Charging elec batteries (1 Viewer)

irnbru

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Our MH and us just dont seem to get along electronically. Having just returned early from being away, we only got 2 nights from our 2 x110 batteries.
So at the moment the MH is at home...Is it better to plug in a ctek 360 tricklecharger to recharge leisure batteries or does EHU do the exact same job?
Does anyone know a very experienced auto electrician north of England or in Scotland thats used to working with MHs?

The way mum feels now a bix of matches wouldnt go amiss.
 

DP+JAY

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Your van sounds very power hungry with only 2 nights from 2 batteries - or the batteries are on the way out. What is your typical usage?
 
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irnbru

irnbru

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Your van sounds very power hungry with only 2 nights from 2 batteries - or the batteries are on the way out. What is your typical usage?
Batteries are 2 banner and only approx 6 months old so not been used much.
We used webasto heating approx 14 hrs,tv 5hrs and led lighting approx 6 hrs plus water pump running 20 min.
And even with having the engine running the mh heating still had low voltage error code, theres a definite fault in our system somewhere....and the control panel still shows cab battery as being flat...which it was but not now.

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DP+JAY

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Webasto heating is quite power hungry & voltage sensative. Does your van have a volt meter?
At what voltage was the error message coming up?
 
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irnbru

irnbru

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Webasto heating is quite power hungry & voltage sensative. Does your van have a volt meter?
At what voltage was the error message coming up?
I forgot to take my meter with me but the heating never cut out at all last night and today we drove for
1 1/2 hrs and it showed low voltage error even with engine running.
I do know that when we got home and I tested a battery it showed at only 11.76 so flat. We seem to have several issues so an auto elec who knows what hes doing is what we need. Already had a run of the mill.
 

Gellyneck

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More than toes wet now!
A daft one Bru.
As the batteries have only recently been fitted have the connections all been made and tightened correctly?
Maybe worth a look before calling the auto electrician?

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Techno

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Were your batteries fully charged to start with. Driving them down to such low voltage causes damage. Flat batteries need a lot more than a trickle charge.
 
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irnbru

irnbru

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Thx Jay, read that thread a while ago and had an auto elec put a thicker cable in. Batteries seem to be charging fine and usually sit at 12.7

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Techno

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Realistically this time of year is not for wildcamping unless you are very thrifty with your usage or you have a lot of battery capacity. With the latter you still need to recharge at earliest opportunity to avoid permanent damage.
 

Wildman

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the heating takes a fair bit of power. Trying to do an audit is not easy without knowing how much current is being drawn. at 50% discharge you should have 110 amp/hrs to play with (in the summer) cold will possibly halve that.
TV 4 amps x 5hrs = 20amp/hours
water pump aprox 5 amp/hours
heating approx 15 amp/hours maybe much more
lights say 3 amp/hours
giving an estimated total of 43 amp/hours if that is a day it would account for the loss, 1.5 hours driving without a B2B charger will put very little into your batteries.
I dare say others will come up with different figures, really difficult with out knowing specifics.
As to recharging that will depend on the battery charger thats fitted in the van and ensuring the appropriate switches are switched on.
 
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irnbru

irnbru

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Were your batteries fully charged to start with. Driving them down to such low voltage causes damage. Flat batteries need a lot more than a trickle charge.
Batteries SHOULD have been charged though I never carried out a meter test, plus we travelled 100 miles and over 2 hr drive so would have thought by the time we arrived they would definitely have been charged

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Don Quixote

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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
Mate the charger you are using is only going to charge at 3.6amps at most - this will take days if not weeks to charge your 2 batteries. It is really only for a car or bike to charge 1 x battery.

You need this one: http://www.ctek.com/gb/en/chargers/MXS 25
MXS 25_0.jpg


This will ramp up the charge to 14.4 volts and max amps to 25, recondition the batteries and because it is a smart charger if left connect will float charge and maintain them. Take it with you when you away and when on EHU you can use it to fully charge your batteries ready of "off grid" A lot of money, but could save you loads in the long run.
 
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DBK

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I'm not convinced you have a charging problem, although getting it checked would be sensible. Running the Webasto heater for 28 hours will flatten the batteries. We have a Webasto dual top and 2 leisure batteries and I wouldn't use it for more than one night without EHU at this time of year when you won't get much from the solar panel given typical British weather.

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wizza

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Battery's should read over 13.5 volts with engine running not 12.7 or is 12.7 with engine off
 

pappajohn

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heating approx 15 amp/hours maybe much more
Will be far higher than that Roger.....lmbru said heating for 14hrs day.

