dawki Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 I changed my leisure batteries in the spring and I am wondering if all is ok. after being left on hook up for charging i thought the power level seemed to be dropping of sharply, so decided to monitor it. I have EC325 charger Mon 29th November van put on hook up when batteries reading 12.1v Sat 3rd Dec midday batteries reading 14.7v unplug hook up,by 5pm power drops down to 13.7v I understand thats quiet normal Sunday at midday reading 12.7 Monday 5pm reading 12.5 mid-day Wed 5pm reading 12.3v so it looks like the batteries settled at about 12.8v before slowly loosing there charge as normal. my question was, is about right that the batteries settle at 12.8v as i thought my old ones settled at about 13.5. I would be grateful for any advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 c12.7V is a normal, fully-charged, state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 Thats great thanks very much Robinhood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskers Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I would consider 14.7v much too high, that would cause gassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Not necessarily if it is a pulse width modulated charger. dawki, what make/model/type of batteries to you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 whiskers - 2011-12-09 8:43 AM I would consider 14.7v much too high, that would cause gassing. It is quite high, but my own charger gets up to around 14.4V, so is probably OK. I note that the description of the EC325 states that it supplies 13.5V for habitation equipment, but, during charging, decouples the battery from the leisure supply such that it can use higher voltages down the battery leg. I suspect, therefore, that all is as it should be. Measuring the battery voltage at the panel is always a bit hit and miss, since the panels are often not fully calibrated, and there can be considerable losses in the wiring. I don't know how Dawki has measured (with a meter or the panel), but with a meter, as I posted last night, a fully charged battery that has been left to itself for about 24 hours s/be in the order of 12.7V (say +/- 0.1V) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 You are correct Robin. I did not have time to elaborate. It actually says the voltages can get as high as 18 volts. That will be peak pulses of voltage I would think with a faulty battery. Pulse width modulation charging can cause quite high voltages on the plates as stored charge and 14.7 volts is not unusual with PWM. You will often see these voltages maintained for long periods if you have a solar panel. Looking at dawki's issue, I suspect either the batteries are faulty and have high self discharge, or more likely and unexpected drain on the batteries from some quiesecent load. Maybe a fan left running or some other fault. 3 days with two battries down to 13.3 volts is a lot of energy to lose on something like an alarm and suspect it is more likely around an amp. Maybe a 10 watt lamp left on in a locker and not noticed. On the other hand batteries can fail and self discharge quite quickly, some makes being more prone than others. Also if the batteries are really cheap leisure batteries and are just rebadged car starter batteries often typical of the cheapies , deep discharged a few times then maybe 1 years life is all you can expect. edit spelling - I can spel, juss kannought tipe fast without tipos..Then I canont see tehm bceuase my brian crorcets the mitakses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Hi all Thanks for your replies. Further info I am taking my readings from the control panel batteries are Banner Energy Bull Leisure Battery 95901 12V 115Ah nothing left switched on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 They are supposed o a a good battery and use good calcium technology etc. So should not be a problem with reliability and self discharge should be very low. They also should cope fine with the charging regime so unless got a manufactoring fault or been dropped. ( one of the worst things for a battery is the burly sales person picking up with one hand and thumping it down on the counter - " here you go mate" Moving on , I would check if they discharge down to 12.3 like they have been with them disconnected. Charge them up and then disconnect. If you have an ammeter it is worth checking at this stage what current if any is being drawn from them, this might indicate a problem. It is not uncommon to have 35 to 80 mAmps. If it is a lot higher then that will be the problem, if it is low, then leave disconnected for a few days and monitor the voltage. If they have been allowed to discharge and severely sulphated then the ends will most likely be swollen, also check the acid levels and top up if required. If the acid is low I would suspect they are being very much over-charged and gassing too much. Although could be if they have been allowed to sulphate when discharged the excessive gassing and water consumption will occcur afterwards because they are damaged. I cannot remember if the EC325 has a selector switch or not for Gel, is it set correctly for flooded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 dawki - 2011-12-09 12:58 PM Hi all Thanks for your replies. Further info I am taking my readings from the control panel batteries are Banner Energy Bull Leisure Battery 95901 12V 115Ah nothing left switched on OOPs, can we start again. Have you got a decent voltmeter, control panel meters are not always very accurate? EDIT - having gone back and reviewed your voltage readings and they actually do appear fairly accurate. the 12.6 after a day is about right so shall assume a genuine drop to 12.3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Brambles - 2011-12-09 2:06 PM dawki - 2011-12-09 12:58 PM Hi all Thanks for your replies. Further info I am taking my readings from the control panel batteries are Banner Energy Bull Leisure Battery 95901 12V 115Ah nothing left switched on No, I haven't brambles it would be dangerous if I was let loose with anything like that. OOPs, can we start again. Have you got a decent voltmeter, control panel meters are not always very accurate? EDIT - having gone back and reviewed your volatge readings they actually do appear fairly accurate. the 12.6 after a day is about right so shall assume a genuine drop to 12.3. No sorry i haven't brambles, it would be dangerous if i was let loose with anything like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 Just to say thanks, I am now happy that all is ok. Thanks Guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Just in case you change your mind about that, one thing that wasn't mentioned above is that it may be one battery that is duff, and not both. The weaker will drag down the good one, so if your doubts resume, it might be worth removing one battery at a time, and repeating your tests on just the remaining battery, and then swapping t'other for which. That way, you should find out if there is a significant difference between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Not sure what the current cold temps make to voltages of a battey in a static state after charging ? Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 -10 C ----- 12.75V ----- capacity 55% 0 ----- 12.78 ----- 62 10 ----- 12.8 ----- 75 15 ----- 12.84 ----- 85 20 ----- 12.87 ----- 95 25 ----- 12.9 ----- 100 30 ----- 12.92 ----- 105 35 ----- 12.93 ----- 110 Approx voltages v temp above. So as you can see does not make a lot of difference. However capacity is affected a lot, again just rough figures given as %. Life is also affected being twice the life at 0 compared to normal life at 25 degrees and approx three quarters the life at 35 degrees. Hope this answers your query. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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