zig unit

[colin_5075604]

i have just bought a compass echo 390 van

which has a battery,when on hook up this is charging battery ok

but the battery is making bubbling noises and is flatish

it has plenty of water in it,do you think that it has had it also when the battery is fully charged does the zig stop putting a charge into the battery?ie if i was to put a fully charged battery on the van.

the zig unit is a x7

 

[Windrush1]

It sounds like the battery is cooking either a faulty cell or the charger is not cutting outI would get the battery tested first

 

[colin_5075604]

It sounds like the battery is cooking either a faulty cell or the charger is not cutting outI would get the battery tested first

yes thanks for that

so the charger is supposed to cut out when battery charged yes

 

[rob_jax]

Colin,

Your charger may be a multi-stage charger or it may not, many UK made vans are not.

And from your description the battery is being over-charged which would indicate a number of possible pointers:

1. You have a single stage charger - this are designed to supply a high current and rapidly charge a "flat" battery. But you need to disconnect the battery once it's charged.

2. You have a multi-stage charger - which should drop the charge to a safe (always on) level of around 100 milliAmps once the batttery is charged - but the circuit that detects the switch over is faulty.

Or you have a faulty battery - if one of the six cells has died - the battery will only develop 10 Volts and will "boil" when charging.

If you have a digital voltmeter, disconnect the battery and measure the no-load battery voltage. A fully charged battery in good condition should show a no-load voltage of 12.6 volts, 75% charged should be around 12.2 volts, "flat" should be no less than 11 Volts, and a reading of 10.4 Volts means one dead cell.

Then tell us what reading you get - and you can't use an old analogue meter - they don't have the resolution for you to differentiate some of the readings.

Robert