Electrical advice needed please. (1 Viewer)

[knokinonabit]

Our MH sits at home on ehu nearly all of the time, except in sunny type weather when I let the solar panel do a bit of work. It has the Sargent smart charging system fitted which automatically senses which battery to top up and can be left switched on.
Nothing is left switched on except in cold weather when a separate thermostat controlled heater keeps the damp and chill at bay.
This has been the normal procedure for the last three and a bit years with no problems.

Last Friday I was going down to Gloucestershire for the weekend and was all packed up and ready to go. Turned the key and the battery was flat.
This took me by surprise as I had only been running the engine the day before.
I jump started it, thinking that a good drive down the country would charge the battery back up.
The engine was not switched off until we were parked up and in position. We were then back on ehu and thought we would be ok.
To cut a long story short, it wouldn't start on Sunday morning and had to be jumped off again.
Same procedure on the way home, ie not switched off again until parked up.
I immediately tried to start the engine but the battery was flat.

The leisure batteries have been fine, which could be down to the solar panel keeping them right.
I did notice that during the day the control panel showed that the vehicle battery was topped up, but in the morning it was showing 11.6 volts. Solar panel trying to charge a dead battery ?

I now have the vehicle battery on charge from a separate charger and will have to give it a while and see if it holds it's charge.
If it doesn't then it would indicate a new battery is required.
If it does hold it's charge then I would have to think that it is the on board charger that is at fault. I have checked all the fuses that I can find after consulting the Fiat and Autotrail handbooks

Sorry to be so long winded, but I was trying to give as much info as possible.
All advice will be gratefully received.

 

[mjltigger]

Our MH sits at home on ehu nearly all of the time, except in sunny type weather when I let the solar panel do a bit of work. It has the Sargent smart charging system fitted which automatically senses which battery to top up and can be left switched on.
Nothing is left switched on except in cold weather when a separate thermostat controlled heater keeps the damp and chill at bay.
This has been the normal procedure for the last three and a bit years with no problems.

Last Friday I was going down to Gloucestershire for the weekend and was all packed up and ready to go. Turned the key and the battery was flat.
This took me by surprise as I had only been running the engine the day before.
I jump started it, thinking that a good drive down the country would charge the battery back up.
The engine was not switched off until we were parked up and in position. We were then back on ehu and thought we would be ok.
To cut a long story short, it wouldn't start on Sunday morning and had to be jumped off again.
Same procedure on the way home, ie not switched off again until parked up.
I immediately tried to start the engine but the battery was flat.

The leisure batteries have been fine, which could be down to the solar panel keeping them right.
I did notice that during the day the control panel showed that the vehicle battery was topped up, but in the morning it was showing 11.6 volts. Solar panel trying to charge a dead battery ?

I now have the vehicle battery on charge from a separate charger and will have to give it a while and see if it holds it's charge.
If it doesn't then it would indicate a new battery is required.
If it does hold it's charge then I would have to think that it is the on board charger that is at fault.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I was trying to give as much info as possible.
All advice will be gratefully received.

sounds to me as the battery has had it and a replacement battery will get you back to normal service.

If you are in the RAC they do a battery replacement service where they test alternator and current at rest for you to check all is well. They also give a long guarantee with only a minimum mileage requirement - not as cheap as you would get online but certainly comparable with high street motor factors

 

[scotjimland]

agree, duff battery

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[knokinonabit]

 

[knokinonabit]

@mjltigger and @ScotJimland I was thinking and hoping that was the answer.
Probably the least expensive and complicated.

 

[tonka]

Have you checked on the control panel that you are set for "smart charging" on both EHU and solar. ??
I think this is the default setting but something could have gone wrong, however to go flat that quick seems like a problem somewhere,,,

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[knokinonabit]

Thanks Tonka, I will check that out, but I believe it is automatic on mine as there is no changeover switch.

 

[Don Quixote]

[QUOTE="
I jump started it, thinking that a good drive down the country would charge the battery back up.
The engine was not switched off until we were parked up and in position. We were then back on ehu and thought we would be ok.
[/QUOTE]
Simple answer is new battery, as after a long run as you stated then back onto EHU it should have been fine.

 

[Poohbear]

If you have the Sargent unit with the LCD display on it and the yellow and red buttons you can cycle through the settings to see what they are set at. On ours the Smart function of solar and mains can be selected independently with the other options being to charge the just the leisure or engine batteries.

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[knokinonabit]

Just been out and put the multi meter on the battery with the charger still on and it showed 13.29 volts, which is what it showed when I first connected the charger up.
Took the charger off and tested again and it had dropped straight back to 11.87 volts, which is where it had started before charging.

So a new battery it is then.

Thank you for your help and replies.





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