Battery Overcharging

[Steve_374462767]

Hi,

Had caravan hooked up at home to warm up before outing on 27th

came back last night to find the battery cooking nicely turned off charger now, battery is only 2 months old, stirling elite wayfarer is the van, any help please???

Many Thanks

Steve

 

[Damian]

Steve, it is only going to be one of two things, a faulty charger or a faulty battery.

What age is the van? have you checked the output of the charger?

Whilst the battery may only be 2 months old, it may well have an internal fault so dont automatically rule that out.

 

[forestgump]

if hooked up at home must be battery or charger check cells iwould think battery is to fault.Hope you sort it battery is easy as you

know.

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

Hi Steve,

You don't mention the age of the caravan, but if it is recent (i.e. psot 2006/7), it would have been fitted with a "smart" charger. Under normal circumstances, the charger is unable to deliver a high enough voltage or amp output to damage the battery.

However, this can be checked, simply by disconnecting the battery, turning the charger on, and measuring the voltage across the battery clamps. It should be no higher than around 14.4V. If this is maximum voltage read, then, I'm afraid your battery has a fault.

I hope that helps.

Ash

 

[James_374408700]

Ash,

If the charger is putting out 14.5 volts when not connected how do you know if the charger is dropping down to a float charge once the battery is fully charged?

This happened to me on my last van and it cooked the battery.

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

Hi James,

There would be a number of ways to check. Again, with the battery connected, and in a state of full charge, the voltage across the terminals can be measured. This should be in the region of 13.8V.

Or, depending on the model of caravan, the control panel will tell you the voltage in the system, being delivered by the charger. Again, this should be around 13.8V. with no other electrical items on.

Ash

 

[James_374408700]

Ash,

So your advice to measure the output with no battery connected does not necessarily prove the charger to be OK.

Just a thought.

Merry Xmas

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

Hi James,

Unfortunately, without knowing the age of the caravan, it is not possible to say whether Steve has a smart charger fitted or not.

The only fact we can be sure of is that the charger should not deliver an output of more than approximately 14.4V, and therefore, I would suggest this is the first thing to check.

Thanks,

Ash

 

[TD42]

Hi steve,can I suggest the following procedur. first disconnect & check your battery with a test meter or a hydrometer to check it is fully charged (12.8v dc)check charger output as Ash's suggestion,then reconnect battery & check across the terminals,with a fully charged battery you should not have more than 13.8vdc

allow at least 3/4 hours for battery to settle before checking the state of charge after disconecting it from the charger

 

[Douglas_374404558]

HI! steve i have had 2 bat chargers fitted to my Swift van in 3 years under warrenty apart from that van is /was great (changed it for another Swift so nothing wrong with Swift) ist overcharged my battery (as by the sound of it has yours ) charger did not cut off as it should have 2nd just would not charge at all after 10 months it just packed in. Swift and other makers have had a lot of problems with the same type of chargers i think they were of italian make so cannot blame Swift for the actual charger fault .i hope that my new van does not have the same problems (Ash if you are reading this could you reply ). i know have a new charisma 550 march 09 with the same type charger do you still get the same problems with them hope not, awaiting your reply Ash if possible. thanks Duggie

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

Hi Dougie,

The issue with the chargers failing was down to a faulty sub-component within the charger. The result was that after only a few (normally around 10) hours of use, the charger would stop functioning. Certainly, our supplier has resolved the issue with faulty component, and is no longer using the same component, now know to cause the failure.

Based on this, if your Charisma charger has been working for longer than a few days, then I would confidently say you do not have a faulty charger.

I hope that helps.

Ash

 

[Steve_374462767]

Hi Dougie,

The issue with the chargers failing was down to a faulty sub-component within the charger. The result was that after only a few (normally around 10) hours of use, the charger would stop functioning. Certainly, our supplier has resolved the issue with faulty component, and is no longer using the same component, now know to cause the failure.

Based on this, if your Charisma charger has been working for longer than a few days, then I would confidently say you do not have a faulty charger.

I hope that helps.

Ash

Hi

thanks everyone for the replies, the van is a 2005 model,

only hed van in august 2009, went away a couple of times noticed battery not holding charge,was an 85amp, so replaced with a new 110amp and now this, i will take battery off today and check !!

Thanks

Steve

 

[Douglas_374404558]

Hi Dougie,

The issue with the chargers failing was down to a faulty sub-component within the charger. The result was that after only a few (normally around 10) hours of use, the charger would stop functioning. Certainly, our supplier has resolved the issue with faulty component, and is no longer using the same component, now know to cause the failure.

Based on this, if your Charisma charger has been working for longer than a few days, then I would confidently say you do not have a faulty charger.

I hope that helps.

Ash

HI! Ash thanks once again for your prompt reply yes the charger has been used a few times with no problems so all looking good

as is the new Swift van. great that you take the time to reply, thanks again have a great time at the newyear holidays and will C U next year.

Thanks Duggie

 

[Steve_374462767]

Hi

thanks for all the replies, found 2 dead cells on battery, only couple of months old replaced now and all is well

cheers

Steve

 

[JTQ]

steve,

As your van pre-dates the fitting of the "smart" charger then if it was mine it would definitely not be left "on" continuously when the van is not in use.

With these rudimentary chargers doing so is of no benefit and "could" do the battery long term harm so is best not done.

Just charging it for about three hours every three weeks to a month would be a better solution.

If you need to be on EHU for other reasons make sure the charger is switched off or its mains supply is otherwise disconnected.

 

[waffler]

A couple of things: caravan chargers output 13.8 volts. This means that the 12 volt lights don't blow. It also means that the battery never fully charges- it needs at least 14.4 volts to fully charge. A fully charged battery with no load should read 12.8 volts. Any load and it will read lower due to internal resistance. Some new vans that use BCA kit have a charger that puts out 14.4 when no lights are on for up to 4 hours a day. This ensures the battery is fully charged.