Guest John Day (dayo) Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Hi Everyone, I have a kon-tiki 665 with the above blown air heating, just one year old. With a fully charged leisure battery (14.1v)running on GAS ONLY and the 12v system running the fan, the battery dropped to 11.5v in about half an hour, 15 mins later to 11.2v and the red light on the control switch started to flash although this carried like this for a couple more hours without dropping any lower, I got worried by then and switched off. The selling dealers workshop advised me this will happen as there not meant to run on 12v only 240 v hook-up or with a genny. I'd like to here your comments please, especially dave's!!! Dayo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave Newell Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Hi John, not sure if I'm the Dave you refer to but I'll give you my two pennorth anyway. It would be interesting (and useful) to know what else was running from the 12 volt system, lights, telly etc. What did you use to measure the battery voltage? The meter buit in to many control panels is often not very accurate. Personally I would connect an ammeter to the leisure battery circuits and monitor the current drawn by various appliances. A year or two ago I was surprised to see the lounge lighting of an Auto trail motorhome drawing 10 Amps. Without doing some checks I'd prefer not to speculate any further. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asjs Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hello John. I did have the same problem but it only occurred after about 3 hours of usage. You are correct it is down to voltage. I did have 2 batteries fitted but I now have 4 with NO problems. You don't say how many batteries you have fitted I am assuming only one due to the short running period before the warning light comes. hope this helps let me know how you get on. asjs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest john Day Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hi Dave & asjs, Thanks for replying, yes you are the Dave I meant. What else were we running!! At first nothing, at the second attempt one center lounge light, in the morning with nothing to lose as we were leaving, I ran it for 2 hours on its own and it seemed to stay at poor 11.2v all that time but with the red light on the switch flashing ( according to the book the light comes on at 10.5v) as you say they are not very accurate. Thanks asja, 4 batteries, with my m/bike on the back I'll never get going even with the 2.8 engine!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave Newell Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hi john, You need to either do some checks or get someone to do them for you. You need to establish the battery voltage accurately to start with so use a multimeter and measure it at the battery with nothing switched on. I've just checked on the Truma website and the C6002 draws between 0.2 Amps and 5.2 Amps when doing double duty i.e both heating and hot water. assuming you have a 85 A/H battery and it's fully charged it should be capable of running the Truma for at least 10 hours before you start seeing a low voltage on the battery. It would be really useful to know the results of these tests. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian Kirby Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 John How long's the warranty on the Kon-Tiki? Dave is right, the battery should be holding up much better than it is. I don't know at which parts of its cycle the 6002 pulls its 5.2A, but I suspect that load would only apply while both hot water and heating stats were calling for heat. For other conditions the electrical demand should be lower. The warm air circulating fan should cut out when the heating stat is satisfied and, when both heating and hot water demands are met, the gas should go off so the flue fan should drop out as well. That is where I suspect the 0.2A load would arise. If the heater's controlling properly, therefore, and the electrical load is fluctuating, as it should, between 0.2A and 5.2A, you should be getting well over Dave's 10 hours. Your 30 minutes is completely inadequate. Thus, you may have a heater control fault that is causing an excessive electrical load, a faulty charger that isn't fully charging your battery, a faulty battery that won't hold charge, an electrical wiring fault somewhere that is leaching away your battery capacity, a faulty voltage sensor that is giving a false reading, or a battery that has a low electrolyte level and can't hold charge. That little lot, apart from the last item (which would be your responsibility), might take quite a bit of sorting. So, unless your warranty has already expired, it's just the sort of thing it was intended for! Hope this helps Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 It might just be a bad battery terminal connection or one of those cheap resistive fuses. But it should last a lot longer than you are getting. The voltages you need to measure first are at the battery terminals with an accurate digital volt meter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest john Day Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 thanks for the replys, lots to get my head around!!. the battery checked out ok today, so I'll fully charge it and try it at home until its nearly flat and see how long it lasts, if its still no good then I'll take the whole rig back and let them sort it, costing a fortune in gas though. 3 year warranty on the kon-tiki accomadation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest enodreven Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Hi, I have a Bessacarr E735 with the same heating, and while i haven't used it for more than about 4 hopurs at anyone time the battery appears to hold up OK. On a similar subject i have lookked at replacing the battery (85aH) with a 110aH but can't find one that will fit in the floor mounted battery box as it appears to be only big enough to accept a battery that is 13in long any ideas would be appreciated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest john Day Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 hi enodreven, mines a kon-tiki 1 year old, its got a 110ah battery but it's a real tight fit ( swift if your listening!) I have to force it past the breather on the side but I don't know how long it john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest enodreven Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Hi, John I purchased a 110 ah today from Lucas, its made by Squadron and its not much bigger than the 85am that Swift fitted ? we haven't used our Trauma much as we have mainly stuck to CC sites with electric hookup and used an oil filled radiator, but when we have used it it worked very well. I didn't notice the gas consumption ?? is it that bad. As we hope to go to France and Spain next week (God willing) for a couple of months and i have been informed if we use Aires then we will need to use our own power as not many of them have electric hook-ups ? I will be taking the orginal 85 ah with me just incase ? we also have a cheap petrol generator which i hope we don't have to use ? Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Day Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Hi Brian It wasn't so much the gas, I've no idea how much that used, it was the battery power it used, but I wouldn't worry to much it seem it's only mine that flattens the battery, I'm going to try it on its own soon with no other appliance on and see what happens enjoy your holiday john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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