Flat battery

[LMH]

Hi

Went away this weekend and the battery was as flat as a pancake. We were on hookup and some power got through to it as when we set up, the lights operated by battery didn't come on but they did after a few hours.

The water pump wouldn't work at any price. Am I right in thinking the water pump has to have battery power in order for it to work?

I think the cd player drained the battery so I've disconnected the cd player. I'll be bringing the van home in a couple of weeks so I'll try and charge the battery up but I thought once it had discharged seriously, there was no hope for it.

Suggestions please.

Many thanks.

Lisa

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hello Lisa , yes you are rightr the pump runs off of your battery.

This one has caught me out as well,so the answer is make sure you turn off Isolator switch when not in use.

Put you battery on slow charge you maybe ok.

Good Luck Sir Roger

 

[LMH]

Thanks Sir Roger. Good to know the gentry also have similar problems to us poor people.

Lisa x

 

[tangophil]

Lisa

Your van should have a 12volt leisure battery and a mains charger connected to it.

When you plug your caravan into a mains hook-up, the charger, as the name suggests, will charge the battery up, depending on the type it should also provide enough 12 volt power for the caravan as well.

If you aren't hooked up to the mains then all the 12 volt appliances - including the pump, must run straight off the battery.

If your battery is flat, nothing will work until you charge the battery up again.

The mains chargers fitted in most caravans are pretty basic, and although they will do the job, will often not bring a completely dead battery back to life.

I have a seperate charger at home which I use to keep the battery at peak performance until it is needed when I'm away, although it was expensive it does a terrific job and can revive a completely dead battery.

It maybe worth investing in one of these as all batteries lose charge when the caravan is in storage, even when you think everything is turned off.

The things to check

1. Is the battery still ok (they don't last forever unfortunately)

2. Is the charger working ok when connected to the mains

3. Is something draining the battery more than it should

Hope this helps

Phil

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Lisa .

Tango Phil is right in what he says but as your battery was starting to show some sort of life give your battery a GOOD CHARGE slowly of course.

A good point is ,how old is your battery as Im just going into my sixth year with ours and have to say it has been round 4 caravans I wish you all the luck.

I say old girl dont forget to make sure your battery has got water in it before you charge it.

Regards Sir Roger

 

[LMH]

Thanks for the replies Phil and Sir R.

I'm pretty sure the cd player has drained the battery. I bought the battery brand new in October last year. I have a diesel charger which I've used on leisure batteries in the past so I'll connect that up.

I think the onboard battery charger will struggle to bring it back to life if that's possible. If not, I'll have to get another one.

When I used leisure batteries to run my electric fencing, the battery would run down to dead. I used to charge it up with the diesel charger and it would be like new again. Although I appreciate 1000 metres of electric fencing is different to what you use in a van over a few days/couple of weeks.

Sir R - I thought the latest leisure batteries were sealed units, is that not the case (I haven't looked though to be honest).

Lisa

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Sorry Lisa as I said our battery is six years old so maybe nowadays they are sealed, but as yours was only bought in October I would charge it up, I think you will be ok . Good luck Sir Roger

 

[tangophil]

Lisa

You can still get both types of battery, sealed which needs no topping up, and those which do require topping up with distilled water.

Having looked around caravan shops it appears the most common are the sealed type as they use different technology and are much easier to look after (although they can be more expensive)

Best of luck

Phil

 

[RogerL]

There are three types of lead acid battery in normal use:-

Normal maintenance with six caps to top up fluid are designed for a life of 100 cycles of 50% discharge.

Low maintenance also have six caps but are "hidden" by a sticker - these also have a design life of 100 @ 50%.

Maintenance free / sealed / VRLA batteries are fully sealed and use gas recombination chambers to prevent fluid loss - these are designed for 200 cycles of 60% discharge - this is effectively 2.4 times the design life of normal or low maintenance types.