Coachman 12v Power issue

[shutchi3]

Hi, I have a Coachman Laser 640/4 2012. Got the caravan out of storage after several months, got it setup at home to prepare for a trip away. All seemed fine on day one, heating etc all working as expected. Left it overnight and today I appear to have no 12v power, the fridge, microwave and sockets all work but no lights and the control panel doesn't show the plug symbol to show it is connected to the mains.

I have tested the battery, 11v when disconnected from mains, jumps to 13v when main connected.

Checked all fuses, RCD's all on and tested the main switch with no issue.

I have checked as much wiring as I can to ensure there are lose or dropped connections and there doesn't appear to be any issues.

I have now removed the battery using a smart charger overnight tonight, not sure if that is required or will help or not?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Stuart

 

[Damian]

With the battery at 11v it is truly dead !
All you can do is try the smart charger over night and see what happens when you connect it up again.
Could well mean a new battery.

 

[shutchi3]

With the battery at 11v it is truly dead !
All you can do is try the smart charger over night and see what happens when you connect it up again.
Could well mean a new battery.

Thank you very much, would it make sense that it appeared to work briefly when I first got it home? I assumed that being connected to the mains overnight would have charged the battery.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Like Damian, I suspect your battery has had its day, The clues are 11V dc standing voltage, and it only rises to 13V when the caravan is powered by the mains. When connected to the mains the caravan's charger should be reading at least 13.8V, but becasue it has limited current capacity the damaged battery is dragging the voltage down.

The smart charger might restore it for a while but its clearly in a poor condition.

 

[otherclive]

Agree it looks like a dead battery. A smart charger may refresh it after a few days but you would need to let it stand after charging and then measure it’s no load volts. Unless you have solar charging in storage it’s best to at minimum disconnect the battery or better still remove it and keep it charged at home.

 

[RogerL]

Agree it looks like a dead battery. A smart charger may refresh it after a few days but you would need to let it stand after charging and then measure it’s no load volts. Unless you have solar charging in storage it’s best to at minimum disconnect the battery or better still remove it and keep it charged at home.

A dumb battery charger for a few hours is the best way to attempt revival on an otherwise dead battery, then put it on a smart charger - otherwise smart chargers probably see insufficient voltage so don't even get started.

 

[otherclive]

If the OP were to look at a smart charger then CTEK do a wide range, some geared to initial boost, some specified for use with stop start batteries. So like all things there’s a wide choice in Smart chargers. The difficulty is knowing what’s best, or affordable.