Battery down to 1.9V , Will it recover?

[Gareth111278]

Hi.
I got my caravan in for a check over after not using it since last August. The worst thing apart from the brake cables was the fact that the battery is reading 1.9 volts on my multi-meter. i think i left the master switch to the radio on & the current draw for the memory was enough to drain the battery despite having a small solar panel attached.

its on the bench now with the solar panel attached in the window, do we think its pointless , can a battery be recoverd from this state? I'm gutted as its a big 110amp , less than 2 years old :-(

Gareth

 

[Gareth111278]

Thanks, i'll see if the solar has put any into it , I doubt it TBH.
Then i'll give that a try, it makes alot of sense.
Did your car start OK after doing that or was the car running?

 

[Sproket]

I had one the same .......

So I put the jump leads on from the car & let it equalise the charge level for about half an hour,

( its a bit like jump starting your truck ) otherwise the charger will not charge it up ......
Some chargers do not like it to be below 7v otherwise they will cut out & tell you the battery is faulty.

Its worth a try it worked for me

Have a look at the CTEK charger

 

[Sproket]

I have one of these always charged up as both of our tugs are automatic ....

As it happens the Isuzu started ok as the battery on that is huge

 

[Gareth111278]

Thanks, the battery on my Toyota is the same size as the the 110amp leisure battery on the caravan, [type 663] so i expect the car will start OK.
I'll try it tomorrow & let you know how it goes.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Gareth Ive had my leisure battery drop this low as well , when this happened I just stuck it on my 11amp charger and brought it back ok.I haveto add it sometimes does them good to give um a quick shift up like that anyway and mine lasted 6 years but alway took it home during the winter and put a car battery on for the winter period.

 

[Gareth111278]

Thanks, I should make a point of pulling the battery off & puting it on a conditioner over winter & taking the wheels off & putting it on winter wheels, the caravan lives in a yard oposite my work. I'm a bus mechanic so there's no excuse.

Problem is you never want to admit its your last trip of the year!!

 

[Gareth111278]

UP DATE...
Checked the battery this morning...8.6 Volts !!
I've now got two small solar panels on it, its up to 10 volts now. Looking good, hopefully it'll come up to propper voltage over a couple of weeks.

 

[Smith21]

Where's the best place / best panel to charge the battery.

 

[Gareth111278]

I'm no expert on this but I'm using 2 small cheep [£10] panels from Maplin.
I've put them in the front of the car which is parked facing south , the battery is siting in the footwell, i've left the sunroof open a bit to let any gasses out!

Its up to 10.5 volts now & I think i'm getting to the point where the panels are not enough & I need a little charger to bring it up to full charge.

 

[Sproket]

Where's the best place / best panel to charge the battery.

Kevin,
Have you a alarm fitted to your van if so have a read of this.....
solar-powered-battery-charger

 

[TonyG]

kevin
Our van is kept in storage and we have an alarm and phantom tracker, and therefore need a battery connected at all times. we use one of these brief case solar panels, 13 watt from maplins. been using this for 3 years and never had a call out from phantom or had problems using the mover for the first time after winter storage, we just stick it in teh front window

 

[Gareth111278]

Duplicate Post.

 

[Gareth111278]

Quick up date,
After getting as high as 10.5 V on a sunny day [Tuesday] the battery with two solar panels seems to have leveled out at 8.5 volts.
I've plugged the caravan into the mains & reconnected the battery overnight. I'll see how it looks in the morning......

 

[Gareth111278]

After a night on the caravan charger we're upto 12.5 volts!!
Must get it on a trickle charger & get it topped up now

 

[Gareth111278]

The most boring blog in history continues!
I've had it on charge all day on my friend's small charger & its up to 13.4v & the 'Fully Charged' light has come on

I'll see how it looks after resting over night. it looks like I've got away with it

 

[Gareth111278]

Thanks to anyone dull enough to read this!!
The battery was on 13.7 v when I went home on Friday , I left it off charge all weekend & it's on 12.8v this morning .
Not 100% brilliant but it'll be good enough as we're on hook up most of the time anyway.

Gareth

 

[philspot1]

Congratulations - a (very) long job, but looks like it's been worth it. Don't uncross your fingers too soon, though. Try testing it by putting a medium load on for a few minutes, then see if it recovers to 12.8 again.
I've forgotten whether you have a mover or not, (well, it has been a few days/weeks....since this started), but that would really test its holding capacity!!!!
Your patience deserves its own reward, as they say.

 

[Gareth111278]

Thanks Phil.
I've not got a mover fitted so no worries there. I'll put it back on the caravan & use it to run the water pump during a system flush with Milton fluid, that should sort it out!