A Year Without Power: Sorting Out My Camper’s Electrical Gremlins

​About a year ago, as I was getting the camper ready for a trip, I noticed the fridge wasn’t working. Odd, I thought. I dug a little deeper and realised that none of the original wiring installed by CUB Campers was functioning. Strangely enough, all the wiring I’d added myself—specifically for the battery and charging system—was working just fine.
At the time, we didn’t have the time or budget to chase the issue down. Life got in the way, as it does, and the camper sat unused with its mystery electrical problem for the next 12 months.
Fast-forward to the present, and I finally had both the time and the resources to sort it out. I gave the auto electrician a call—the same guy who installed my battery and charging system—and he asked me to bring the camper down to his workshop. Within an hour, he had diagnosed the issue: a bad earth on the original wiring. He added a new earthing point, and just like that, things were back online. Or so I thought.
A week later, while getting the camper ready for a rego inspection, I decided to double-check that everything was still working. And—nothing. No power at all. I was ropeable. What now?
Back on the phone to the auto sparky. He was a bit puzzled, but I had a theory: maybe the Battery Management System (BMS) had shut the battery down due to low voltage. He agreed that it was a likely cause and said the BMS would need to be kick-started—but I didn’t have the gear to do it myself. So, off I went to the workshop again.
Once there, we opened up the power system for a closer look. He quickly spotted that the inverter had been left on, which had likely drained the battery. He kick-started the BMS, and the system sprang back to life.

The sparky kicstarted the BMS, with this little handy device. I can see one of these in my tool box, in the future!

​He explained that I’d need to recharge the battery until it hit at least 13.4V (if memory serves). That would require a charger capable of properly charging lithium batteries. I didn’t have one at the time, but I’d always planned to add one to the setup eventually.
In the meantime, I kept the car running all the way home to feed some charge into the system, and once back, I connected the solar setup. Thankfully, I’d installed a household-grade panel, which produces higher voltage more reliably. This gave the MPPT charger enough overhead to push a decent current into the battery, even across a few cloudy days.

Normally the camper is opened and the solar panel is removed. But I didn't need the camper open, so I jury-rigged the solar panel to sit up to face toward the afternnon sun, as the sun got lower to the horizon.

​Not wanting to risk another flat battery, I ordered a Victron lithium charger and temporarily hooked it up to make sure the battery reached the absorption phase—basically confirming it was fully topped up.

---

​Lessons Learned:

• Always double-check what’s been left switched on (I’m looking at you, inverter).
  
• Don’t underestimate the value of good earthing.
  
• If you're running lithium batteries, having a compatible charger on hand is a must.
  

Next time, hopefully I catch these issues before they become a 12-month mystery!