Leisure Battery
Hi All,
I have a 110ah Leisure Battery, The battery seems to charge well on the van via my 250watt solar panel, However whenever a load is drawn from it it seems to drop rather quick. Would you say its knackered? or is there something on the market i could use
to test it performance?
Thanks
Chris
Comments
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I would guess it's knackered.
When ours was losing charge quickly, our service engineer did somethinh he called a 'load test' - I didn't see him do it and I'm clueless about anything electrical, but I believe it tests the battery's capacity when under load.......maybe?
Anyway, the outcome was - we needed a new battery.
We bought a Banner Energy Bull, by the way, and it's done well so far.
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I took ours to Halfords for checking.......they said they couldn't do it. They explained that car batteries are designed to give a huge boost to start the car, then re-charge from the alternator. Whereas a caravan battery is designed to discharge gradually
over many hours.Well, that's what they told me.......
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Our new van is going back to dealers on Thursday as the truma motor mover ( 2nd hand) they fitted will not work, it just beeps at us when engaged, they suggest it's a battery issue so might need a new one, battery is only 8 months old, we tried the mixer
with it connected to the mains and had same issue, does this sound like a battery fault, I have no idea ?0 -
High discharge testers used on car batteries are not appropriate for leisure batteries for the reason given above (car batteries give large current for short time, leisure batteries give low current for extended periods).
Leisure battery test procedure here:
Basically, charge it fully, set it to drain at, say 5 A, measure the time in hours that it takes until the voltage drops to 10V.
If load was 5 A and it took 12 hrs to drop to 10V the capacity would be 5 x 12 = 60 Ah
Maplin do a cheap ammeter and you'll need a Voltmeter as well to avoid having to disconnect your ammeter.
A 100 Ah battery has a maximum capacity of about 80 Ah anyway.
See what you get and decide from there.
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David, in most mover installation operating it whilst the van is on EHU will assist the battery so it should work even if the battery is poorly charged. I would therefore suspect the mover more than the battery but there is a slim possibility it is both.
Another slim possibility is that the remote control battery has died.Write your comments here...thanks, we changed the batteries for new in the handset, I guess we will have to wait and see, it's the second time it's been in for the mover, last time a pin had fallen out or snapped, it had only just been fitted.
Thanks for the reply.
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A mover is not supposed to be run while on EHU, IIRC. Any beeping you are getting could be due to a low handset battery. Try using the handset with the wired connection.
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One way to get the capacity of your battery checked is to take it to a Mobility Products Dealer. (Electric Scooters, Wheelchairs etc.).
Most of them will have Battery discharger suitable for leisure Batteries. You will also be able to get a graph print out of the test to show the condition of the Battery. The battery must be fully charged prior to taking for test.
Only down side there will be a cost.
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A mover is not supposed to be run while on EHU, IIRC. Any beeping you are getting could be due to a low handset battery. Try using the handset with the wired connection.
Write your comments here...there is no wired connection for the handset. Thanks anyway.
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Our new van is going back to dealers on Thursday as the truma motor mover ( 2nd hand) they fitted will not work, it just beeps at us when engaged, they suggest it's a battery issue so might need a new one, battery is only 8 months old, we tried the
mover with it connected to the mains and had same issue, does this sound like a battery fault, I have no idea ?We burned out a battery charger / transformer doing that, David.......we were then told it is a strict no-no.....
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Our new van is going back to dealers on Thursday as the truma motor mover ( 2nd hand) they fitted will not work, it just beeps at us when engaged, they suggest it's a battery issue so might need a new one, battery is only 8 months old, we tried the
mover with it connected to the mains and had same issue, does this sound like a battery fault, I have no idea ?We burned out a battery charger / transformer doing that, David.......we were then told it is a strict no-no.....
Write your comments here...it was the service manager who told us to use the hook up lead plugged into the mains
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Our new van is going back to dealers on Thursday as the truma motor mover ( 2nd hand) they fitted will not work, it just beeps at us when engaged, they suggest it's a battery issue so might need a new one, battery is only 8 months old, we tried the
mover with it connected to the mains and had same issue, does this sound like a battery fault, I have no idea ?We burned out a battery charger / transformer doing that, David.......we were then told it is a strict no-no.....
Write your comments here...it was the service manager who told us to use the hook up lead plugged into the mains
The battery charger will be at higher voltage than the battery so the mover will try to draw current from the charger which generally is not designed to provide that extremely large current required by the mover and could burn out the cables, charger or
both. The manual should tell you (on our caravan the way the mover switch was located meant you couldn't be plugged in to mains). Of course, every make of van/mover is different and it could be that yours is OK.0 -
Thanks. On our Bailey unicorn Vigo the battery is under the bed and they have had to locate the mover switch on a strut under the bed near the locker door, anyway we will see what the dealer has to say, it's one of three things to look at, the radio has
packed up, no power to it and the door storage holders have broken in first usage. Apparently a known fault with dometic slimline fridge.Oh the joys of buying a neatly new van!!!
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Being cynical I would wonder if they fixed a minor issue with the mover and have capitalised by selling you a new battery
.Write your comments here...I will never know
You would know if you had been able to check the capacity as in my previous post? ;-)
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Being cynical I would wonder if they fixed a minor issue with the mover and have capitalised by selling you a new battery
.Write your comments here...I will never know
You could make sure they give you the old battery and get it tested.
Write your comments here...yes I'm keeping the battery. Didn't even ask. They offered it. I have no reason to think in been ripped off. Quite happy as long as the problem is resolved.
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The voltage will drop quite quickly from the 14'ish volts at which it's charged to 12'ish, that is nothing to be worried about. If it drops quickly to below 12 volts that does suggest the battery may be coming to the end of its life.
The drop test described by DougS can be simplified in a caravan, if you can turn on 60W worth of lights (or other 'known wattage' 12v appliances) that will draw 5A (60 divided by 12) and the voltage drop over time can be monitored on the caravan's control panel. it won't be 100% accurate, but should tell you whether your battery has had it.
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