HelenT Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Hi We tried out our second hand Weinsberg Carabus 541 just after Christmas. The electrics had been working fine before hand. We had the van plugged into the mains and set the electric (compressor) fridge to run overnight before we set off the next day. Come the next morning the leisure batteries were showing that they had no charge and the lighting was not coming on etc. We ended up using the mains hook up at the campsite and a fan heater and led light plugged into the 13amp sockets. After the van sitting back at the house for a month we switched on the control panel and lo and behold the batteries were showing two bars of green. We have pressed the control switch several times since we returned from the trip and the indicator has not shown any bars of green. The van has not been connected to anything to charge up the batteries. Could it be a faulty control panel - which is sometimes working and sometimes not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Do you have a multimeter to measure what the actual battery voltage is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS20 Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 I would use a meter and test the charge at the battery, then take the control panel off and test the switches and contacts etc. But 1st think about the night you had it plugged in at home, could you have made a mistake and maybe not plugged in your power cable securely, or like I did once forgot to turn the power on to charge, so when you ran the fridge the battery's went flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenT Posted February 16, 2020 Author Share Posted February 16, 2020 Hi Folks, update - the suggestion that the power may not have been switched on at the mains when hooked up - has been admitted as a possiblity by my husband! Since last posting - the batteries have been charged to full (three bars of green on the controller) - and have successfully run the fridge while plugged into the mains with no adverse impact on battery charge. So failure to switch on at the mains previoulsy may have been the problem. We then ran the fridge off the batteries only for at least 24 hours - the batteries down to one bar of green on the controller. So plugged into the mains and it took 2 days to bring the batteries back up to three bars of green. They are Bosch L5 batteries. Should this take so long to charge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Helen, I'm no battery expert, but I think you are asking "almost impossible to answer" questions! :-) How long a battery takes to charge will depend on a) how far discharged it actually is, b) whether anything else is drawing power from the battery while it is being re-charged, c) the output of the charger, d) the cable size (and length) between charger and battery, and e) the type of battery (i.e. its chemistry) plus its age and condition. The bars on a control panel are but a picture, and seldom give an accurate picture of what is going on. You will need a voltmeter (a multimeter from Halfords will do) to gauge the state of the battery, and you will need to take its voltage readings directly from the battery when it is not on charge, not being discharged, and after having "rested" for at least a couple of hours after any charge routine has been terminated. As an example, a 12V "Gel" battery (a type frequently used for habitation batteries) reading 12.8V or more is fully charged. At 12.55V it is 75% charged. At 12.3V it is 50% charged. At 12.2V it is 25% charged, and at 12V or less it is dead flat! All that, in the difference between just 12.8V, and 12.0 V! The deeper a battery is discharged, the shorter its life will be, especially if discharged below 12.3V/50%. A battery may withstand being run flat without serious damage, but to minimise the damage it would need to be re-charged immediately it reached that depth of discharge, and would need to be re-charged by an "intelligent" charger correctly set (in this case) to a Gel charge setting. How old is the battery? What make and type is it? What is it's stated capacity? What make and model of charger is fitted? What is the actual battery voltage after it has been continually on charge for 24 hours and then rested for at least 2 hours with no load attached? What is its Voltage after a further 24 hours off charge with no load attached? To test it, it will need to have a known light load attached (say 5A, 3x20W light bulbs) and its voltage taken, and noted, at regular intervals (say hourly, so you need to start in the morning! :-)) for, say, 12 hours - but immediately terminating the test if the after rest voltage falls below 12.3V! Ideally, rest the battery for 5 minutes every hour, and take and note the Voltages (and the time!) immediately the load is removed, and again after the 5 minute rest (when the Voltage should have risen slightly), and so on, until ether the end of of the 12 hours is reached, or the after rest voltage fails to climb above 12.3V. But, as a start, just the answers to the above questions regarding the make, type and age of the battery and the make and model of charger installed, will start the ball rolling. Then, someone who really knows what they are on about should be able to advise on what to do next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Battery (dis)charging is dark art of chemistry and best guess is the closest you will ever get to knowing what is going on even with every possible measurement available. Short answer to your question is: it's not entirely unusual that it took more than 24h to fully charge your batteries. But as you rely only on the control panel to know what is going on, it's a guess based on very weak data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 My Van has on the pop up roof 140 watt solar ultraflat covering. And two leisure batts under the front seats. And a charger which can handle the smart generator of the engine compartment and the Van battery. it is no longer just a Split Relay. Mine gives alarm at 11.8. Full 12.8. Long still is bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenT Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 Hi Brian, thanks - I have passed your advice on to the other half. However we have just replaced both leisure batteries with new Bosch L5 batteries - 90 ah. The charger is the one that was fitted as new by Weinsberg. What we are now thinking is that the fault might be somewhere between the batteries and the control panel. When on charge there is no change in the control panel - but when tested the batteries are charged up. So at the moment the batteries are fully charged - but the control panel thinks they are not and is just showing a red light when you press the habitation battery button. So my understanding is that there are fuses between the batteries and the control panel - but apart from wires is there any other component that could be causing the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 HelenT - 2020-02-23 10:30 PM However we have just replaced both leisure batteries with new Bosch L5 batteries - 90 ah. Was all ok before you replaced the batteries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenT Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 Nope - that is why we bought new batteries - in case the batteries were the problem. One certainly appeared to be goosed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenT Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 We may have solved the problem! Not wanting to put the mockers on things, but we have replaced the control panel. Eventually we realised that the batteries were both charging ok so what might be the problem was the system which monitored the battery charge and activated the low battery protection. So we ordered a new control panel from Marcel Leisure and it has been fitted since Friday afternoon. The fridge has run on EHU and no problems, it has run for 12 hours on battery and then the batteries have recharged with EHU. Now testing a 24hour spell with the fridge on just battery. So it looks like we might have fixed it! The real test will be when we head out next in the van as both times it has failed has been when we were packing up to head off! Keep your fingers crossed for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Crossed! But it does sound hopeful. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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