Engine battery going flat

[999RAR]

Hi all. I have a Eura Mobil Integra 2004 on a Fiat Ducato. I changed my cab battery about 2 months ago and it seemed to hold charge OK. Over the space of a week it has dropped down to about 10.2v. I have the van plugged into the EHU on a timer for about 2 hours every day. When the van wouldn't start I had the EHU on constantly for a couple of days but the battery did not recover.
The owners manual suggests that the 50A battery fuse could be at fault, but checked this and the other fuses on the battery fuse terminals. When I switch the control panel on there is a clicking sound coming from 1 of the 12v distribution boards. When it clicks the voltage reading on the panel go from 12.2 to 15.3v and 12.5 to 16.2v when on mains. I have visually checked the distribution boards but can't work out where the clicking is coming from. The battery charger is a CBE A2018 and seems to be keeping the leisure batteries topped up.
Any help welcome!

 

[Figaro]

Sounds like the cab battery is not getting a charge.
Do you have a multimeter ?
If so put it on charge and test the charge going to the battery using the battery terminals.
Should be 14.4 v ish.
A drop to 10.2 volts in a week isn't right so something is amiss.

 

[999RAR]

Sounds like the cab battery is not getting a charge.
Do you have a multimeter ?
If so put it on charge and test the charge going to the battery using the battery terminals.
Should be 14.4 v ish.
A drop to 10.2 volts in a week isn't right so something is amiss.

The readings I'm getting off the battery are 10.4 to 13.75 constantly changing as a relay clicks on and off

 

[Figaro]

Definitely something wrong there, hopefully one of the techies will be along soon

 

[Stealaway]

You can change the alternator brush's and voltage controller pack in situ. It's takes about an hour. Available on eBay for about £25

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[WildBunch]

Are you testing the voltage with a volt meter at the battery terminals to give you a true indication of the battery voltage. At 10.2 volt battery is probably finished.
I read somewhere (can't remember where) but charging a leads acid battery every day for a short period ( as on your timer ) is bad practice due to not being the correct charging profile.
Hopefully an expert will back this up with some proper knowledge.

 

[autorouter]

One failure mode of a standard 6-cell 12V battery is that one of the cells fails as a short-circuit. If that happens, the 'resting voltage' of the remaining 5 cells is 10.5V, which is 5/6 of the normal resting voltage of 12.6V.

I don't know what the CBE charger's reaction to that will be, but maybe it is for example going into 'equalisation mode', which is around 15 to 16V. It probably won't solve the problem, and sadly it looks like a new battery is required. If the resting voltage is 10.5V, that is.

 

[999RAR]

Are you testing the voltage with a volt meter at the battery terminals to give you a true indication of the battery voltage. At 10.2 volt battery is probably finished.
I read somewhere (can't remember where) but charging a leads acid battery every day for a short period ( as on your timer ) is bad practice due to not being the correct charging profile.
Hopefully an expert will back this up with some proper knowledge.

Yes checking the voltage at the terminals. Hopefully the battery isn't dead as it's only 2 months old.

 

[sonar]

May be better to take the battery to a garage and have it tested by them.

 

[999RAR]

May be better to take the battery to a garage and have it tested by them.

Thanks I might do that, but it kills my old shoulders trying to get it out!

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[Itsmcb]

Disconnect the starter battery terminals and try charging with a different charger. If it chargers up, disconnect and see if the battery holds its charge whilst still disconnected. Sounds to me like the battery is being drained over several days by your alarm or radio (or something) and possibly you have a faulty relay which is preventing it receiving charge from the onboard charger.

 

[999RAR]

Disconnect the starter battery terminals and try charging with a different charger. If it chargers up, disconnect and see if the battery holds its charge whilst still disconnected. Sounds to me like the battery is being drained over several days by your alarm or radio (or something) and possibly you have a faulty relay which is preventing it receiving charge from the onboard charger.

Yes I think I'll be getting an auto electrician to try and identify the relay as the habitation battery voltage is reasonably constant when on charge.

 

[Spriddler]

The circuitry for my onboard charger isn't designed to charge the cab battery but only the leisure one.

 

[Richard n Ann]

My priority would be to clip a separate battery charger straight onto the starter battery and get it back to fully charged ASAP.

Then if the manual says the charger should charge the starter battery, there's either a fuse gone or charger is faulty. Put a multimeter straight onto the starter battery terminals to read voltage and see what happens when you switch the van charger on