Battery loses charge quickly

cglittle

We have a 2014 Swift Challenger Sport. The leisure battery is giving us a little trouble.

I cannot say at the moment whether the battery is a sealed type or not. I would have to check.

The caravan is stored in a farm shed, so doesn't get any sunlight normally for the factory fitted solar panel, and I leave the battery connected. 

The problem is that when we pitch up.... it takes around 20 minutes after plugging in the mains power before the 12v system starts up, and after disconnecting the mains, the 12v system stops working within minutes.

There is a control panel for the power above the door which shows the battery health, just an indicator light at 2,4,6v etc. When normal, the 14v light is on. Otherwise, its the 10v. 

As we got this caravan second hand, we don't know if this is its original battery or not. 

Any help will be appreciated

EmilysDad

Sounds to me that your battery is goosed & beyond redemption. The battery might have a date on it somewhere, sometimes just a month & year on a terminal post. 

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cglittle

that's what I was thinking. If I replace the battery, is there any tips to keep it from failing? It'll sit most of the winter months in the shed. cant be good for it

EasyT

Presumably the battery is just feeding an alarm in storage. (If you are also using a tracker I have read that if the signal to tracker is poor the system will keep seeking and use a deal more power). It sounds like your only option is to remove and charge the battery regularly or have a second battery to swap over when one is being charged and half the number of trips to storage and keep alarm in operation.  

 

EmilysDad

Any alarms or trackers fitted would not  have been powered up within a short time anyway if the battery is as goosed as it appears.

Buy a CTek charger, connect it & leave it connected ... smart chargers are designed to be left connected, which is why they include a plug/socket to enable the charger to be connected to inaccessible batteries. 

EasyT

I presume that there is no EHU in storage area MM

EmilysDad

I assume not .... 🤔

stephen p

The battery certainly seems to be dead. However if you replace it and  use it in the same way I think you will quickly damage the new battery. 

Batteries hate being run flat and even a leisure battery will only cope with this a limited number of times, you really need to find a way of keeping the battery charged (solar or mains) or disconnect it.

A point of interest, a 12v Lead acid battery is considered to have given all of it's usable charge when it's output falls to 12 Volts

Amesford

No it can't, you could take the new battery home and charge it from time to time but I think it says with the solar panel fitted you must have a battery connected ? we were going to buy a cover for our van but gave up on that idea due to the solar panel

EasyT

I think it says with the solar panel fitted you must have a battery connected ?

You should disconnect the solar panel before removing battery. If having to recharge battery and unit is stored inside it should be simple enough to pull a fuse/disconnect panel before removing battery and then leave disconnected until start of season. If I stored inside I would probably not bother reconnecting the panel as when touring we are always on EHU. 

Amesford

OK  thanks 

cglittle

Thanks to everyone.

The storage shed has power.... but I think you have to have a "special relationship" with owners to be able to use it.(eg, pay more)

If it was stored outside, would the daily solar charge be enough to keep it topped up?

I think ill get a new battery anyway

EasyT

If it was stored outside, would the daily solar charge be enough to keep it topped up?

I have no experience but, I suspect that it would be. What output is the panel? 

lornalou1

before buying a new battery, ask the owner how much he would want to keep power on just to keep battery topped up, £10 a year would be sufficient and then get the new battery.