Is my battery dead
Hi,
I have a Bailey Pursuit II 2019.
Got back from a week in Setthorns on the 22 July and because of misunderstanding the fridge was left on battery without the mains connected.
Yesterday I found this out and plugged the mains in to charge the battery. This morning it was at 13.16V just after charging.
Now I fear the battery is not good any more but if there was by chance a low battery disconnect in circuit then it may be Ok.
So does any one know if there would be one fitted. I've tried the usual Google searches and read the manual but no luck.
I can check the battery by connecting a 12V car bulb across it and monitoring the voltage but it's not the whole answer.
I need motor movers to get it on my drive and don't want to get stuck.
Any advice?
Many thanks
Andy
Comments
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The voltage seems to be OK as long as it was left for a while after the charger was switched off/disconnected before checking the voltage and why not just move it backward and forwards using your mover to see if it is OK but most caravan fridges only work on 12 volts when connected to a tow car
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I, too, first thought the OP was erroneously saying the leisure battery was drained by the fridge motor but, on reflection, I believe he means he left the fridge set to battery after towing it home instead of turning it off.
If so, the live feed from the leisure battery to the fridge's control panel and interior light would still have been drawing power from the battery all the time the van was parked up.
I've never come across a low battery disconnect feature in a caravan.
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"If so, the live feed from the leisure battery to the fridge's control panel and interior light would still have been drawing power from the battery all the time the van was parked up"
but surely this would have been miniscual amounts of power, its only an led control panel, and surely the interior light would be off if the door was closed ?
i suggest you try the mover, no need to engage the wheels just run it backwards and forwards if it spins round then all should be ok
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Was the door closed? What was the state of the battery before the event? These are all points to consider along with the fact the van has been left with the fridge turned on for 4 weeks. The OP wouldn’t be the first person to have flattened his battery in this way. Others have posted similarly in the past.
As far as we know, this was the only unusual draw on the battery. Have you a more feasible explanation?
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I find the icon of a battery or '12V' on a fridge is misleading/confusing .... it'd be better having an icon of a car instead. There have been loads of posts here over the years where people think their fridge is being powered from the caravan's leisure battery.
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The fact you left the fridge on battery means it would be connected nowhere at all. What that does it switch the fridge to be powered from the towing vehicle. If your battery went flat,the fridge was not the cause. It sounds to me as though your battery was fully charged at 13.16 volts. A fully charged battery at rest should show 12.8 volts, if you had left it to settle a while longer this may well have been the voltage you would have seen.
Like others suggest, to see if it holds the charge, use your mover.
peedee
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A Dometic 3 way absorption fridge seems to have been the standard fitting.
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Bailey never used to fit smart chargers to their caravans but this may have changed. If the battery was fully discharged (although that is by no means clear) then you need 14.4 volts to fully recharge it which means the system needs to take the battery off line when on EHU because you don’t want 14.4 volts on the 12 volt system.
Ideally with a fully discharged battery it is best to disconnect it and charge with a decent multi-stage charger like a CTek.
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"If your battery went flat,the fridge was not the cause."
Rather - if your battery went flat,the fridge motor was not the cause. It could well have been the fridge control panel/interior light.
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Many thanks for the responses.
The fridge is an absorption type and from what I glean from the responses the fridge will not drain the internal battery.
So this leads me to believe that when I found the fridge set to battery I panicked a little and got confused with the switches. It was getting dark and I did not have a torch at the time.
I left the battery on charge overnight (probably about 14hrs) by connecting the mains cable and measured the voltage shortly after disconnecting the mains. I did not measure it before charging so it may not have been flat. It could be that I did not have the main switch on so the voltage was zero (9v)
Just after charging the the voltage was 13.16V and about 2hrs it was 12.9V.
I'll measure it again in the morning and then try the motor movers. I guess it's OK but a fairly heavy motor mover test followed by measuring the battery voltage will give some indication.
Where would I find a decent wiring diagram.?
Thanks for your help
Andy
PS I'll try and get the screen name sorted.
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Layman's term for the sake of simplicity as I’m sure you’re aware 🙄
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The fridge cooling function would not have drained the battery but the control panel/ interior light could have.
You might have a wiring diagram in your handbook or even in your warranty booklet. Failing that, try the Bailey website.
You can choose a username in My Profile at the head of the page.
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well not a tech head, but on my 2008 coachman there is a volt meter built into the control panel, when the ehu is disconnected it reads 12v, you have to have the master switch in the on position, when i switch on the ehu it reads 12.5v, never seen it any different since buying the van not even when i put a new battery on when i replaced the mover, however, is this post a wind up ???
"So this leads me to believe that when I found the fridge set to battery I panicked a little and got confused with the switches. It was getting dark and I did not have a torch at the time"
why did he not switch on the 12v caravan lights ???
seems when he first checked the voltage he did not have the master switch "on" but it was registering 9v ???
I make a comparison with my OH car which we leave on the drive for 3 months with the battery connected all the alarms switched on, on return it starts first time, never has the battery been flat and it is 15 years old
one other point , my mover will not work if the voltage is below 11.5v.
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That's because it's an older car, Rufs. I thought with your vast experience of various technologies you would have realised things have moved on. The modern electrics will drain a battery pdq in newer cars.
Why would you accuse the OP of winding us up? He got confused and made a mistake. I'm sure he could have found something much more controversial if his intention was a wind up.
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"The modern electrics will drain a battery pdq in newer cars."
yes but we are talking about a simple LED control panel with a simply graphic and a 12v bulb inside a fridge , hardly modern electrics
"Why would you accuse the OP of winding us up?"
error was found some considerable time after arriving home, most folks check the fridge etc the day after arriving home, and clearly Andy must have had a lightbulb moment quiet late at night, maybe he had had a nightcap and a lightbulb moment so i will give him the benefit of the doubt
p.s. on my Thetford you can hear the relay clicking even when outside the van.
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You were the one who used a car as a comparison, Rufs, not me. I agree it's not comparable so wonder why you said it.🤷♂️
How nice that you now give Andy the benefit of the doubt.
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Andy you dont say if you're reading this voltage off the main panel if you are do you still have the mains switched on, also do you have a solar panel.
On mine with the mains switched on it reads 13.7v if I switch the mains off it drops to 13v and over time drop further if the solar panel is charging it goes up to 14.1v a fully charged battery disconnected should read a min of 12.6v if your in any doubt get yourself a battery charger one that can also rescue a battery they are quite small and inexpensive now it will also analyse your battery and do a health check.
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It was you who introduced a modern car, i simply used an old car, that has a fairly simple alarm system fitted and an old 12v battery and the performance over an elongated period as an analogy to a simple led system/light bulb over what was a relatively short period of time.
great believer in keeping things simple, i caravan for enjoyment, when things are not simple i get a man in to sort it out
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You just don't see it but never mind. I'm not going to continue.
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Andy I will just add to my last comment, I am like you in its impossible to get our van on our drive without the mover, we were away in Devon and I noticed the battery reading was very low, on checking I found the onboard charger was not working I new then that we could get the van home but I would never get it on the drive and leaving it on the narrow road not an option so I arranged with the warden to leave the van on its own for a couple of days, went home with the wife bought a better gell battery took that down to the van and swapped it over then took the van home, after the onboard charger was changed I purchased a separate charger, managed to rescue the original flat battery and keep it charged in the shed comfortable in the knowledge its there just in case I arrive home with a flat battery, I would recommend doing the same.
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Try a Subaru Forester. I'm pleased to hear things have changed.
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