Battery confusion

[DrewE127]

Hi

We are away at the mo, the hab battery was full when we parked up on Saturday night at a pub stopover. By midday the next day it was at 11.3v 50% so I switched everything off

We drove for about an hour and stayed the night in a car park, this morning the battery is at 11.6v

We are watching tv and the hot water is on (gas), we would like showers too.

All I know is that 11.3v is bad from searching the web. I find it confusing that the hab battery can only be used down to 50% unlike everything else (phones, laptops etc)

Am I running the risk of damaging the habitation battery by running it down again?

Thanks

 

[funflair]

Hi DrewE127

The hab battery will be lead acid technology which can only go down to 50% as opposed to the Lithium in phones etc that can go down to basically Zero, you can of course fit this technology in the form of LiFePO4 to motorhomes but at a cost.

I don't know what sort of battery you have and what age/condition and indeed how you determined that it was full at the start, but it was certainly flat at midday Sunday and the short drive of 1 hour would not take it back to fully charged, closer if you have a B2B but still not full.

If you repeatedly run it down to under 12v it won't thank you for it.

More information on what you have possibly.

Martin

 

[Bobby-gg]

11.3v is almost completely flat

And driving for an hour will not be enough time to change a battery

I'd say it's new battery time

 

[chaser]

Hi

We are away at the mo, the hab battery was full when we parked up on Saturday night at a pub stopover. By midday the next day it was at 11.3v 50% so I switched everything off

We drove for about an hour and stayed the night in a car park, this morning the battery is at 11.6v

We are watching tv and the hot water is on (gas), we would like showers too.

All I know is that 11.3v is bad from searching the web. I find it confusing that the hab battery can only be used down to 50% unlike everything else (phones, laptops etc)

Am I running the risk of damaging the habitation battery by running it down again?

Thanks

What did it say when you parked up the second night, because by your figures it is actually getting better even with just an hour's charge and useing it for another night.

 

[DrewE127]

Thanks funflair that is useful to know. I am planning on looking into the cost of upgrading the battery and fitting a b2b.

Bobby thanks for the table that’s what I needed! I hope I don’t need a new battery as we only bought the van new at the end of July.

Chaser I think it was around 12.5 when we parked up last night. Maybe I need to ‘exercise’ the battery a little as it’s been on EHU everywhere else including at home.

I’m not sure what sort of battery we have (see photo, its well hidden) we do have a solar panel and there was a bit of sun last night for a couple of hrs.

Thanks again

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[DrewE127]

This is all I have to go off btw...

 

[funflair]

Thanks funflair that is useful to know. I am planning on looking into the cost of upgrading the battery and fitting a b2b.

Bobby thanks for the table that’s what I needed! I hope I don’t need a new battery as we only bought the van new at the end of July.

Chaser I think it was around 12.5 when we parked up last night. Maybe I need to ‘exercise’ the battery a little as it’s been on EHU everywhere else including at home.

I’m not sure what sort of battery we have (see photo, its well hidden) we do have a solar panel and there was a bit of sun last night for a couple of hrs.

Thanks again

Its a Platinum but don't know size etc, if you have a solar panel and a bit of sun don't be fooled by the reading of battery voltage 12.5v for example is a combination of the battery voltage and the solar charge voltage so the real battery volts is certainly lower than the indicated 12.5v.

 

[chaser]

Thanks funflair that is useful to know. I am planning on looking into the cost of upgrading the battery and fitting a b2b.

Bobby thanks for the table that’s what I needed! I hope I don’t need a new battery as we only bought the van new at the end of July.

Chaser I think it was around 12.5 when we parked up last night. Maybe I need to ‘exercise’ the battery a little as it’s been on EHU everywhere else including at home.

I’m not sure what sort of battery we have (see photo, its well hidden) we do have a solar panel and there was a bit of sun last night for a couple of hrs.

Thanks again

If you have a solar panel it ought to be keeping you charged in the daytime, is it working?

 

[chaser]

Its a Platinum but don't know size etc, if you have a solar panel and a bit of sun don't be fooled by the reading of battery voltage 12.5v for example is a combination of the battery voltage and the solar charge voltage so the real battery volts is certainly lower than the indicated 12.5v.

If it's really sunny you should be reading 14 odd volts, even though that's not what's in your battery.

 

[funflair]

If it's really sunny you should be reading 14 odd volts, even though that's not what's in your battery.

Only if the battery was well charged and depending on the amps, one panel will not be many amps and the flat battery will just suck it in dropping the volts.

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[DrewE127]

If you have a solar panel it ought to be keeping you charged in the daytime, is it working?

