Dry batteries (1 Viewer)

[7735]

went out to the motorhome yesterday and for want of something to do I thought that I would check the levels in the 2 Banner leisure batteries. Both batteries were virtually dry. The motorhome has been standing for about a month and kept charged by the solar panel. I have assumed that the batteries have been dry for sometime and may have been overcharged by the charger or even a faulty regulator on the solar panel. So have ordered 2 new batteries and a ctek charger and will try and get the regulator checked although not to sure how to do that. Any advice anybody.

Spongy
Ps Dyson blew up yesterday as well

 

[FJmike]

Hope you didn't replace them with more Banners

 

[7735]

Afraid so, the others were ok until they went dry

Spongy

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[FJmike]

I could be wrong but the problem could be the Banners as they don't play very well with electrobloc chargers and it seems even worse when solar is included.

 

[Lenny HB]

Afraid so, the others were ok until they went dry

Spongy

IMO a big mistake.

 

[TheCaller]

and will try and get the regulator checked although not to sure how to do that.

What is the make & model of the regulator?

You can test the output voltage with a multi-meter. Only trouble is, you will have to wait for a really good sunny day to see if it is allowing the voltage to go too high. Could be a long wait in an English summer! It's not an unknown failure - I had a Victron regulator fail in that way & I suspect I didn't know for months until I happened to check it on a really bright day. 17 volts is not good for batteries.

The in-built volt meter in the m/h only goes up to 13.5v, so wasn't any help. I subsequently got the Victron dongle & bluetooth android app so I can monitor on my phone what the (replaced) regulator was really doing.

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[Pausim]

When the CC Club cut open a range of lead acid leisure batteries only 2 were constructed for deep cycling and one of those was Banner. All the others appeared to be re-labelled car batteries. I have had my Banner batteries for several years now and they are still performing well.

To be that dry I would be suspicious of overcharging and would want to check this out before frying a new set. The solar regulator has to be favourite since that was how you were charging them. There should be others on here who know more about solar charging than I do but perhaps it got stuck in high charge mode and did not drop back to float and maintenance voltages.

 

[7735]

Thanks all. The regulator is an Alden as is the solar panel. I might just get a replacement regulator just in case, they are not that expensive.
I first thought of the charger as I have had a problem in the past with it overheating
Spongy

 

[FJmike]

I see on your profile that your van is a Rapido, I pretty sure that the charger will be an electrobloc which as I said doesn't play well with Banner batteries. Is your solar panel wired through the EBL or is it stand alone?. If the former it may well be prudent to have your EBL checked out as with dry batteries it may be damaged.

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[PhilandMena]

I too have Banner lead acid batteries and a solar panel so my set up sounds similar to yours. I would say the motorhome is on hookup on the drive for the majority of time and the remainder is mostly widing. I check and top up every 6 months and the amount I put in each cell is only a few millilitres, about 1/4 litre per battery maximum and bring the level up just over the little foot sitting above each set of plates. The batteries have been performing well since I have been doing this.
There are some members on here who repeatedly slag off Banner and I think they may be referring to their AGM batteries ? I have no first hand experience of these batteries but quite satisfied with their Lead Acid batteries which my Sargent charger and Solar Pannel regulator are set up to correctly maintain and do a good job.

 

[FJmike]

@PhilandMena I am not slagging off Banners just making the op aware of the incompatibilty of them and EBL chargers, if I'm not mistaken your system doesn't have an EBL charger

 

[7735]

I see on your profile that your van is a Rapido, I pretty sure that the charger will be an electrobloc which as I said doesn't play well with Banner batteries. Is your solar panel wired through the EBL or is it stand alone?. If the former it may well be prudent to have your EBL checked out as with dry batteries it may be damaged.

Yes I do have a Rapido I'm not sure if it has an electro bloc or if it is wired through it. I think it is probably separate. I don't really understand why it doesn't like Banner batteries as opposed to any others, surely batteries are basically the same apart from materials used.

Spongy

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[FJmike]

Spongy have a look at this page and others on the site
http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/battery-technology.php

 

[PhilandMena]

@PhilandMena I am not slagging off Banners just making the op aware of the incompatibilty of them and EBL chargers, if I'm not mistaken your system doesn't have an EBL charger

You must have a guilty conscious! Do you repeatedly slag off Banner batteries ? I made no reference to you what-so-ever in my post.
you are corrected however in assuming my system does not have an EBL charger.

 

[7735]

Spongy have a look at this page and others on the site
http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/battery-technology.php

Thanks FJmike i am now more confused than ever.

Spongy

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[7735]

I could be wrong but the problem could be the Banners as they don't play very well with electrobloc chargers and it seems even worse when solar is included.

Hi FJmike
I have checked my electrical system it would appear that I have a Scheiber system. I don't know if this is good or bad. I had a replacement charger fitted as the original was damaged by a power surge in France a couple of years ago. This charger I am going to replace. Thanks for all your advice.

Spongy