Battery issue

[TONCAZ]

Good Morning
Having issue with my Motorhome battery, fine during the day but it seems that the battery isnt holding charge from solar panel of an evening, (no lights at night)
I was wondering could I leave the Charger on the motorhome on through the night as iam connected to 240v at all times, am I correct in assuming that once the battery is recharged the charger switches off

Motorhome is a 2002 Hobby 600


Cheers for now

Tony

 

[SpeedyDux]

We need your voltage measurements to give a proper opinion but it does sound as though the hab battery needs replacing if it is failing to hold charge after the sun goes down.

 

[Clickem]

If you are on 240 volt hook up leave the charger on to give you lights and it sounds as though you will need a new Hab Battery

 

[Lenny HB]

I was wondering could I leave the Charger on the motorhome on through the night as iam connected to 240v at all times, am I correct in assuming that once the battery is recharged the charger switches off

When on EHU it is normal to leave the charger on 24/7.

However it sounds like you need a new leisure battery anyway.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

During the day your battery is probably not OK, but instead the charge coming from the solar panel is making it look like there is some voltage in the system. If you turned all the lights and other stuff on you'd probably see them go quite dim, if not off as the power draw overwhelms what your solar can create, an effect more noticeable in the evening or a cloudy day when solar will be less effective.

Batteries take a little while to stabilise voltage after charging. So give it 30 minutes to an hour after the solar is off and see what voltage is available. If there was plenty of time for the battery to have been charged, but it then has a voltage well below 12V then it's going to have died and need replacement.

Temporarily you can use the EHU charge to put juice in over the evening, but that will be the same as solar during the day. Effectively you'd be powering lights from the charger rather than the battery, and the charger can only do so much at a time. The battery evens out the peak and troughs so you need that to be working.

Note lead acid batteries (the standard type of habitation leisure battery) only has about 50% of it's total capacity as regularly useable power - so a 100Ah battery would let you use 50Ah. You can use more, but are increasingly likely to prematurely limit the battery's lifespan. They don't do well if deeply discharged. Effectively, a fully charged battery will show voltages 12.6 and greater. 12V is around or in some cases slightly below 50%, below which the voltage will start to drop off a cliff, by 11.5% you'll be below 20%. Always check voltage when there is no current draw so the battery has again stabilised - just by switching on a few appliances the voltage will appear to drop.

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[PhilandMena]

I fear your battery has had it! The only power it provides is from your solar power or on board charger, then when either of these are disconnected you have no power! I suspect you have used up all your battery capacity but as you dont say how old your battery is, what type and how its been used, I'm only making an educated guess. However, I think I'm right!. To be certain, switch your on board charger on and charge your battery for at least 36 hrs, then switch your charger off and see how well your battery performs at night. If it fails, it's a new battery you require and perhaps improving your knowledge on how to get the maximum life out of a leisure battery.

 

[TONCAZ]

We need your voltage measurements to give a proper opinion but it does sound as though the hab battery needs replacing if it is failing to hold charge after the sun goes down.

Cheers for that


Tony

 

[TONCAZ]

During the day your battery is probably not OK, but instead the charge coming from the solar panel is making it look like there is some voltage in the system. If you turned all the lights and other stuff on you'd probably see them go quite dim, if not off as the power draw overwhelms what your solar can create, an effect more noticeable in the evening or a cloudy day when solar will be less effective.

Batteries take a little while to stabilise voltage after charging. So give it 30 minutes to an hour after the solar is off and see what voltage is available. If there was plenty of time for the battery to have been charged, but it then has a voltage well below 12V then it's going to have died and need replacement.

Temporarily you can use the EHU charge to put juice in over the evening, but that will be the same as solar during the day. Effectively you'd be powering lights from the charger rather than the battery, and the charger can only do so much at a time. The battery evens out the peak and troughs so you need that to be working.

Note lead acid batteries (the standard type of habitation leisure battery) only has about 50% of it's total capacity as regularly useable power - so a 100Ah battery would let you use 50Ah. You can use more, but are increasingly likely to prematurely limit the battery's lifespan. They don't do well if deeply discharged. Effectively, a fully charged battery will show voltages 12.6 and greater. 12V is around or in some cases slightly below 50%, below which the voltage will start to drop off a cliff, by 11.5% you'll be below 20%. Always check voltage when there is no current draw so the battery has again stabilised - just by switching on a few appliances the voltage will appear to drop.

Nice one cheers

 

[TONCAZ]

I fear your battery has had it! The only power it provides is from your solar power or on board charger, then when either of these are disconnected you have no power! I suspect you have used up all your battery capacity but as you dont say how old your battery is, what type and how its been used, I'm only making an educated guess. However, I think I'm right!. To be certain, switch your on board charger on and charge your battery for at least 36 hrs, then switch your charger off and see how well your battery performs at night. If it fails, it's a new battery you require and perhaps improving your knowledge on how to get the maximum life out of a leisure battery.

Had a feeling it might be that,ahh well


Cheers

 

[TONCAZ]

When on EHU it is normal to leave the charger on 24/7.

However it sounds like you need a new leisure battery anyway.

Cheers

Tony

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[TONCAZ]

I fear your battery has had it! The only power it provides is from your solar power or on board charger, then when either of these are disconnected you have no power! I suspect you have used up all your battery capacity but as you dont say how old your battery is, what type and how its been used, I'm only making an educated guess. However, I think I'm right!. To be certain, switch your on board charger on and charge your battery for at least 36 hrs, then switch your charger off and see how well your battery performs at night. If it fails, it's a new battery you require and perhaps improving your knowledge on how to get the maximum life out of a leisure battery.

Ok thanks


Tony

 

[suavecarve]

Whilst considering buying another battery to replace this one, you may want to consider buying 2 exactly the same, if space and weight allow it.

 

[TONCAZ]

Whilst considering buying another battery to replace this one, you may want to consider buying 2 exactly the same, if space and weight allow it.

Yep,room for two no probs, cheers

 

[PhilandMena]

Had a feeling it might be that,ahh well


Cheers

May I suggest if your looking to replace your batteries and want to stick with Lead Acid you buy from a manufacturer who produces their own brands i.e. Excide, Varta etc and look for weight, this is key, as the more lead the better the battery. Also, remember leisure battery is determined by its capacity which is defined as the number of cycles ( being discharged and then recharged is 1 cycle). So expect to see something like 200 cycles at 50% D.O.D. D.O.D. is Depth Of Discharge and you should never discharge a Lead Acid battery lower than 50% of its capacity or it will have a negative impact on its life. There is a whole load of crap Chinese starter batteries out there being sold as Leisure batteries and often with misleading and false sales pitch. A load of shite to be honest.