14 x 5amps (a very generous allowance for blower fan and probably far higher) = 70amps per day for heating alone.

Lights, tv and pump added it dont leave much for day two.

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irnbru

irnbru

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14 hrs heating was both days combined . We used about 8 the first day and 6 the 2nd. Today it was a non goer so back home. Please also see my flat battery thread, and in particular the control panel as now.

Flat batteries everywhere.
 

Wildman

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Will be far higher than that Roger.....lmbru said heating for 14hrs day.

14 x 5amps (a very generous allowance for blower fan and probably far higher) = 70amps per day for heating alone.

Lights, tv and pump added it dont leave much for day two.
based it on a trumatic who from the manual quote 1.1 amps as I said probably more
 
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irnbru

irnbru

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Its a webasto.... dual top...I think, doesn't heat water just blows heating.

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Sep 23, 2013
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So at the moment the MH is at home...Is it better to plug in a ctek 360 tricklecharger to recharge leisure batteries or does EHU do the exact same job?
The EHU should do a better job. What motorhome do you have & can you see any names & model numbers on your control panel & on your inbuilt charger?

There are many variations. Some are automatic, some need switches to be set correctly. Some charge both the leisure batteries & the engine battery, some one or the other depending on settings, some only ever do the leisure battery.

I'm a bit confused though - in your other thread you were looking for a solution without EHU. Are you able to plug it in when at home or not?

If the heater is a DualTop, then I think it should heat the water as well as the air - I think that's what the 'Dual' bit of the name implies. Doesn't mean it's been installed correctly though. :(
 
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irnbru

irnbru

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The EHU should do a better job. What motorhome do you have & can you see any names & model numbers on your control panel & on your inbuilt charger?

There are many variations. Some are automatic, some need switches to be set correctly. Some charge both the leisure batteries & the engine battery, some one or the other depending on settings, some only ever do the leisure battery.

I'm a bit confused though - in your other thread you were looking for a solution without EHU. Are you able to plug it in when at home or not?

If the heater is a DualTop, then I think it should heat the water as well as the air - I think that's what the 'Dual' bit of the name implies. Doesn't mean it's been installed correctly though. :(
I have different problems but all battery related. I normally have no EHU where MH is kept but since we have returned from our trip the MH is outside our house where we can plug in.
Its a chausson and the system only charges leisure batteries.
 

pappajohn

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based it on a trumatic who from the manual quote 1.1 amps as I said probably more
I stand corrected Roger.....far lower than i expected.

Details for duel top evo 6/7/8

Operating voltage range (V) 9 - 15v
Rated power consumption (W) 15 - 65w

And for the warm air only version..2kw, 3.9kw and 5.5kw (boost mode in brackets)

Rated power consumption (W) 14 - 29 15 - 40 (55*) 15 - 95 (130*)

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Wildman

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cold weather turns all of the calculations to fantasies anyway. A B2B charger is best for winter or a wind generator. I must get around to mounting mine one day.
 
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irnbru

irnbru

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cold weather turns all of the calculations to fantasies anyway. A B2B charger is best for winter or a wind generator. I must get around to mounting mine one day.
Now if a wind generator worked I would definitely be interested, and if one worked by the amount of rain we have had over the last 3 days then that would be amazing.
 

Wildman

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wind generators do work as long as there is wind, hee hee and do so 24 hours a day

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Sep 23, 2013
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I have different problems but all battery related. I normally have no EHU where MH is kept but since we have returned from our trip the MH is outside our house where we can plug in.
Its a chausson and the system only charges leisure batteries.
Having looked at your other thread, I think you are right. It's not just one problem.

1. You have a battery that it probably past it's best.

2. You have at least one control panel fault, because it showed a low battery voltage when a voltmeter across the battery showed that it wasn't (if I read that right).

3. You probably have something that is draining the starter battery. I say probably because this just might be down to the battery being less than perfect. Even if something is draining it, it might not be a fault - it might be something that is supposed to be drawing power. You still need to identify it & either switch it off or arrange for enough power to be available.

4. Disregarding your present issues, in the longer term you need a method of charging your engine battery at the same time as your leisure battery while on EHU. You can use the CTEK charger for this, but it's probably more convenient to fit a Battery Master. This automatically diverts excess charging capacity from the leisure battery to the engine battery. They are available from Jim's shop or from Van Bitz. Other solutions are available, but in your situation, that's probably the most convenient.

In the meantime, while you have the MH at home, your suggestion of putting the CTEK on for now is sensible. It may struggle to fully charge the battery, but it should stop it going flat again.
 

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