Poor leisure battery performance (1 Viewer)

[Jonybakery]

Hi,

I have two 85 amph leisure batteries in my motorhome. The performance is some what disappointing, as when fully charged, after 2-3 hours use with a 16" inch Akura combi tv and some lighting the control panel on the motorhome says there is no more battery power (with a reading of 12.2v taking from a altimeter). i think the power consumption of the tv is 36 watts.

Is this normal or should I be getting more power? Should I look into getting new batteries? I bought the motorhome secondhand so they could be old and not looked after. Is there further testing that I can do?

Also one of the batteries seems to have leeked slightly, as there is some white residue.

At the moment the van has been charged by the mains and whilst still hooked up to the mains the altimeter is showing a reading of 13.8 volts.

Cheers
Jon

 

[Beachbum]

Hi,

I have two 85 amph leisure batteries in my motorhome. The performance is some what disappointing, as when fully charged, after 2-3 hours use with a 16" inch Akura combi tv and some lighting the control panel on the motorhome says there is no more battery power (with a reading of 12.2v taking from a altimeter). i think the power consumption of the tv is 36 watts.

Is this normal or should I be getting more power? Should I look into getting new batteries? I bought the motorhome secondhand so they could be old and not looked after. Is there further testing that I can do?

Also one of the batteries seems to have leeked slightly, as there is some white residue.

At the moment the van has been charged by the mains and whilst still hooked up to the mains the altimeter is showing a reading of 13.8 volts.

Cheers
Jon

Perhaps the life is running out of them. I would rather have 2 x 110AH batteries.

 

[dellwood33]

Definately seems as if the batteries could be duff. On my previous motorhome we had an 85 amp battery & running similar electrical equipmentto you we would get at least 3 days of battery power.

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[Neckender]

We have 2 85 amp batteries and we always have plenty of power, but same as beachbum says if you can fit 2 110amp batteries all the better.

John.

 

[hilldweller]

Hi,

I have two 85 amph leisure batteries i think the power consumption of the tv is 36 watts.

is showing a reading of 13.8 volts.

Jon

So say 48W = 4A which should get you 20 hours or more. Not good news.

Is the electrolyte topped up ?

Can you check both batteries are in circuit = same voltage across each at their terminals.

Charger - good.

So it looks like time to do a search here on batteries ( also LUCAS ) where this has been discussed a few times this year.

Unless........
You've missed something that is draining them. Do you have an ammeter on them ?

 

[Jonybakery]

So say 48W = 4A which should get you 20 hours or more. Not good news.

Is the electrolyte topped up ?

Can you check both batteries are in circuit = same voltage across each at their terminals.

Charger - good.

So it looks like time to do a search here on batteries ( also LUCAS ) where this has been discussed a few times this year.

Unless........
You've missed something that is draining them. Do you have an ammeter on them ?

Hi there,

Thanks for your response.

I'm not sure if the electrolyre is topped up as the batteries look sealed up. Do i need to take the lid off?

The charger works as the voltage increases when charging.

The voltage across both batteries is the same.

I haven't measured the current yet but want to. As the batteries are in parraellel do I need to have one of the multimeter leads on one battery and the other on the other battery? How would I detect drainage?

Thanks
Jon

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[Braunston]

Hi,

If I understand you correctly you are saying that the motorhome control panel is shutting down when the batteries are showing 12,2 volts, are you using a separate Multi-meter to take the reading of 12.2 volts or is that a reading from the motorhome control panel only I would have thought 12.2 volts would not be a low enough voltage for any protection to stop the supply.

If the reading is from your control panel it may be worth comparing it with a direct reading via a standalone Multi-meter direct on the batteries, if they compare it may be worth checking with the control panel manufacturers or motorhome manufacture to establish when if any protection should come in, as i have seen my control panel reading 11.9 volts and everything still works.

Hi,

I have two 85 amph leisure batteries in my motorhome. The performance is some what disappointing, as when fully charged, after 2-3 hours use with a 16" inch Akura combi tv and some lighting the control panel on the motorhome says there is no more battery power (with a reading of 12.2v taking from a altimeter). i think the power consumption of the tv is 36 watts.

Is this normal or should I be getting more power? Should I look into getting new batteries? I bought the motorhome secondhand so they could be old and not looked after. Is there further testing that I can do?

Also one of the batteries seems to have leeked slightly, as there is some white residue.

At the moment the van has been charged by the mains and whilst still hooked up to the mains the altimeter is showing a reading of 13.8 volts.

Cheers
Jon

 

[hilldweller]

I'm not sure if the electrolyre is topped up as the batteries look sealed up. Do i need to take the lid off?

The charger works as the voltage increases when charging.

The voltage across both batteries is the same.

I haven't measured the current yet but want to. As the batteries are in parraellel do I need to have one of the multimeter leads on one battery and the other on the other battery? How would I detect drainage?

Thanks
Jon

If sealed you don't normally lever the lid off, if indeed you can. Being an awkward olde farte I have in the past. Bit messy but it does answer the question of whether topped up.

Measuring current is tricky because you have to break one of the cables, usually the + one. With luck you can find a main fuse near the batteries, pull this and put the ammeter across the socket. You need a beefy ammeter, some are limited to milli-amps but you need a 10A or 20A range for initial readings.

Take care, of course.