Caravan Battery we think is dead even though we have solar

[ProfJohnL]

Ok woke up this morning and the Noco is at solid green light.

Just out of curiosity, when I disconnect the charger from the battery, there won’t be any loss of power while it sits in the garage?

Whenever you leave a battery standing it will eventually lose all its charge, the question is how long will it take, and that depends on the design of the battery and its condition. and its state of charge and the temperature of the storage location.

Another question to consider is how do you test the state of charge? Most people would use a voltmeter and as a guide a fully charged 12V lead acid battery should show a terminal voltage of 12.6 to 12.8Vdc The charger should be disconnected for at least 2 hours before this measurement is made.

If the terminal voltage is down to 12.2Vdc the battery is at about 50% state of charge

If the terminal voltage is less than 11.8Vdc the battery is considered to be fully discharged and should be recharged as soon as possible.

If the terminal voltage is below 10.5V dc, and has been standing form more than a couple of weeks, a 12V battery may have suffered permanent damage and should only be recharged under supervision with a smart charger.

In practice a typical 100Ah 12V lead-acid battery, when fully charged and disconnected, experiences a self-discharge rate of approximately 3 to 6% per month

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Had a call from the Dealership this evening, someone who was more clued up on the solar panel issue.

Was told to use a multimeter negative (-) on the middle point on the below, and the positive (+) on the next one to the right. If I see 12V on the display then it’s trying to draw current to the battery, if there I see 0V then the fuse under the Sargant Fuse box needs to be located and investigated.

He did mention there was an issue with this a while back due to Swift fitting a less Amp fuse which then needs to be swapped over for a 20 or 25A fuse.

 

[borderbilly]

if he knew Swift had a issue, why do they not change the fuse themselves, before selling the caravan, lazy barstools.

 

[Saxo Appeal]

if he knew Swift had a issue, why do they not change the fuse themselves, before selling the caravan, lazy barstools.

Of course, let it happen then worry

 

[JTQ]

This LINK I believe is for your controller's user manual , if you haven't this to hand.
On page 10 it shows the status LEDs, where having the "Battery low" LED illuminated, as in your photo, could be because the mentioned fuse has blown, therefore well worth checking.
However, if the photo was taken in the dark, then the only power that could illuminate any LEDs has to be coming from the battery ,via a viable fuse, as in the dark it can't come from the panel.
So what that info is telling us depends when you took the photo, in the light of day or at night. Though possibly reflected light off the moon might just throw my logic here.

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Sorry forgot to add, the guy at the dealership said to check the (-) and the (+) when it’s dark outside, or cover the solar panel with a carpet if during the day

That photo of the Truma Solar unit was taken at 14:30pm