Flat batteries in new campervan.
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Thanks again for your helpful advice & comments. We took the campervan to the Fiat garage in Dundee yesterday & got it back today. The vehicle battery is about '70-75%' so not needing replaced under warranty after all. They advised us to take it on the road for a good drive every week or so in the meantime.
We still have the problem of a totally flat leisure battery. Bought a battery charger from Halfords at the weekend - 'Ring RCB320 20A Workshop battery charger'. They say it will be ok for the vehicle battery but they don't deal with leisure batteries so weren't able to advise us about this. Should it be ok to use it to charge the flat leisure battery?
Also if we were to go on holiday for 2-3 weeks is it likely that both batteries might be flat on our return? Hopefully the solar panel will be more effective when the days get longer.
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I have not been following this thread and only read a selection of the posts, but I wanted to make the general point that my batteries tend to lose charge over the winter months notwithstanding a solar panel (I think it is 100w, but not 100% sure). In each of the last two winters, not including the current one, my batteries have gone flat. To start the van it was necessary to put the engine battery on a charger. The engine battery has always recharged fine and I remain with the battery that came with the van - 6 years old now. The leisure battery recharged OK two years ago, but not last year and I had to replace it.
So far, this winter, the engine battery had low charge when I went to it on new year's eve (it is in storage); there was not enough charge to start the van although it was not totally flat and I started it easily with jump leads from my car. The leisure battery had no charge at all! I took the van for a very long drive, 168 miles, since when, so far, touch wood, it has been fine. This last Sunday, the van started first time no problem although again I took it for a drive, albeit a shorter one this time (about 30 miles).
I have no technical knowledge about these things, but I was told by a mechanic that I had to expect batteries to lose charge over winter despite the solar panel - due to short days, gloomy rainy days and so on. This is also despite my van having no alarm and a tracker that runs on its own battery. Evidently there are always some systems that will be taking some power - so I am told, anyway, but no idea what they are!!!
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I have also been told that modern vehicle electronics consume a small amount of power from the engine battery even though they don't have an alarm system. Batteries will self discharge anyway and do require topping up every 6 months or so even without any devices creating a drain.
First thing I would check is are both batteries being charged by what limited power you are getting from you solar panel either via a dual charge regulator of via a battery master? If not that would be the first thing to correct. I think in >this thread< there is advice on how to do this. Basically you need to look to see if there is a charge voltage across the battery terminals.
I would agree that in the winter if we experience long gloomy periods, it is difficult to get enough out of the solar panel to keep batteries topped up. I posted this on another thread on the topic.
Its a bright day today, the sun is out but still quite low in the sky (probably about 10 o'clock). My 120w panel was only just maintaining float voltage of 13.6v. It should be between 13.5 to 13.8v to maintain a full battery. Yesterday was a gloomy day and it was showing only 13.3 volts. I use a NASA Marine BM1 meter to keep any eye on my leisure battery. You can see whether it is charging or dischrging and to what degree plus the voltage across the termals and what capacity is available.
peedee
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Thanks for your replies again. We bought a battery charger from Halfords (as per previous post) & have had the leisure battery charging on trickle charge since Monday afternoon with only a few short interruptions - almost 4 days now. Still not fully charged so taking a long time. We thought that at least something might be working by now but can't even get the electric step to work yet. Is this to be expected? Will it only work when the leisure battery is fully charged?? Is there a way to tell how much the leisure battery is charged (percentage wise)??
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Is there a way to tell how much the leisure battery is charged (percentage wise)??
You will need to remove it from charge for 24 hours. Then test with a multi meter and compare to the figures shown for the 12 volt battery below. Ideally you don’t want to let it get below 12.2 volts.
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That is taking a very long time. Are you sure it is actually charging? As I said above, the trouble with some 'smart' chargers is that they need to see a minimum voltage from the battery before they'll charge so if the battery was allowed to become fully discharged, the smart charger will never even begin to charge.
I'd suggest you take the battery to a PROPER local battery place & ask them to check it ....
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Thanks for your help again. Finally got the Swift Command panel to turn on today. Leisure battery still on trickle charge. Photo as below. Do you feel we should still get a multimeter or is this enough evidence that leisure battery is getting back to normal? Electric step still not working.
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Having trouble getting photo downloaded. Swift command panel display heading is 'POWER'. Display reads 'Leisure 13.3V, 0.2A. Solar 0.3A, Vehicle 12.3V. Selected battery Leisure'. Sorry about the technical problems with the photo. Hope this makes sense.
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Thanks again. We're charging the battery with the battery charger in the floor of the van on trickle charge attached to an extension lead through a window to the house. The charger has orange light on suggesting 'battery charging' - there's also a green light which comes on when 'battery fully charged' - but it hasn't come on yet. Strange that the electric step isn't working despite the leisure battery being at 13.3V. Could this be a fuse problem, etc?
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I don’t know if this has already been said but have you contacted your dealer? Fiat Camper Assist, despite the name, won’t be interested in anything that’s not Fiat and your warranty on the MH is with your dealer.
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I had a similar problem with my caravan leisure battery on a 2021 Bailey with solar panel
I assumed the solar panel would keep it charged up, but I’m guessing with the cloudy days it couldn’t so it went flat after around 4 weeks
I have a Ctek charger for a special car, so I removed the battery and recharged it and it’s working fine again. So I’m guessing this may need doing over winter unless you can plug it in somewhere. Mines in secure storage so I can’t
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It isn’t the lack of sun it’s a number of things that add up to the issues. PV’s(Photovoltaic) panels work well under cloudy conditions, the panel needs to be angled at the sun as best as possible. If it’s laid flat in shade it has no chance. That is why a lot of heavy duty offgridders are turning to portable fold up panels that can be moved into the best position. Ecoflow, Jackery, Bluetti, power oak are some. I know many vanners & outdoors folk who use them with super results outside Summer months.
PS-I have one but I am not allied to any manufacturer I just know they work without the big ££ layout👍🏻0 -
It would be interesting to know what size battery / what age and what you have switched on in the van. In our Unicorn 2 Cadiz we had a 110 Ah battery, which I swapped over about every 6 weeks, as it was powering an alarm and tracker. However, even after 6 weeks, it was only down to 12.5 volts and that was without a solar panel. If it’s going flat in 4 weeks with added solar, it would suggest more drain than just an alarm / tracker.
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It’s a 110 and a new battery, well September 2021 as the caravan was brand new
Im a new caravaner, so I couldn’t swear to the fact the 12v system was shut down properly. it is now so I’m checking it ever few weeks.
Has a tracker and alarm as well.
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