Leisure battery voltage drop help please
Could someone more knowledgable then me please give me some advice.
2019, swift challenger 645 with solar charger
serviced by swift dealer in November 2021 and put back into storage as usual
got message from caravan (yes really! Surprised us too) saying battery voltage had dropped below acceptable levels. Remotely checked and it was showing 9.2v. Drove up to caravan storage (15 miles away), everything looks fine except for two things. 1, solar panel covered in snow/ice and 2. Servicing dealer had left control unit switched on (yes we should have checked it)
so we’ve cleared away the snow and ice and switched the control unit off. Solar charger indicates it’s charging the battery but I think that will take some days to charge fully this time of year
so, does anyone wiser than me think this may be the problem and solution? Or is there likely to be something more sinister going on?
thanks in advance
G
Comments
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Gary, a couple of things...
if the battery is really at 9.2v then it is a distinct possibility that it's is damaged. However you may get lucky.
also, a solar panel will take a long time, even in good weather, to bring a battery back from that state.
if possible, can you remove the battery and get it home and charged on a bench with a smart charger like a C-Tek? This will be your best bet of recovering it.
moving forward, either with the recovered battery or a replacement, you need to check the charging via the solar panel, perhaps with a volt meter to ensure it's being charged properly.
a typical float charge would be around 13.8v
good luck.
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Gary
If the van notified you, it sounds as though you have a tracker or alarm fitted with a linked app on your phone. My Bailey has, and in addition to the theft / movement warnings it does notify the app on my phone when the battery goes critical. I can also check the voltage via the app, although it does read 0.5 volts less than the battery actually is. I agree with BB on recovering your battery.
The alarm/tracker will drain your battery, and the solar charger will not deal with that drain in poor weather. When my van was in storage (indoors), I kept a spare battery charged on a ctek at home, and changed them over on a monthly basis.
Paul
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If you don't want to go to the expense of a spare leisure battery, you could easily use a standard car battery as the "swop" battery - this would run the alarm/tracker for a couple of weeks while you recharge the main battery at home.
Paul
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Thanks for the reply. Yes that's one of my concerns. As we specifically asked the servicing agent to leave the caravan ready for over-winter storage we assumed everything was turned off. I know we should have checked'
I have several C-TEK chargers for my other toys so will take this route next week. I want to see what happens to the caravan voltage over the next few days with everything switched off.
I've been looking to see what size leisure battery it takes but that's not as straightforward as I'd expect.
G
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Hope you get it all sorted AnneGary and like your avatar My mum used to live down the road from the Morgan factory and we have had a factory visit a few years ago as a xmas present, presume you have a tow car for the caravan.
OH said he agrees with other postings.
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If it's a roof mounted 100w panel (common on many vans) then it should keep up with the drain from an alarm or tracker if outside all year round. We have had one on or unicorn with both an alarm and tracker and it has never run out of juice or got low, even in the depths of winter.
However, if the main panel was on, and the solar panel was obscured by ice and snow for any length of time, there is a good chance the battery has been depleted over time. Definitely agree with taking it home to smart recharge and recondition before returning to the 'van if possible.
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Yes it’s roof mounted. The signs have been positive (🤣) this afternoon but I suspect as others have suggested it may well be toast.
I’m looking at buying a replacement and fetching the current (🤣🤣) one back home to charge up with one of my C-TEKs and keep it as a spare perhaps.
anyone know if these are any good?
https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/platinum/s6110l/
Gary
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“…but I suspect as others have suggested it may well be toast...”
You may be lucky, my new MH was delivered without a relay for the fridge so day 2 of ownership began with about 9v. However, battery then went on to accept 100% charge and nearly 4 yrs later is giving good service with solar trickle charge. The battery may need a few charge cycles to fully recover.
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The proof of the pudding will be in how long the battery will hold its charge. It may well show around 12.6+ volts off charge after a couple of days but this can continue to drop even if connected to the solar panel. These short days of low in the sky sun doesn’t help.
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Little update,
the battery voltage has been rising slowly but the onboard temp and humidity sensors went ‘off the scale’ last night, minus 273 degrees and zero humidity!
I suspect this is because the onboard system battery has now gone flat as well? But I don’t know
replacement leisure battery arrives today and will be fitted when the torrential rain eventually stops in the next couple of days.
cheers.
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