Battery problems

Davvygolf
Davvygolf Forum Participant Posts: 18
edited February 2023 in Caravans #1

I have seen the previous discussions about batteries and would appreciate some advice.

I have a 2019 Bailey Brindisi with a 100w  Truma solar panel and the Truma i net system for heating etc. It is fitted with a Numax 105ah deep cycle battery(new in 2019)

The van is on a seasonal pitch & for the last 2 years we have been able to leave it on site during the close season (from 31 October to 1st March) with a cover but not connected to mains .My Protec cover has a transparent  PVC type cut out over the solar panel. With the i net system I can message from home to check the status of the battery and up to mid December it reported the battery at 12.2 volts. On 11 January it showed 11.2v. Last Saturday ,28 Jan, i received a message saying that there was no 12v power supply and when I messaged it reported the battery at 6.9 v.  After that I could get no response .

On Wednesday I drove down and there was no pwer to switch on the 12 v lights  so I removed the battery and brought it home.

I put it on my Smart Charger and it came back to 13.3 volts fairly quickly. After removal from the charger it went down to 12.8v but since then has only lost about 0.3 v per day so I assume that it is okay.

I have 2 questions-

Is it likely that the Truma i net is using power  even though the heating and hot water system is off. I assume it must use some when it receives or transmits a SMS message but I would not expect it to be significant. I asked the question of Truma but the reply was not clear.

Am I being unrealistic to expect my Solar panel to keep the battery charged over the period from October to February, particularly when the panel is covered (albeit transparent), and should I just remove the battery and bring it home for that period? 

 

 

 

 

Comments

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,426 ✭✭✭
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    edited February 2023 #2

    Was there any problems last winter? If no and everything was fine then something has changed this winter? It's finding out what has changed.

    How old is the battery? That might have an effect?

    Was there leaves on the panel, was it clean? You mentioned January so was there a frost or snow on the panel that affected it?

  • Davvygolf
    Davvygolf Forum Participant Posts: 18
    edited February 2023 #3

    There was a similar problem last year but I had left the radio on, so difficult to say!!

    THey had no snow  but obviously some frosts but been quite mild rally

    . The cover looks clean and the battery was new in 2019

    Thanks for replying - all suggestions appreciated

     

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,383 ✭
    1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited February 2023 #4

    It sounds to me as though something is draining the battery, do you have an alarm fitted? If so that will drain a battery over time especially if the solar panel is providing little to no top up which I think as CS says is quite likely with all the frost we have been having. I certainly would not feel comfortable with covering up a panel with a "transparent" window.

    peedee

  • Gillway
    Gillway Club Member Posts: 24 ✭
    edited February 2023 #5

    We have a 2022 Coachman and the solar panel has worked well through the season when bringing the van home from storage and using the mover, but when we’ve recently had her serviced, the battery was flat. The engineer said even though everything is switched off, the fridge still emits a very low voltage. This is a design so it will swap itself onto the car when towing. So maybe there isn’t anything particularly wrong, just the design and the cold weather we’ve experienced. Maybe disconnecting the battery for next winter may help?  😊

  • Lyke Wake Man
    Lyke Wake Man Forum Participant Posts: 238
    edited February 2023 #6

    after going down to 6.9 volt, you will defiantly have have broken the plates, you have NO other option but to replace it.

    the transparent cover will stop all charging, so next year take your battery home

  • Davvygolf
    Davvygolf Forum Participant Posts: 18
    edited February 2023 #7

    Thanks everybody for your comments. I think that next year I will just bring the battery home and avoid a 200 mile round trip to fetch it  during the close season!

  • cyberyacht
    cyberyacht Forum Participant Posts: 10,218
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2023 #8

    I've got 3x100W on my moho roof. In the depths of winter, it barely copes with the parasitic drains of trackers/alarms and other sundry gizmos. A single 100W panel with sunlight further diffused by a transparent cover will be all but useless.

    You don't give your location, but here on the south coast it's seems to have been a particularly gloomy solstice period.

  • kalamitty55
    kalamitty55 Forum Participant Posts: 82
    edited February 2023 #9

    my battery did the the same, and i managed to get the voltage back into the battery, and when established that it was holding charge i put it back in the van,  but  after a week i went into check the van and had a faint whiff of sulpher so i disconnected the battery and bought a new one, since then no problems,  the old one is still holding 12.7v left on bench but its not a enclosed area so no smell. i would swap for a new one rather than risk reusing one thats recovered from flat.

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