Dead batteries

[Milk Tray Man]

Not sure why but all the batteries on our Frankia I680BD have died! We have solar on the roof and this has been keeping things ticking along nicely over winter and during lockdown when we periodically checked on her. I need to get some power into her not least so the front screen blind can be raised and to turn the engine on so we can do our annual migration to SMC for service/hab check. Something has gone wrong either mechanically or via 'user error' to stop the solar trickle charge which SMC will look into but, can anyone think of any risks/issues with putting her onto hook-up? Batteries may already be fried and therefore not hold any charge but could it cause wider issues with the electronics?

Thanks in advance for your collective help

 

[Reallyretired]

Check the voltage at the panels in daylight, open circuit should be about 20v and at the batteries, with and without solar, this should give a clue whats up.

 

[Stealaway]

There should be no problem charging it via the hook up. A few hours should be enough to start it and take it from there.
You need a multimeter to check the voltages into the solar controller and the voltages out

 

[Hagstrom]

I would check the batteries' voltages and that there's sufficient water in them. One of mine fried during the sunny summer of 2018. I thought the Schaudt LR1218 was over cooking the batteries so switched to Votronic solar regulator with a trickle charge/cut off facility. Frankia I8400GD.

 

[Diabalo]

2 dead batteries will pull a lot of amps, depending what on-board charger you have fitted it may be at the upper end of it's capabilities.

If it was me I would take them off the van and charge them up with a smart battery charger at home.

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[PhilandMena]

You need to establish what has caused this problem and correct it. If your batteries have been well maintained over winter and during the lock-down.....and are now all flat something fairly dramatic has taken place and quite suddenly too. I would not write off your batteries just yet but agree with others you need to get them all charged up fairly quickly. What type and how old are the batteries ? Do you know how well your batteries were charged and how often did you check on them ? Did the engine start OK ? Very odd for all batteries to go flat together ? How big is your solar panel ? and how many leisure batteries do you have fitted?

 

[Lenny HB]

I need to get some power into her not least so the front screen blind can be raised

You should have a handle to wind the blind up manually.

Need a bit more investigation to find out what has gone wrong with the batteries if they have been left flat for reliability they will all need replacing.

 

[Brains]

Do you have a Battery Master fitted ?
Well worth the £50 cost.

It ensures the solar panel trickle charges both the engine and the leisure batteries.
Most solar panels charge one or the other battery, not both

 

[Milk Tray Man]

You need to establish what has caused this problem and correct it. If your batteries have been well maintained over winter and during the lock-down.....and are now all flat something fairly dramatic has taken place and quite suddenly too. I would not write off your batteries just yet but agree with others you need to get them all charged up fairly quickly. What type and how old are the batteries ? Do you know how well your batteries were charged and how often did you check on them ? Did the engine start OK ? Very odd for all batteries to go flat together ? How big is your solar panel ? and how many leisure batteries do you have fitted?

When I last checked 2 weeks ago they all showed fully charged (2 x leisure and 1 x engine). We have two 150 panels on the roof and have not been short of sunshine so !?!?! The engine is dead, no dash lights come on and not a murmur of life when turning the key. Lenny, in answer to your point about the blind and a manual crank...Frankia's don't have this. You can push them up but it's the last resort as this can then break the blind and need remedial action to fix by SMC. Currently, I have put her on hook-up overnight and will go back to see her later this morning. Have a service booked in for 17 July with SMC so if no life can be restored will have to get recovered to them the day before and leave in their capable hands.

 

[Lenny HB]

Starter battery going totally flat in 2 weeks must be something draining it. Not by any chance got a Pioneer stereo?

No handle to manually lift the blind seems odd, even my cheapo Hymer has one. Take the curtain down around the bed and see if there is a hook eye for one. I think ours is the opposite side to the motor.

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[PhilandMena]

When I last checked 2 weeks ago they all showed fully charged (2 x leisure and 1 x engine). We have two 150 panels on the roof and have not been short of sunshine so !?!?! The engine is dead, no dash lights come on and not a murmur of life when turning the key. Lenny, in answer to your point about the blind and a manual crank...Frankia's don't have this. You can push them up but it's the last resort as this can then break the blind and need remedial action to fix by SMC. Currently, I have put her on hook-up overnight and will go back to see her later this morning. Have a service booked in for 17 July with SMC so if no life can be restored will have to get recovered to them the day before and leave in their capable hands.

Thanks for this. The mystery now deepens. 300W of Solar Panels have kept all batteries fully charged and now everything is dead. I struggle with this as even if the solar panel regulator was only feeding one set of batteries , these at least should remain charged with that amount of S.P. There must be a fault (Assuming there is not a kill switch for the whole system, like they have on the Sargent system ?). Can you check to confirm you have voltage going into and out of the s.p. regulator ? That's as good a place to start as any. In the meantime, try and get your batteries fully charged up. The fault needs to be identified and corrected otherwise your going to be back at square one. Would appreciate an update when you get it sorted as I'm at a loss on this one.

 

[autorouter]

There's obviously a fault in the system somewhere, so it's back to basics and don't have blind faith in the panel readings. Get a multimeter and start looking at voltages. Measure directly on the battery terminals if you can get at them. Check the voltages with and without hookup, and if possible in daylight and in darkness.

Then as PhilandMena says, the panel voltage and battery voltage readings at the solar controller terminals.

You can use the meter to check the fuse, and see if voltage is reaching the fuse terminals. It often happens that a fuse looks perfect but does not pass current.

 

[PJGWiltshire]

Just had this with the engine battery on Carthago. Was fine when we went into lock down on 22 nd March and it was started 6 weeks ago. Then just Monday last week nothing. Got jump start then took van to Adam Morey Portsmouth. Failed engine battery. Solar in place with battery master. ( Van Bitz) is engine battery gave up the ghost. Leisure batteries fine

 

[PhilandMena]

Just had this with the engine battery on Carthago. Was fine when we went into lock down on 22 nd March and it was started 6 weeks ago. Then just Monday last week nothing. Got jump start then took van to Adam Morey Portsmouth. Failed engine battery. Solar in place with battery master. ( Van Bitz) is engine battery gave up the ghost. Leisure batteries fine

Batteries do fail after time, even with good maintenance.