Leisure battery

Feb 7, 2019
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Has my battery had it,
When nothing is switched on,the volt meter reads 12.5/13v,when I turn a light on it goes down to 11v,turn another on ,it goes down to 10v another,9v,you get the picture,if no lights are on and a tap is turned on you can see power slowly going down.
When you turn the lights off or the pump ,you can see the voltage slowly build up again,
What is the problem?
 
Mar 14, 2005
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How old is the battery?
has been allowed to stand without being charged for more than a couple of months?
Could your charger be faulty?
 
Feb 7, 2019
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The battery is 2+years,it had been stood a couple of months,I checked the voltage with a meter and it showed 12.8v,
How do I check if the trickle charger is working?
 
Sep 29, 2016
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JcbJohn

We are trying to help, but not easy until we have more info.

When you switch lights etc. on the battery reading goes down on the caravan console battery charge state indicator, is that correct?

What does the battery charge indicator read a few minutes after you have switched the lights off, does the battery charge level increase? (if so by how much).

(Give us a starting point charge level and the level at which the battery is at after you switch the lights etc. off)

Or does the battery remain at an indicated low charge?

Do you have an external 'smart' battery charger that you could put the battery on for several days, CTEK and Optimate are very good and can de-sulphate a battery, Aldi and Lidl chargers are a very good second choice at a much lower cost.

A badlly depletedsulphated battery can be restored with good quality chargers, this can take several days on the charger.

Anseo
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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Quote " If you read my post,it's pretty straight forward what my problem is ,how much more info do you need? "

Whoa...…. take it easy !!
Whilst your problem may seem pretty straight forward the resolution may no be so simple, and people on here in the main are not engineers, just ordinary folk trying to help.

One thing that is not clear is whether you are using the on board voltage indicator or a multimeter.
If the on board thing, they are notoriously inaccurate, get a multimeter !

From your initial post , if the voltage drops as quickly as you indicate then the battery has lost a cell or two and is only good for the scrap yard.
 
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Jcbjohn said:
If you read my post,it's pretty straight forward what my problem is ,how much more info do you need?

I am glad that you now know what your problem is :p

I do not now need any more info, I do not have a problem :lol:
 
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Jcbjohn said:
If you read my post,it's pretty straight forward what my problem is ,how much more info do you need?

Hello John,

You are new to the forum and may I welcome you here. We try to help, but we are often hamstrung becasue especially where a technical problem has arisen, we are unable to touch or measure the necessary elements to be able to accurately assess what's going on.

Some of us do have extensive professional knowledge and experience of caravans, and we have proven methods of checking many types of issues, but where as we have training and experience and the right tools to do it, not all users are so well placed.

From a professional perspective I know that often what may seem a simple issue to a user may be masking a deeper problem, and if we simply change the observed component it may well fail again becasue the underlying issue has not been resolved. So it is sometimes necessary to dig deeper to check what else may be going on.

When you think about a rechargeable battery that appear not to be working there are several possibilities as to why it appears not to be working for example ( and this is not an exhaustive list):-

The battery may not be connected.
Is it the correct type of battery?
Has it been wired up in the correct polarity
A fuse may have blown.
A terminal clamp(s) may be loose.
Corrosion may have cause the connection to become high resistance.
A connecting wire may have been damaged (physically cut, crushed or it may have been over loaded, and melted).
A switch may not have been turned on.
The battery has too much load connected.
The battery could be discharged.
The battery may have been left discharged for too long and is permanently damaged.
The battery may not have been charged for long enough
The battery might be damaged so it can't accept a charge.
A cell may have gone high resistance.
The battery may have lost its electrolyte in one or more cells
The charger may not be working
The charger may not be powerful enough for the capacity of the battery
The charger may not be turned on or the mains power circuit has tripped
Are the ancillary circuits telling the truth?

Not all the above necessarily have 'yes-no' answers, some may be dependant on other factors, and in your case obviously some would not apply.

So please don't get upset, we are trying to work out what your problem may be, and it will require some towing and frowing to get to the bottom of it.

If you are not prepared to work with us then you perhaps should consider using a mobile caravan engineer to investigate and correct the problem for you.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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ProfJohnL said:
Jcbjohn said:
If you read my post,it's pretty straight forward what my problem is ,how much more info do you need?

