Battery - that was close!
A month ago I had to take my Lunar into the dealers for new front windows (under warranty). When I got back home with it, it was pouring with rain, so, instead of my normal practice of taking the battery off and charging it with my smart charger, I plugged the van into the mains. A week ago I decided to give the battery a 'smart charge', imagine my horror when the voltage read 1 volt! What had happened was the the mains feed had tripped out, so the battery was not receiving a charge. In one month of standing the caravan had completely drained the battery.
I tried charging it, and after 50 hours, the display read 'Faulty Battery'.
I left it for 24 hours and tried again. This time the charger recovered the battery, and after 5 days it is still holding it's charge.
I find it surprising that the caravan drained the battery after one month with only the alarm set.
It is a 110 amp battery, and was in perfect condition.
Comments
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Even with a Tracker and alarm the battery should last a couple of months. It sounds to me that it might be on the way out. Battery life is unpredictable but much depends on your usage and charging regime. Some general rules:
Never completely discharge the battery.
Recharge off of the van immediately after discharge.
Do not leave permanently on charger, not even a trickle charger unless it is the smart type (like Ctek).
Do not rely on the caravan charger to recharge the battery unless it is a dual smart charger.
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Do you have a Tracker fitted to your van, if so the battery would have been flattened in 10 to 14 days if not on charge
Admiral
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In my last caravan the onboard charger stopped working properly and started to discharge the battery. There is no way of knowing that this is happening until the battery fails! It was only when the local dealship checked the electrics that the cause was
found.0 -
I have to agree that it sounds like the battery is on its way out. If there is no alarm using power from it then it should not discharge within a month. You may have a duff charger though so you need to check if the battery is being charged.
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We have a tracker and an alarm fitted and the battery lasts up to 8 weeks, dependent mainly on temperature. If I left the master switch on, which provides power to the rest of the 12 volt equipment, things like the radio power up, even without its front
and the battery drains a lot quicker.0 -
Would agree with the last post. I have both tracker and alarm and can monitor the battery voltage remotely with the tracker.
Prior to our outing at Xmas the van hadn'tmoved for 8 weeks and the battery had only dropped to 11.5v. (110Ah battery)
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Only 11.5v? That is seriously flat. You don't really want it dropping below about 12.2-12.3v.
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as CY says.....
100% 12.7v
75% 12.4v
50% 12.2v
25% 12.0v
Discharged 11.9v
generally, you dont want to drop much below half discharged...
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I had a very good rechargeable shaver/hair trimmer, after the initial 'super charge' it worked for months but once depleted it never charged again despite current being supplied to it. After many attempts and even 'kick starts' I gave up on it and it went in my 'shed of essential things'! After two years I rediscovered it, put it on charge and forgot about it for a few days! It's worked ever since and held its charge brilliantly. You just never know! An electrician told me that in certain circumstances, batteries can be just be too flat to accept charge, he said they can sometimes just prove to be a bit of a 'dark art'!
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as CY says.....
100% 12.7v
75% 12.4v
50% 12.2v
25% 12.0v
Discharged 11.9v
generally, you dont want to drop much below half discharged...
Write your comments here...I backed our PVC out to let "God's Great Light Bulb" work on the SP yesterday.After two hours the charge went to float and battery A.read 13.2v and battery B.read 12.9v.;I am intrigued by CY's 100% at 12.7v. It started raining
again in Yorkshire in the afternoon -so we have obviously had our ration of sunshine again!0 -
as CY says.....
100% 12.7v
75% 12.4v
50% 12.2v
25% 12.0v
Discharged 11.9v
generally, you dont want to drop much below half discharged...
Write your comments here...I backed our PVC out to let "God's Great Light Bulb" work on the SP yesterday.After two hours the charge went to float and battery A.read 13.2v and battery B.read 12.9v.;I am intrigued by CY's 100% at 12.7v. It started raining
again in Yorkshire in the afternoon -so we have obviously had our ration of sunshine again!you need to let the batteries rest for a good while before taking a meaningful reading....
with the sun on a solar panel, you can read a really high value on the control panel....this will be the volatge at the panel....
similarly, when on ehu, youll see a reading of roughly 14.4v....not the battery's inherent state, just the volatge of the ehu....
let it rest for a couple of hours and take the reading...then let it rest for another 24 hours and see if its still at its previous value....then again a few days later.....if (under no load) it stays at its full value, 12.7v, then youve got a good 'un....
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Righto BB I will pop into the garage and have a look at the voltages on the panel now that 24hrs have passed.I have not had the vehicle on the road since before Christmas.We were due to go to Rowntree on the fourth but there you go....do not make plans in
case God has other ones for you.Having had flat batteries during the Winter on previous outfits I keep an eye on the electrics if the vehicle is unused for a while.0 -
Most caravan chargers will give about 13.8 volts which is a compromise voltage in that it will keep the battery topped up without applying excessive voltage to the 12 volt appliances and will not destroy the battery too quickly. To properly recharge a battery
you need 14.4 volts; any more and there is danger of gassing which is not good for a sealed unit (but OK for an open vented battery).All the above unfortunately means that most caravan chargers are a big compromise, hence the earlier advice about recharging. The best arrangement is the dual system like Sargent which takes the battery off-line to recharge it whilst still providing a nominal
12 volts for the caravan. Unfortunately not many vans have this arrangement as it adds cost.Solar panels are different again but the current is small and the regulator prevents damage. Not an expert on these so I cannot comment further.
Trickle chargers will damage your battery long term (as it will sometimes tell you in the small print). CTek and other "intelligent" chargers are fine as they monitor the battery internal voltage and reduce current/voltage accordingly. Leaving the van permanently
on EHU will also damage your battery as stated in Club technical papers and some caravan manuals.0 -
An update, firstly, the battery didn't receive a charge because the mains feed from my garage had tripped, nothing to do with the caravan charger.
After standing now for a week, the battery is reading 12.7 volts.
It seems my smart charger has revovered it.
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Sounds good but you won't really know until you use it.
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Sounds good but you won't really know until you use it.
Agreed......
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