Guest neil whiting Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 please can anyone help ,after visiting the shepton-mallet-show my leisure batterys went down to 11.1 on my meter after starting at a reading of 14.3.I have two 85ah batterys wired together and a solar panel , and on mains hook up at the moment since i got home, and still the leisure batterys reading is only 12.1 is it normal for the batterys to take so long to get back there full power as i am going away next weekend to a place with now mains hook up and i could do with the leisure batterys being fully topped up. Is there something else i should be doing ,any feedback will be helpful,many thanks neil w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 A tip I was given recently by a motorhome technician is that when charging batteries from mains turn on all of the control panel switches for lights/appliances etc, but not the lights/appliances themselves though. This makes the charger think there is a demand for the power and it apparently charges better! It's difficult to advise on the problem as you don't say how long you've had the batteries actually on charge but if it's been constant since the Shepton Mallet event it sounds like you've got quite a problem as our don't take more than a day to get back to normal but then again we don't usually let them go below 12.0v at any time. No doubt someone else might have ideas, hopefully to get you sorted without too much trouble! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Hello Neil and Mel, Like Mel I smell a Rat somewhere. I would expect the on board charger to shove say 10 amps into the batteries until the battery terminal voltage reached 14 volts, then for the charger to progressively reduce the charging current to stop the terminal voltage from going any higher. If you have two 110 ampere houre batteries then roughly it will take 22 hours to put in the full capacity if you charge at 10 amps. In practice its not quite as fast as that but not that much different. I am suspicuous of your charger. I suspect that the technician who was talking to Mel was talking "Cow poo" shall we say! I don,t yet know of a modern OEM system that monitors the switches to decide how much to charge. I believe they all just aim for 14 volts and have a maximum current limiting feature to protect them from overload. I suggest you seek out a qualified and competant sparky. Good luck Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest barriie Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 as you have two batteries linked it's possible that one is faulty.if so the combined charge won't reach the required voltage.try either getting them tested individualy or disconnect them and charge them separately.if one charges ok and not the other you've found your fault.you don't say how old your batteries are or whether they are equal age. it's normally suggested they would be replaced as a pair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neil w Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 thanks to mel ,clive and barrie for your comments and in answer to your questions ,i bought both batterys at the same time about 6 months ago and have been on mains hook up since i returned home from the shepton mallet show 11th september but as clive nows the demand on my leisure batterys is high due to my boys playing on a playstation at night.so do any of you think i should charge my batterys by other means .yhank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 2 possible options: 1) accidentaly 'break' the playstation 2) loose the kids at a show Seriously though, if you batteries have been subjected to constant draining down to very low charge levels you might have actually damanged them and that could be why they won't charge up sufficiently anymore. The suggestion to check out the state of each battery is the first job I'd undertake as, if they are bu**ered, then you're just wasting your time. I suspect that even with other forms of charging, such as wind or sun power, you're not going to keep them charged up sufficiently to allow the kids to run them down using the playstation unless you has monster sized equipment. A generator might be the answer but they're not ideal. Clive has much more experience of such things so I'm sure he'll chip in with tit-bits from his massive knowledge bank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 As an alternative to a generator you could always start the main engine and run it on tickover. But, Perhaps permitting only a couple of hours per day at Playstation would help both the batteries and the kids as well?? What doesn,t stack up is that you don,t seem to be able to fully charge them after 24 hours on mains hookup. Have you measured the battery terminal volts as suggested while hooked up after 24 hours at home?? If its not 14 volts then you have a charging problem else at least one battery is knac....d! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neil w Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 hi clive just checked both batterys and the readings are 14.4 on the meter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 Now I'm confused!!! So the batteries HAVE charged up ... I assume using the same charging system as before?? Has anything changed since your original posting (apart from the obvious!). If it is the same system something is really wrong as it doesn't make sense for it to take ages to 'not' charge properly and then to do so! Have you been twiddling the wiring, cleaning terminals etc??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neil w Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 hi mel ,no have not been twiddling with the wiring, been on mains hook up since 12th sep it has taken this long to get the batterys from 11.1 to now 14.5 even with 115w solar panel do you think i have got a serious problem with the charging unit or something else ,thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 Serious is probably the right word, it shouldn't take any thing like as long as this to charge the batteries back up!!! I wonder if you have a draw somewhere in the vehicle so that a chunk of the charge is being drawn off at the same time that you are charging? I'd suggest getting a motor electrician to have a shuftie, they don't cost the earth and should be able to sort it out for you, or at least tell you where the problem lies (such as with the charger). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neil w Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 thanks mel for your comments i will try to find someone to check it out fot me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Peterborough next year then Neil! You have my email address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neil w Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 clive, is peterbourough your next show you go to. I am off to malvern again in 3 weeks to the caravan and motorhome show run by castle leisure caravans ,went by car last time picked up some great bargains, there was 15% discount on all items and as i was new to motorcaravanning it was good timing and also last time if you spent over £100 there was a £ 15.00 voucher .so this time spending the weekend .hope to pick up some more bargains . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Hi Neal, No, we are off to Canada then America soon as its now getting colder in the UK. Ottawa first to see the "fall" then Houston to get warm, both to visit familly. We shall be back by November. Last year we went to Shepton Mallet in January and determined that we are not winter motorhomers. Its the outdoor things we enjoy, playing silly so and so's on our monkey bikes but not if its ccccold. But If you were passing Basingstoke I could put a meter round your system (if the kids are kept out of the way!) regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neil w Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 thanks for that great offer clive i cannot see me being anywhere basingstoke but i dare say our paths will cross one day next year ,sounds like a fantastic trip you have planned ,have a safe journey, regards neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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