Battery problem

[7735]

My motorhome is 2 weeks old, after parking on my drive for 1 week without hookup, both batteries, starter and leisure were flat. Starter was showing 12.2v and leisure 11v. I have hooked up and charged both batteries for 48 hrs. Leisure is showing 13.5v but starter battery will not go above 12.7v. The only drain as I can tell is the alarm. Would a duff starter battery drag down the leisure. Any advice would be welcome.
spongy

 

[Apache]

Has it got a solar panel and is it switched on at the control box ?

 

[7735]

Yes it does have solar and I think it’s working.

 

[ericroy]

A fully charged starter battery should be 12.6 or 12.7 - so that is a good result.

 

[Podney]

2 weeks old.......starter battery showing 12,2,leisure showing 11. !!!!!

Neither should ever have been that low.

Speak dealer.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[7735]

A fully charged starter battery should be 12.6 or 12.7 - so that is a good result.

Thanks for that info ?

 

[7735]

2 weeks old.......starter battery showing 12,2,leisure showing 11. !!!!!

Neither should ever have been that low.

Speak dealer.

I am going to monitor for 5-6 days and see what happens. I am trying to avoid a 100 ml round trip to the dealer. Thanks.
Spongy

 

[Podney]

I am going to monitor for 5-6 days and see what happens. I am trying to avoid a 100 ml round trip to the dealer. Thanks.
Spongy

I’ve read on here that letting batteries go below 12 can permanently knacker them.
As you realise,the real question is why they went that low in the first place.
In simple terms,either you’ve left something switched on by mistake, or there is a drain caused by a fault.
Better brains than me will be on to guide you Im sure.

 

[A and B in the Huzzie]

In my Autosleeper, you have to shut off the main habitation electrics. The solar will still keep the hab battery charged. The starter battery is drained by the alarm, tracker, radio and possibly other stuff but stays charged for at least a couple of months.

When we first got it the salesman said to leave the hab electrics on but to turn everything off. This flattened the hab battery in a week.

 

[Lenny HB]

A fully charged starter battery should be 12.6 or 12.7 - so that is a good result.

Only after it's rested for a few hours directly after changing it should be over 13v.

Is the van a new factory order or a dealer stock van?
If a dealer stock van I suspect the batteries have been left discharged and are goosed.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

12.7v is fully charged.
13.5v is the residual voltage and withing a few seconds of turning on a 12v load the battery will show 12.7v.
The starter battery won't show a residual voltage as there's a constant load (radio memory, alarm etc) on the battery disapating it

 

[Carolyn and Kev]

Pappajohn...we dont always see eye to eye , but you are spot on here. You can ramp up the charge on any battery and it will read whatever is going in at full charge. Sometimes as much as 15 volts! Yes it is true. However...after 20 mins to 1/2 hour...it will read 12.7 volts.

When load testing a battery it can go down to 10.3 volts before it is classed as scrap....SO dont always think a flat battery is useless! It may not be at all!

Kev

 

[7735]

Only after it's rested for a few hours directly after changing it should be over 13v.

Is the van a new factory order or a dealer stock van?
If a dealer stock van I suspect the batteries have been left discharged and are goosed.

It is a dealers stock van so you may be right.
Spongy

 

[7735]

Pappajohn...we dont always see eye to eye , but you are spot on here. You can ramp up the charge on any battery and it will read whatever is going in at full charge. Sometimes as much as 15 volts! Yes it is true. However...after 20 mins to 1/2 hour...it will read 12.7 volts.

When load testing a battery it can go down to 10.3 volts before it is classed as scrap....SO dont always think a flat battery is useless! It may not be at all!

Kev

Thanks for that very enlightening info. 12.7v is ok then as there is a draw from the alarm. 13.5v on the leisure bat means there is no draw on that one at all.
Thanks to everybody for your help.
Spongy

 

[mitzimad]

Thanks for that very enlightening info. 12.7v is ok then as there is a draw from the alarm. 13.5v on the leisure bat means there is no draw on that one at all.
Thanks to everybody for your help.
Spongy

13.5 on the leisure probably means the solar is still charging it

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}