Living in a run down environment
Fell asleep last night with an overhead light and the TV on. Woke up to a completely drained AGM battery. On a site without EHU. Just my solar panels valiantly trying to recharge. Now up to mid green on the panel. The minute I run the water etc the needle starts to swing to the yellow. Have I killed the battery or should I be leaving it as long as possible on solar charge without running anything off it.
(Note to self - would I be better off with a tent and a box of matches)
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Whoops. Not technically minded but I'd let the battery charge to full before drawing anything from it. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along very soon. Meanwhile I hope it's sunny where you are so you can get some warmth at least 😉
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Low cloud cover, drizzle but not cold, no sun predicted until Friday. Left the caravan for the day and currently (no pun intended) charging gizmos at friend's house.
Just wondering - obviously learned my lesson now about sleep and the 12v system - for the future would it help conserve battery power by switching off things like the tv aerial before going to bed?
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Oh at least you have an alternative.
I think this illustrates how much we take power for granted, it's assumed it is always there and the cost in financial terms isn't worth worrying over 😲.
My older relatives, including my mother, who didn't have electricity as they grew up - living in rural areas, don't leave the house without every socket turned off at the wall. We accidently forgot to turn off my laptop- battery useless, whilst away for few days and it was on fabric could have been nasty! But never think about turning off virgin TV box or router, electric clocks etc if we're away for a couple of weeks. We are all so electric reliant these days! 😲
I reckon turn off everything when not in use on 12v including the pump.
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We haven't had much chance of our solar set-up yet - my health fell over for a bit earlier this Summer and I'm still not allowed to drive or lift things for a couple of weeks
- but on our trip with EHU use back in April we still took the (new) battery very low. We didn't realise how the old style incandescent lights could drain it, (changed those now), along with forgetting to switch the fridge to mains even when on EHU, so by the end of that evening the lights just faded themselves. (No TV, but mains portable radio all evening too, plus electric radiator, so probably not much left over to go into the battery, which we'd already hit using the motor mover, wriggling on soft grass into an awkward angled pitch.) Even plugged into EHU it took a day or two before it felt really happy again. No meter, just seeing how quickly the lights got tired!
So they can recover! Good luck Rosie!1 -
And that was without the inkjet printer running from an inverter!
My caravan has a switch that puts off all the 12v lighting and another one that puts off all 12v equipment (apart from awning light). Never thought of using either to save power in the night but they could be helpful in your situation.
I find the need to get up in the night to send the last couple of beers on their way has always shown up if equipment or lights have been left running. So I'll use your unfortunate occurance as a reason to keep doing so!
These AGM batterys are designed to be able to be deeply discharged provided they are recharged slowly and sensibly, so you are doing the right things. The earlier lead/acid batteries so often used in motor vehicles are different as they are designed to deliver lots of power in a very short time for cranking over the engine to start. If they are completely discharged (eg by leaving on a light) they can suffer mechanical damage inside where the electrolytic paste falls out of its supporting lead grid and shorts across to the adjacent plate. (think maple syrup in a waffle that is stood on edge). This is terminal for the battery (no - not a pun!).
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Hi RR. It’s something you get used to. Being on EHU you don’t have to think about wasting power but you do on non EHU! As you’ve found out and I see you have leant your lesson- that’s a bonus. I hit the master switch at night and turn everything off. Although the batteries would easily get me through the night without much problem, why would I want power on? The fridge continues on gas. A small but very efficient headlamp lights the caravan like a spotlight for any trips to the loo and it also has red LEDs which are far kinder to the OH. OK, there’s no flush but for the few hours until power is restored, it’s not a problem. Yes, turning things off when you don’t need them is only sensible.
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I might have bad news for you when a battery goes that flat and you keep drawing from it, it will start to eat its self by that I mean that the zinc/lead plates will start to dissolve you will need to fully charge the battery and carry out a discharge test, halfords will do this for you, if the battery smells of rotten eggs it may be too late.
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With no flush in the night it could be that more than the battery smells of rotten eggs!
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