Wheres the Motorhomes for dummies section ... (1 Viewer)

[Lorna and Chris]

Hi all,

I introduced myself last month and since then we have taken our lovley Pilote Galaxy 78mx out a few times. We are getting to know him and his little quirks but are completely in love with the MH life ...

I have a very good friend on here who has been really helpful with my many questions and i have spent several hours reading thorugh the forums trying to gleam what information and knowledge i can from you folks (thankyou) but theres a couple of things that elude me still if any of you would be so kind ...

We dont seem to be getting much from our 125AH leisure battery ... yet it says 'good condition' on the battery condition sensor at the top ... we have wild camped for the last 2 weekends and have used 1 LED light occasionally in the evening ... the fridge has been on gas and therefore the only other draw is the water pump isnt it? We used the truma combi boiler on gas the first weekend so minimal draw from the electronic panel and yet the battery only lasted 2 days and was on red when we returned (completely dead the first weekend which i've read is detrimental to the battery too?!) Am i missing something? It has been on charge on the drive with EHU ...

Following on from the battery issue ... is it better to leave the 12v electronic panel switched on along with the water pump or should it be turned off when driving/when not using the water? I have been turning it on and off at the panel but I'm wondering if this is using the leisure battery more as the water pump may be priming each time and using more power??

Sorry if these are daft questions but ive looked through the forum and cant see anything similar ... i did wonder if the fridge had drained the battery on the first weekend away initially but i now know this was kept cool from the alternator and anyway i switched to gas last weekend so i know this isnt the problem ...

Thanks in advance

 

[TerryL]

Battery is dying. Once charged even a theoretically "dead" battery can show "good" on the van indicator but once you start using anything it quickly loses it's charge. Try it by disconnecting the hookup and leaving for an hour for the battery to settle. Take a note of the power reading then switch something on - say run a water tap for 30 seconds. Leave a moment then take another note - if it shows any significant drop it's almost certainly your battery. Just to be sure, try it again a couple of times.

A battery in good condition should last for a couple of weeks at the use you've told us about.

As long as the water pump isn't constantly cycling, i.e. switching itself on and off, which indicates a water pressure leak, there's no need to switch it off - it won't use any power. As regards the control panel, I normally only switch mine off whilst the van is not in use, to save the largely minimal drain on the leisure battery.

And finally, there's no such thing as a daft question!

 

[Armytwowheels]

Hi and welcome.

Do you have any solar panels on the roof? They are kind of essential if you are not going to use EHU.

As for the 12v on the control panel, we just leave it on all the time. You should be ok doing this.

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[Lorna and Chris]

Thanks very much for the replies

We’re having solar fitted in June but I’m guessing that I’ll still need to change the battery if it’s on it’s way out?

I expected to get at least 3-4 days off the battery alone from what I’ve read with only using led lights and then the water pump from battery as we don’t have a tv or electricals etc ...

Will do the test above and go from there but it confused me with the battery saying ‘good condition’ So I wondered if there was anything I was missing before I spend out on a new battery and solar

 

[Kannon Fodda]

The good condition indicator from your panel is simply saying that the battery was giving out a voltage suggesting expected of a fully charged battery. What it can't do is show how much energy is actually stored. As a battery loses efficiency it will hold less energy. If it has been allowed to fully discharge or is simply a few years old so it has had many charging cycles, the ability to accept energy will be limited. An indication of that is the time, or lack of, between apparent low charge and apparent full charge. But it will initially appear as if it has fully charged as it is only partly working, but it's when you try and draw the current you realise it cannot sustain it.

If you are having a solar panel fitted they should also be able to help you test the battery.

 

[Landy Andy]

Remember that if you used your heating, even on gas, that it consumes a fair amount of power. Especially hot air heating. Just incase you weren’t aware.

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[Podney]

Good advice above.
All I can add is some very,very,technical advice,based on my long experience of motorhoming,not to mention my degree in electrical engineering and a career in battery technology................................










I think your battery is KNACKERED!
There’s no such thing as a daft question.........but plenty of daft answers,haha.

 

[Lorna and Chris]

New battery it is then!! Didn’t realise the heating used much power from the leisure battery but we didn’t use it this weekend and only had a little extra power than we had the previous time away anyway ... now for battery shopping then

 

[Podney]

New battery it is then!! Didn’t realise the heating used much power from the leisure battery but we didn’t use it this weekend and only had a little extra power than we had the previous time away anyway ... now for battery shopping then

Plenty of battery threads on here!

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[EuroTrotters]

We all Start out as dummies, so you have come to the right place.

 

[Lorna and Chris]

Just reading now podney

 

[Langtoftlad]

Remember only discharge your battery to half it's capacity eg 100ah only take up to 50ah out before recharging - sounds like I might know what I'm talking about doesn't ... but not really so I have this handy chart to remind me;

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[hilldweller]

Battery is dying.

Do you have to be so blunt. They are new to this.

Try "Your battery has seen better days".

"Perhaps your battery is entering middle age".

"Your battery is getting past it's prime".

"I think your battery is ready to retire".

 

[hilldweller]

Do you have any solar panels on the roof?

No, they are under the bed, that way they don't get dirty.

 

[hilldweller]

We all Start out as dummies,.

Not so sure, I think some aspire to be dummies.

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[buttons]

Hi and welcome......

 

[Armytwowheels]

No, they are under the bed, that way they don't get dirty.

Plonker , funny though!

 

[Wagoneer]

Does your control panel have the ability to show the voltage of the leisure battery?

If so, this is a good indication of the state of charge of the battery and can be cross-referenced with the chart shown in an earlier post.

