You can charge the camping battery while driving or connecting the van to an external power supply. For that, you will need to plug the cable provided (20 meters long) from the plug on the driver´s side of the camper, to an electricity source. The car will show the battery is charging by turning on an indicating light on the camper unit. The 230V sockets should be working now.
If this is not the case, check that the FI fuse and the power source works properly. The FI switch on the Surfer Suite it is located inside the rear closet, above the gas bottle compartment:
Note:
- Do not forget to unplug the power cable before driving off! To do this, press down the blue lever to the left of the plug.
- With a fully charged battery, you will be self-sufficient without a power connection for about 2 days. Then you will need to drive again for some time to recharge the battery or plug your camper in to an external power source.
You can check the charging level in the board unit:
Please keep in mind that campers can´t be charged on the stations for electrical vehicles.
If you want to give the camping battery an extra charge while you are driving, press the "max. charge" symbol in the camper unit:
This will charge the camping battery using the engine power. Be aware that this function can result on a higher diesel consumption.
For deeply discharged camping batteries
As camping batteries are not lithium batteries, we advise you never to discharge them below 30%. This can damage the battery. If you suspect that the camping battery is deeply discharged, try the following:
- Connect shore power and run the engine.
- Try this for about 30 minutes. The extra amperage can bring a deeply discharged battery back up to speed.