Flat van battery
Although I have SORN'd my campervan, I move it a few feet feet on my drive every so often to avoid the tyres getting flat spots. When I went to move it on Tuesday, the van battery was flat despite having the EHU plugged in for 24 hours. The leisure battery was fully charged.
I took the battery to my local garage where they put it on charge overnight and did a drop test on it this morning. It is OK.
I have always thought that having the EHU connected would charge both the van battery and the leisure battery automatically. Is there anything I should select or check?
Thanks in advance.
Comments
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It’s possibly switchable to change the charge from battery to battery. Your handbook should tell you.
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Admittedly my setup is ancient by modern standards, however my MH does not charge the engine battery when on EHU, I have been using a battery tender every few weeks/ once a month to keep it top line.
I don't believe in running engines for short periods, it could do more harm than good.
My next task during lockdown is to fit a splitter charger unit that i bought a while back, which, if the instructions are accuarate will better charge the leisure battery when on the road, but will also cascade to charge the engine battery on EHU when voltage is in excess of a set value keeping the engine battery topped up.
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It might be handy to know the make and model of the motorhome? It very much depends on the system as a few brands on some models don't have a facility to charge the cab battery whilst on EHU. Both the Bailey motorhomes I have had don't have an option to charge the cab battery and on both I have fitted a device called a Battery Master which pushes any excess charge from the leisure battery to the can battery.
David
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My Marquis doesn't charge the cab battery either. I've got solar & ran a supply from that in addition to the habitation battery which is split 90/10%. Keeps it topped up nicely.
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Whilst it seems strange that the EHU sometimes doesn’t charge both batteries I guess that they figure that there is no drain on the cab battery when stationary. Although all batteries self discharge a new one would probably last several months before needing top-up, unless of course you have an alarm or tracker in which case it is probably wired to the cab battery.
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My Ducato camper went flat just after the lockdown commenced due to
a) not having been used for some time and
b) having the alarms etcetera live 24 / 7 .
After the gentle ministrations of Green Flag kicking it back to life I have
c) only locked it with the key NOT the remote and
d) { probably naughtily
} done my supermarket shopping about every 10 or so days and always gone the long way round.0 -
Thanks everyone. Should've said the van is a 1914 Autocruise Jazz. There is a means of selecting the battery to use (i.e. draw power from) but not, as far as I can see, any means of selecting which one to charge. I just assumed that the electrical management system would know what needed charging.
The Swift handbook is not very informative.
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A vintage MH! 🙂
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I have had a Split charge CBE CSB2 fitted for the last six years, powered by an 80 watt Solar panel on the roof, to keep the engine battery topped up and despite the British weather have never needed a boost from hook-up when parked at home.
They are about £25 on Ebay and take a few minutes to fit.
If you do fit a Solar panel get the biggest wattage you can afford – but make sure there is enough room on the roof before buying.
Then, with a decent Solar panel, a refillable gas system and your own facilities (toilet,shower) the World is quite literally your lobster – once we get back to any resemblance of normality …....0 -
We're looking at solar battery chargers at the moment (not sure when we'll be able to get out in our van). Do you have a recommendation?
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Just to say the splitter charger I fitted charges both batteries either from the fitted battery charger/power supply unit or from the alternator or indeed a smart charger connected to either battery, I have it set up to give priority to charge the engine battery from the alternator.
Because it is now separate cable to the habitation wiring, with engine running I get 14.5v at the engine battery and 14.2 volts at the leisure battery instead of 13.8v as it was through the habitation wiring relay.
14.2v is the same output as my charger/PSU
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A quick but dirty fix is to run a fused connection between the two batteries, whilst charging the leisure battery.
Remove the fuse before starting, as it will blow when starting the engine.
The usual advice, is to have a empty fuse holder along side the live fuse, so that the fuse can be taken out and parked, then reinserted.
oh , and a box for spare fuses as you forget the change over.
Rgds
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