It seems to be working, but it has been rather overcast plus there were a few large trees around the pub car park

 

[Richard n Ann]

I switched everything off

What are all the things you use, and for how long?

 

[icantremember]

This is all I have to go off btw...



View attachment 422850View attachment 422851

I've spoted your problem in the second picture .... you have parked your moho upsidedown and the power is falling out of the battery!

I'm sorry I'm not much help but hope you get sorted soon.

 

[chaser]

It seems to be working, but it has been rather overcast plus there were a few large trees around the pub car park ☹
View attachment 422853

I think you are over worrying about this, get it in some sun and give it a run , if you are in the shade and not going anywhere there is only one way your battery can go.

 

[DrewE127]

I think you are over worrying about this, get it in some sun and give it a run , if you are in the shade and not going anywhere there is only one way your battery can go.

Cheers, the pub was shaded but this car park is very open.

We will be setting off soon so we should be fine but I wanted to check in case I was going to ruin the battery

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[DrewE127]

What are all the things you use, and for how long?

The first night we used some lights and the tv, left the heater on eco, and left the WiFi router plugged in and on - I wondered if maybe the router had stolen all the power...it was plugged into a 12v socket
(Huawei B535)

Edit; the tv was on pretty much all night, can’t find the timer function!

 

[funflair]

The first night we used some lights and the tv, left the heater on eco, and left the WiFi router plugged in and on - I wondered if maybe the router had stolen all the power...it was plugged into a 12v socket
(Huawei B535)

Edit; the tv was on pretty much all night, can’t find the timer function!

Do you mean heating on ECO overnight? don't know what ECO does but I wouldn't run it overnight.

 

[DrewE127]

Do you mean heating on ECO overnight? don't know what ECO does but I wouldn't run it overnight.

I must admit, I really need to read the manual! Yes I left the heating set to 21. I think eco uses slower fans but apart from that I don’t know

 

[funflair]

I must admit, I really need to read the manual! Yes I left the heating set to 21. I think eco uses slower fans but apart from that I don’t know

And kills batteries, much better to buy a duvet.

 

[stevec]

Our 22 inch TV takes just over 2 amps. On our Truma ECO just means the fan runs slow!

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[Richard n Ann]

The first night we used some lights and the tv, left the heater on eco, and left the WiFi router plugged in and on - I wondered if maybe the router had stolen all the power...it was plugged into a 12v socket
(Huawei B535)

Edit; the tv was on pretty much all night, can’t find the timer function!

Our usage is pretty much the same as yours, TV on all night (1.5a) ceiling fans on slow half the night, and phone chargers. The battery is usually at 70% in the morning just before sunrise. We've got an 80ah gel battery.

So it seems like your battery is ok, we're in Spain so the solar (150w) has the battery back at 100% by lunchtime

I can recommend the BM1 battery monitor, it's expensive but easy to fit and it tells you all you need to know about the battery..

PS one of the modes is "Estimated time to discharge" which is handy

 

[DrewE127]

Thanks Richard & Ann, that does look very handy indeed.

We are lazy and still haven’t left...
The ceiling fan stopped working yesterday and now the aerial booster has gone off....
Is this normal? TV still working ok (watching a DVD lol) perhaps the battery is now struggling

 

[chaser]

Thanks Richard & Ann, that does look very handy indeed.

We are lazy and still haven’t left...
The ceiling fan stopped working yesterday and now the aerial booster has gone off....
Is this normal? TV still working ok (watching a DVD lol) perhaps the battery is now struggling

I am amazed your battery has anything left in it at all.

 

[funflair]

Can you hear a distant groaning sound? that will be your battery slowly dying

 

[Richard n Ann]

The ceiling fan stopped working yesterday and now the aerial booster has gone off....
Is this normal?

No not normal at all, unless the battery voltage is very low. What is it now? Is it sunny there?

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[mitzimad]

best solution is another battery you usage is more than youve got in store

 

[funflair]

Depending on the control system it might shut down system one by one on low voltage, it looks like CBE panel and it is CBE solar for sure. I know that some CBE do this.

Martin

 

[DrewE127]

Cheers, just got home after 2 hrs driving, battery is now 12.9v

Plugged in, Aerial booster and ceiling fan still not working

 

[Eddystone]

Give the battery some time to recover. The other systems will probably return to working order as the voltage rises.

 

[DrewE127]

Thanks again for everybody’s advice...

It turned out to be a fuse, the ceiling fan and tv booster are on the same 20A fuse.

It was probably my fault - I think I turned the engine on with the electric panel still switched on.

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