Battery problem - mystery.

[S_374382905]

Hi all

I have just returned from a four day break where I encountered a problem with the 12 volt system/battery. Before I splash out on a new battery and/or leisure charger I wonder if any of you can offer any suggestions for the problem which is as follows:

1. Caravan is a 2005 bailey pageant fitted with a 110 amp Numax battery which is about 18 months old.

2. Woke up one morning and found that all 12 volt systems were off and battery meter reading zero. Caravan had been plugged into site mains all the time and I had it plugged into the mains overnight before we left. The mover etc all worked without a problem before we left and when we arrived on site - it finally died after the second night.

3. I left all 12 volt systems off for about 12 hours, and the battery did charge a little bit (up to about 11amps) but as soon as I switched the pump on, the meter dropped to zero again immediately - obviously the van charger has its limitations, but I would have thought the battery would have held a charge better.

4. Drove home and found that the battery indicator had risen to almost 13 amps and it was enough for the mover to work for a short while before it died again. I am now charging the battery using a leisure charger to see what happens.

I have spoken to a dealer who advised that I check all the fittings to the RCB box which I did. They all looked OK but I disconnected them and then reconnected them to make sure. The fact that the battery did start to build a charge on site suggests to me that the charger is at least now working.

Is it possible that the charger could have not been working before I 'jiggled' the wires about and therefore the battery drained itself, or does this sound to optimistic?

 

[Chris_374413356]

Hi, I have just had a similar problem (twice).

Basically I had no 12volt charging and of course over several days my battery, like yours, died.

The problem was in the charger unit itself. the plug had come out inside the unit.

To fix, remove unit enough to get front cover off and just plug the plug back in. Because this has happened twice I've stuck the plug in with silicon.

From start to finish only took 30 mins and 10 of those was looking for a screwdriver!

Unplug the mains 240 volt supply before starting.

 

[michael_5098672]

Hi there a similar thing happened to me and the fault was with the on board charger. My battery received a small charge and all the lights dimmed down. You my need an electrician to check your charger output.My replacement cost around

 

[S_374382905]

Thanks both - does sound like the same kind of problem. Battery is now fully charged so I will see what happens over the next week or so. Van is in for a service soon, so I will ask them to check the charger.

 

[Woody3]

First off, if the EHU is connected do the mains lights work correctly? Is the water heater working correctly? This will rule out whether the mains connection is a fault (more common than you may think.)

Then as others have suggested look at your PSU.

A WORD OF WARNING

Leave the mains off FOR AT LEAST 24 hours before even thinking of opening up the power supply. In a switched mode device such as this capacitors are charged up to in excess of 300V and can take a considerable time to discharge. Short one of those out with a finger and you will know about it for weeks as the burn it produces is inside as well as superficial.

 

[S_374382905]

The suggestion put forward by Chis worked!

I am updating this so that any other bailey owners who experience the same or similar problems can eliminate this first before incurring unnecessary expense.

I removed the 'consumer unit' after unplugging all the cables on the bottom and then removed the front cover (obviously I disconnected all power first). At the top of the consumer unit inside the box (on my bailey at least) is the charger which has a mains lead plugged into it via a plug similar to that found on a computer) It had worked loose for some reason.

All I had to do was push the plug firmly home and instant success - the charger kicked into life.

Thanks again to Chris.