave early this Friday so he wasn't able to diagnose the problem completely but my curiosity got the better of me so I decided to track it down myself so he had a head start when he comes back. Thanks for your input.
FollowupID:
891158