Battery query

[Mandy_374450488]

Hi everyone. Caravaning didn't get off to a great start for me. Bought a s/h Elddis 2 years ago. Did lots of preparation, practice towing etc, then our first holiday and the engine on my Peugeot blew 10 miles from leaving home! Flood damage in 2007). Anyhow - last year, albeing rubbish weather, was a wonderful holiday, and a very successful first real towing experience.

My query is the van battery. It was working fine prior to the holiday, but on our return, after having been hooked up for 2 weeks, it was completely flat. To be honest, we've done nothing with it over the winter but have now checked the levels and are in the process of charging it to see if it's still usable or whether it will need replacing. The switch in the van was set to hook up/car, and then off when we parked up.

What did I do wrong? Or do I just have a dud battery?

 

[Jaydug]

If your battery has stood over winter without being charged, it's very likely that it's beyond being serviceable. Before you dump it, give it a slow charge off the caravan with a battery charger. After charging, use a multimeter on it. It should read around 14 volts. Disconnect the charger and allow the battery to stand for several hours. Read the output again. It should read 12.6volts and should continue to show that reading for sometime afterwards. A falling reading indicates a 'dud' battery.

 

[Mandy_374450488]

If your battery has stood over winter without being charged, it's very likely that it's beyond being serviceable. Before you dump it, give it a slow charge off the caravan with a battery charger. After charging, use a multimeter on it. It should read around 14 volts. Disconnect the charger and allow the battery to stand for several hours. Read the output again. It should read 12.6volts and should continue to show that reading for sometime afterwards. A falling reading indicates a 'dud' battery.

Thanks for that. I'll do that and hope I don't need to replace it. A lesson learned!

 

[Mark_374450988]

Hi check to see if your caravan charger is working. I am new to caravaning and bought a new van sept last year. Only did weekend trips and a couple of 3-4 days. We had 2 batteries die on us beyound recovery. We were always on hook up but being novices assumed we had used too much 12 volt power and flattened the batteries, or my 2 year old had been playing with the switchs. (but I have since been told if on hook up, this is very unlikely to happen, flattening of batteries that is not fiddling 2 year olds). So as you can imagine after a secound battery going flat, I wasn't pleased and booked it in to the dealers to be checked out. I was told the charger had been replaced as it wasn't working. Looks like it had always been faulty but slipped through the pre-delivery inspection.

 

[James_374408700]

Hi check to see if your caravan charger is working. I am new to caravaning and bought a new van sept last year. Only did weekend trips and a couple of 3-4 days. We had 2 batteries die on us beyound recovery. We were always on hook up but being novices assumed we had used too much 12 volt power and flattened the batteries, or my 2 year old had been playing with the switchs. (but I have since been told if on hook up, this is very unlikely to happen, flattening of batteries that is not fiddling 2 year olds). So as you can imagine after a secound battery going flat, I wasn't pleased and booked it in to the dealers to be checked out. I was told the charger had been replaced as it wasn't working. Looks like it had always been faulty but slipped through the pre-delivery inspection.

Mark,

"slipped through the PDI" you are joking right!!!!

Jim

 

[Mark_374450988]

Mark,

"slipped through the PDI" you are joking right!!!!

Jim

no wasn't joking, thought battery charger would have been checked during pdi.