Pete-B Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 A question for the more knowledgeable amongst us. I've got a new Bessacarr van with a 80w solar panel which, is mainly for the purpose of keeping the batteries charged whilst in storage, as, most of the time we're on HU whilst camping. I've got two 100amp leisure batteries and of course the engine battery. The van has been in storage for just three weeks and when I went to collect today, a red light was showing on the regulator to tell me the engine battery was dangerously low. Considering we've had quite a bit of sun recently I'm a bit surprised!. The regulator is set to give the leisure batteries priority and when full, switch to engine. We're away next week so I won't be able to speak with my dealer until I get back. In the meantime would I cause any problems by switching the four wires round to make the engine battery priority, if that makes sense and, is it just a case of doing that and also should I be cautious of anything! Any help and suggestions would be appreciated, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 if the vehicle battery cant hold its charge for three weeks there is a fault somewhere which should be addressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-B Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 I'm told, rightly or wrongly, with all the things the engine battery keeps maintained for example, alarms, engine immobiliser etc about three to four weeks is all you can expect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Pete-B - 2015-08-30 4:18 PM I'm told, rightly or wrongly, with all the things the engine battery keeps maintained for example, alarms, engine immobiliser etc about three to four weeks is all you can expect! Assuming an ultrasonic alarm system, then about three weeks is all you can reliably expect from an engine battery. The other services that the engine battery supplies are quite low; it is the alarm which takes the juice. I have left a non-alarmed car for three months and it started OK. I would not bother altering the wiring as you have suggested, after all you will be driving and on EHU, so you should not have a problem with the engine battery getting low whilst it is having such use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Pete-B - 2015-08-30 2:41 PM A question for the more knowledgeable amongst us. I've got a new Bessacarr van with a 80w solar panel which, is mainly for the purpose of keeping the batteries charged whilst in storage, as, most of the time we're on HU whilst camping. I've got two 100amp leisure batteries and of course the engine battery. If you usually use EHU, why have so large a battery bank? Your starter battery will be in the region of 80Ah, so you are asking the 80W panel to charge 280Ah of battery. Might that that be the problem? Also, you haven't said which services were left switched on while the vehicle was in storage. You don't mention an alarm, although this seems to have been assumed by other respondents. Is there one? Our Ducato based van was recently in storage for 9 weeks. I have an alarm but, as the storage was secure, did not set it. The habitation battery was isolated during this time. The van was briefly started once, to move it, during that time. At the end of the nine weeks the starter battery voltage showed 12.3V, indicating it was about 50% discharged. It started well enough, though the starter didn't turn it with its usual vigour. The starter battery is about 2.5 years old. So, unless you have something installed, such as an alarm, that is drawing more than the base vehicle electronics alone require, I suspect your starter battery may be suspect. How old is it? The van has been in storage for just three weeks and when I went to collect today, a red light was showing on the regulator to tell me the engine battery was dangerously low. Considering we've had quite a bit of sun recently I'm a bit surprised!. The regulator is set to give the leisure batteries priority and when full, switch to engine. .............................................Any help and suggestions would be appreciated, thanks. If you can, since the habitation batteries should have no current drawn from them while the van is unused, I'd be inclined to fully charge them before putting the van into storage, and then isolate them while stored. Then the full output from the solar panel can go to the starter battery, which is the more critical one. If you find the habitation batteries are losing charge while in storage (ours was still reading 13V after 9 weeks, which was the voltage it recorded when first stored) for only a few weeks, I would think they may be showing their teeth. If fully charged before stored, and if good batteries, in good condition, the amount of self-discharge over three weeks should be negligible. Sorry, neither of the above answers your question about how to connect the solar, but hope they may help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 First of all can I ask questions about the van and 'extras' and then can we come back to the Solar set-up? Do you have a Tracker, as these can take a battery down low in about 3 weeks? Most modern MH's will usually have an Alarm, but is it standard or an 'After Market' fitment as some of the aftermarket alarms are Car based so expect the vehicle to be used regularly, as a result they can have quite a high standby current draw? Have you changed the Stereo? Most Motorhome standard fit units have a low standby current draw. Many 'After Market' devices are Car based and again can have a 'high' standby draw (e.g a remote control system constantly 'listening' for a command, powering the memory for the volatile settings or flashing LED's). Not a problem on a car used every day, but on a 4 week idle motorhome the battery will be dead as a Dodo. These can be fitted successfully but ALL feeds to the Stereo need to run from the ignition switch. Normally they would have one wire that is permanently live direct to the battery. Assuming the above are not an issue, In normal use/configuration with the alarm set 'off' you should see 6 weeks out of the battery so is your Starter battery older than about 5 years? How is your Solar configured? Do you have a dual battery output regulator with the starter and habitation getting their own outputs or is it a single battery output regulator to the habitation battery with a current Theft device like a Battery Master feeding the Starter battery? Is it possible you have a defective Habitation battery that is taking all the power leaving none for the Starter battery? As you know with a dual battery output regulator the Starter battery is lower priority and will generally only get what is left after the habitation battery has taken it's lot. Even with the 'current theft' Battery Master arrangement where that takes power from the moment the habitation battery voltage is raised it's capability is hampered by a poor habitation battery/batteries. Is it possible you have a dying Solar Panel? We have seen quite a few that are down to less than 60% output in under than 3 years? If you look at our Solar Power page we list a company that sells a digital meter (about £19) that will display the current and voltage going into the batteries. It will also give you a tally of the total Ah put into the battery on a daily basis and tell you how well the installation is performing. They are easy to install, see : http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/solar-power.php If it is a dual battery regulator you can swap the wires around as you suggest to make the Starter the priority. However, if it is the habitation bank that is failing then you may find a different problem that loads up the Sargent (or whatever make) mains charger unit. 2 x 100Ah batteries that are past their best will be a major load that might make it work quite hard? One of the things we have noticed with Solar Power is that the daily charging cycle can mask how poor batteries have become. The owner does not normally notice until they are used in anger or until an issue arises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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