Hello John,

You are new to the forum and may I welcome you here. We try to help, but we are often hamstrung becasue especially where a technical problem has arisen, we are unable to touch or measure the necessary elements to be able to accurately assess what's going on.

Some of us do have extensive professional knowledge and experience of caravans, and we have proven methods of checking many types of issues, but where as we have training and experience and the right tools to do it, not all users are so well placed.

From a professional perspective I know that often what may seem a simple issue to a user may be masking a deeper problem, and if we simply change the observed component it may well fail again becasue the underlying issue has not been resolved. So it is sometimes necessary to dig deeper to check what else may be going on.

When you think about a rechargeable battery that appear not to be working there are several possibilities as to why it appears not to be working for example ( and this is not an exhaustive list):-

The battery may not be connected.
Is it the correct type of battery?
Has it been wired up in the correct polarity
A fuse may have blown.
A terminal clamp(s) may be loose.
Corrosion may have cause the connection to become high resistance.
A connecting wire may have been damaged (physically cut, crushed or it may have been over loaded, and melted).
A switch may not have been turned on.
The battery has too much load connected.
The battery could be discharged.
The battery may have been left discharged for too long and is permanently damaged.
The battery may not have been charged for long enough
The battery might be damaged so it can't accept a charge.
A cell may have gone high resistance.
The battery may have lost its electrolyte in one or more cells
The charger may not be working
The charger may not be powerful enough for the capacity of the battery
The charger may not be turned on or the mains power circuit has tripped
Are the ancillary circuits telling the truth?

Not all the above necessarily have 'yes-no' answers, some may be dependant on other factors, and in your case obviously some would not apply.

So please don't get upset, we are trying to work out what your problem may be, and it will require some towing and frowing to get to the bottom of it.

If you are not prepared to work with us then you perhaps should consider using a mobile caravan engineer to investigate and correct the problem for you.

Prof
One I found recently was the cables into the terminal clamps had loosened, first noticed as a reduction in motor mover speed, and reduced charge.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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ProfJohnL said:
Thanks for the comment Clive, but I did say my list was not exhaustive.

Prof
Your list was very comprehensive and my recent experience was a new one to me, so I thought if I added it someone could perhaps benefit.
Cheers
 
Nov 11, 2009
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Jcbjohn said:
I thought this site was for practical caravaners not university challenge,
Your reply is far too complicated,not practicle at all

Not all problems are resolved quickly and some threads do go on for quite a long while until a solution is found. Obviously one should try to check the most obvious things first but if they don’t sort it out then you have no alternative but to drill down into the other potential causes.
 

Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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The replies given by forum members here are obviously not what the O P wants to read, so to save him and everyone else the time and trouble in the future he's banned. I haven't got the patience or the inclination to constantly watch him to see who he would insult next
 
Feb 6, 2009
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Good move Parksy
I think that was exactly the correct approach to someone who responded as they did.
It's not often that we see folks being blocked, but sometimes it's just the most effective and practical method of ensuring that our members are not insulted or upset by ill considered posts.
Regards to all and of course
Happy Caravanning
paws
 
Nov 16, 2015
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Jcbjohn said:
I thought this site was for practical caravaners not university challenge,
Your reply is far too complicated,not practicle at all

Hi John, I was on a site near Ludlow and woke with a hangover due to a lovely pub next to to the site, to a constant beeping from the fridge. It turned out that the main power unit had blown "both " sections of the 12 volt system.
Whilst on Hook up power everthing worked but there was a small battery icon on the main control panel. Nothing in the handbook about it.

Eventualy the second part of the power unit the one that ran the 12 volts to the van and not the bit that ran the battery charger had broken. So every time we towed which was mostly to France maybe a 10 to 12 hour tow the battery in the van was charged by the car. I took me a fair time to work it out,
The helicopters I look after are worth over 29 Million dollars, Sikorsky S92's, and Are flying computers. So I "think I know whats going on" BUT the caravan handbook doesnt mention the battery icon. My caravan buddy next door on the pitch might know. We are here to help but every one needs help
.
 
May 24, 2014
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Regardless of the OP, multimeters are limited in what they will tell you. You can check the charge in the battery and you can check the current going in, but to test the batteries properly you also need a good old drop tester and a hydrometer.
Dont just assume that because your battery is holding 12 volts or more, its in good condition.
 

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