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[TUCANO]

If you are having a solar panel and a new battery fitted anyway I would suggest having two new batteries installed.

 

[davidbaldam]

We get about 3 days out our leisure battery if we’re lucky, less if we use the blow air heating, which really takes it out of the battery. You should be alright once you’ve had solar fitted and changed your battery.

 

[Lorna and Chris]

Yes it does wagoneer so will unplug the ehu tomorrow and do the test that TerryL suggested above so I can see where it drops to. My guess is it will drop fairly quickly as I was surprised how much it dropped this weekend with barely any use ...

Much appreciated everyone. Will report back tomorrow

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[bigtwin]

From a different thread:

Capacity check. First charge fully then apply a known load and time how long it lasts. Trouble is finding something that can pull about 100W continually. A decent average battery would run that for 5 hours within the 50% discharge limit.

I did this recently using a 60W main beam light bulb. That draws 60/12 = 5A. On a 110Ah battery, that is close enough to the C20 rate (20 * 5 = 100Ah) at which battery capacities are determined. Thus running that for 10 hrs should result in 50% of the capacity being consumed. If the voltage measured after 10hrs is less than 12.2V, then the battery capacity is below its originally stated capacity.

Ian

 

[Lorna and Chris]

So the battery was showing 13.5v after being on EHU charge and after 30 minutes there was no change. This picture is after 2 led ceiling lights (50hz and 2 watt) have been on for an hour ... will check it again later ...

 

[Gellyneck]

How accurate is the control panel reading (and not saying it isn't!)? However, you may be better putting a multimeter over the battery terminals (if you've got \ can borrow one).

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[Bonkers the Dog]

Mate,

I have the same problem. On a van that I only bought from a dealer two months ago. We were away for two days over the w/e, on Friday night the 2x110 Ah batteries, fully charged, lasted 1 hour after using the 12V TV. They were totally dead the next day, couldn't even run an LED light, flush the bog, nothing. I put the multi-meter on them and it read 10.2v! I've never seen a battery give that. Later in the day, after sitting in the sun with the solar panel pushing electrons into them they gave a 12.8 reading, after some desperate bog and pump use - about 5 mins - they were done! We ran nothing else.

To say that I am unhappy is an understatement. I reckon both my batteries are goosed, replacemtn cost about £250 +/-. I plan to contact the selling agent when this is confirmed next week at the auto electrician for another matter. I expect them to foot the bill as its still under warranty and its the second time it's happened after only 3 days off grid. Like you we are new to it and the first time we thought it was operator error; in the interim I have learned and read many helpful things. Much of it here.

However, all is not lost.

Research indicates that the VARTA LFD 90, EXIDE ET650, BOSCH Powerframe L5 are the ones to go for. Ideally look for replacements that are 'EFB' , Enhanced Flooded Batteries. Seems they are fairly new to the market and are the dogs. Used by all the big auto manufacturers for the new stop/start facility in modern motors.

https://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/buying-guides/leisure-battery-buying-guide/

Try this lot. THey seem to know their stuff.

Good luck

 

[Burgo]

Re ". This picture is after 2 led ceiling lights (50hz and 2 watt) have been on for an hour ... will che". They will only be drawing 0.166 amps so maybe not much use as a load test (unless my calculation is wrong - can someone confirm please?).

 

[Lorna and Chris]

Mate,

I have the same problem. On a van that I only bought from a dealer two months ago. We were away for two days over the w/e, on Friday night the 2x110 Ah batteries, fully charged, lasted 1 hour after using the 12V TV. They were totally dead the next day, couldn't even run an LED light, flush the bog, nothing. I put the multi-meter on them and it read 10.2v! I've never seen a battery give that. Later in the day, after sitting in the sun with the solar panel pushing electrons into them they gave a 12.8 reading, after some desperate bog and pump use - about 5 mins - they were done! We ran nothing else.

To say that I am unhappy is an understatement. I reckon both my batteries are goosed, replacemtn cost about £250 +/-. I plan to contact the selling agent when this is confirmed next week at the auto electrician for another matter. I expect them to foot the bill as its still under warranty and its the second time it's happened after only 3 days off grid. Like you we are new to it and the first time we thought it was operator error; in the interim I have learned and read many helpful things. Much of it here.

However, all is not lost.

Research indicates that the VARTA LFD 90, EXIDE ET650, BOSCH Powerframe L5 are the ones to go for. Ideally look for replacements that are 'EFB' , Enhanced Flooded Batteries. Seems they are fairly new to the market and are the dogs. Used by all the big auto manufacturers for the new stop/start facility in modern motors.

https://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/buying-guides/leisure-battery-buying-guide/

Try this lot. THey seem to know their stuff.

Good luck

Good luck with it ... that’s not good when you have bought from a dealer .. out van is years old so we expected a few niggles. Hope you get it sorted.

Typically when it’s been watched today, the battery hasn’t dropped much at all but everything about the last 2 weekends points to it being on the way out.

I saw the alpha post too ... and done lots of reading on here so have ordered a replacement this morning and it should be with me tomorrow. We’re on EHU this weekend but the following weekend when we’re on a field in the Peak District hopefully we will see a difference!!

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[Lorna and Chris]

Just wanted to update everyone and say Thankyou ...

We bought a new battery as everyone suggested and we’ve been away for 4 days wild camping ... absolutely brilliant and no more problems. The new battery only dropped a touch over the 4 days so with the solar panel being fitted In June aswell, we shouldn’t have any further problems!!

Thanks all

 

[Bart]

Sweet glad to hear you got it fixed and more importantly have now enjoyed 4 days wild camping without the battery problems