Caravan Battery Advice
This might seem like a stupid question but I'm not particularly technically minded!
The leisure battery on my van is trickle charged by a 100w solar panel. The caravan is kept in outdoor storage and when I went to it recently I found the battery was apparently flat. I hadn't been to the van for about 3 weeks but when I had previously left it the motor mover etc worked fine.
A couple of days later we were off on a two week trip so I decided to risk it knowing that we would have EHU on our sites. After about 2 hours of towing we stopped at a services and I checked the 12v panel which showed the battery at 11+ volts. By the time we reached our first site it was showing 13v. Throughout the 2 weeks the panel showed the battery at 13+v but I guess being on EHU would have helped this.
On our return home the panel still showed 13+v and I am now waiting to see if the battery discharges again but I was wondering if the reason might have been that I might have left the 12v panel main switch in the ON position.
My question is; if I had left the switch on would the draw to that have been sufficient to drain the battery despite having a solar panel?
Comments
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Hi; I thought not but... No idea how old it is as it was on the van when we bought it in June. The van is 5 years old but the battery looks quite new. It's a Yuasa L35-100 from memory.
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Hi Forest, as you know I have the same caravan. My battery is still the original, so is over five years old and still doing its job. At some point It will want Replacmenet.
First thing I’d check is the solar controller above the fridge. Is there a green light on? If not check under the bed and just before the wiring loom disappears under the floor there is a blade fuse. After that make sure the connections to the battery are clean and tight.
It doesn’t hurt to occasionally give the solar panel a wipe over as the dirt can build up on it, especially if the caravan is stored level - I find it pays when not in use to tilt the caravan to the front and slightly to one side to help drain the water1 -
Thanks for the tips.. The battery connections are all clean and tight and I did change the blade fuse - JiC, although the one i took out looked ok and I have left the van on a slight tilt to drain rainwater etc. I'll give it a week and go and have another look at it. I will also check the condition of the solar panel.
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Turn off the black button on the cpu. My solar panel maintained my battery for 9 months from November to July after lockdown with the button turned off.
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Thanks Matthews 1963. When you say "black button" I assume you mean the main "On/Off" button? This is the one I think I might have left on causing the problem. It is most definitely switched off now!
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Not quite sure what you are referring to as the cpu or the black button on it.
But that aside, during the lockdown and up until my first trip (13th September) I’ve had my Navara plugged into to my Valencia’s solar charge controller and the system has maintained both the caravan and the trucks batteries, keeping them charged up and ready for use.
So as you say, the solar panel is more than capable of maintaining the caravan’s battery on it’s own.1 -
Hi; I've been up to the caravan today. It's been back in storage with no electric hook up for a week. I switched the 12v main switch on and the battery charge showed 13.8v so it would seem that the previous discharge might have been down to me leaving the switch in the ON position.
You mentioned the green light on the solar control box. The green light is on but flashing with about a second between flashes. Should the light be steady or is flashing ok?
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It shows your battery is full and the regulator is just maintaining the voltage.
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Many thanks. One thing less to worry about!
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Yes it’s working as it should.
happy caravanning 🙂1
