had caravan pluged into mains at house all winter but now the 12v in caravan not working seems battery not being charged by the mains i have tried 2 batteries and the 12v just drains in a couple of hours any ideas how to fix this problem would be appreciated thanks
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battery not charging
- Thread starter neil_374414614
- Start date
Neil had the same problem with my Swift Charisma it was the charging unit that was knackered got it replaced with the fusebox (luckily under warenty )
hope this helps
Duggie
hope this helps
Duggie
Slightly different, topic but we managed to drain our battery completley, left the CH pump running for 3 weeks. Question is I don't seem to be able to get the battery back to full charge. It shows 3/4 on the caravan meter, and when I have the battery connected to the charger at home in the garage it just seems to be continually on charging mode !! It is a 120Ah battery (2 year old )how long should it take to recharge ???
thanks
thanks
Neil, sounds like you have cooked your battery by keeping it on charge for long term. No rechargeable battery will long survive this - hence why I would never use a docking station to listen to my iPod. With a 12v lead acid battery you should not fully discharge either, but like all rechargeable batteries you should always let it discharge to a significant level before recharging - ie don't even just plug it in once a month as has been suggested. Leave your caravan lights on over night once a month and then recharge.
Pity there is no real alternative, but I hate rechargeable batteries because of how easy it is to wreck them just by using them the way that it is convenient. At least unlike an iPod you can replace the battery in your caravan.
Pity there is no real alternative, but I hate rechargeable batteries because of how easy it is to wreck them just by using them the way that it is convenient. At least unlike an iPod you can replace the battery in your caravan.
draining a 12V lead acid battery completely causes the metal plates inside to collapse. You have ruined your battery and will never get it to recharge. Chances are even with the meter showing 3/4, if you go to use it, it will fail almost immediately. Sad to say but it is a trip to the battery dealer for you.
Contrary to some advice, with a correctly designed "smart" charger leaving it connected continuously is the best treatment you can give your lead acid battery.
Some chargers/controllers fitted to vans are anything but correctly designed. Certainly those on older vans had no multi-phase charging or load side voltage regulation. These used to sit at 13.8 volts boiling the battery and should not be left connected after they part charged the battery.
So whether leaving it connected or not solely depends on what kit is fitted.
Returning to the OP's question: because other batteries are flatted whether the original battery is wreaked or not is a side issue. The problem is something is drawing too much current, far too much.
The cheap device shown in the following link is a bit of kit we should all carry in our tool bag. It enables you to systematically measure what current each fuse is carrying and with this and a modicum of thought you will quickly identify what item has gone wrong within you 12 volt system and is burning up your stored power. With this device you remove the fuse being investigated and fit it in the device, it then functions as normal and the current flowing can be read by pressing the button.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=217879
Some chargers/controllers fitted to vans are anything but correctly designed. Certainly those on older vans had no multi-phase charging or load side voltage regulation. These used to sit at 13.8 volts boiling the battery and should not be left connected after they part charged the battery.
So whether leaving it connected or not solely depends on what kit is fitted.
Returning to the OP's question: because other batteries are flatted whether the original battery is wreaked or not is a side issue. The problem is something is drawing too much current, far too much.
The cheap device shown in the following link is a bit of kit we should all carry in our tool bag. It enables you to systematically measure what current each fuse is carrying and with this and a modicum of thought you will quickly identify what item has gone wrong within you 12 volt system and is burning up your stored power. With this device you remove the fuse being investigated and fit it in the device, it then functions as normal and the current flowing can be read by pressing the button.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=217879
hi neil do you have a motor mover fitted as i had a simmilar problem with my battery failing to hold a charge for long until i disconnected live lead from mover now it stays fully charged regards john
ray thanks for that i will get it checked it was fitted before i bought the van regards john
thanks for ur comments but i not have a carvan mover fitted,i have even tried fitting a set of jump leads from my car to caravan battery everything runs fine but once jump leads disconnected caravan battery discharges in less than 1 hour
