Leisure Battery Charge Issues (1 Viewer)

[Russell Dobson]

Hi I have a problem with the in house battery, it was discharged down to 4 volts, it would not show a charge on volt metre,
I removed and charged off vehicle, refitted, all lights ,etc working now, but the on board charge meter does not show charging, put volt metre on battery to confirm no charge being added.
The vehicle is a 2003 Hymer B525g and the battery is wet type, original was gel type, need clues as the 50 amp fuse next to battery is OK but no power feed to it or the smaller 2 amp fuse next to it. We had a problem last year with the leisure battery but we charged up with mains electric hook up.
I would appreciate any advice as to possible rectifier or other fuses on route
New member living in France

 

[Wildman]

discharged below 10.5V kills the battery, sorry it is dead.

 

[pappajohn]

X2

Below 12v is techinically flat.......10.5 is dead beyond repair.

You possibly overloaded the charger trying to put amps back in the battery that it wasnt capable of taking.......similar to a short circuit.

Check the charger for inbuilt fuses....could be a standard blade fuse, or on older units a glass fuse, in the charger casing.

 

[Russell Dobson]

Hi I am still looking for other fuses but think it may be inside the box, someone has pointed me to the rectifier as the issue was resolved last year by charging from mains hook up

 

[pappajohn]

SorryRussell......you completely confused me with the term rectifier and charged on electric hookup.

What rectifier and how else can you charge using an onboard charger if not via hookup or generator

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[pappajohn]

Im beginning to think you mean INVERTER, and not rectifier.

An Inverter converts battery 12v supply to 230c av supply which may account for the 50 amp fuse.

If so, the inverter will consume far more battery power running the charger than the charger can put back in the battery....result, dead battery in a short time.

If runn7ng the 230v circuits via an inverter the battery charger MUST be turned OFF or the battery will become flat in a short time.

 

[Russell Dobson]

Hi I do not have an inverter in the van, I remember the use of split chargers on car to caravan in the mid 1990's .I assume motor homes have a similar system to charge on board batteries, obviously a more advanced set up,to use the alternator to charge up the battery when traveling.

 

[JeanLuc]

Your 2003 Hymer is probably fitted with a Schaudt Elektroblock EBL99. If your habitation battery is dead and you have tried to charge it, this may have damaged the EBL. Alternatively, the reason the battery died may have been because there is a fault in the EBL. Either way, I doubt if it is a user-fix. I suggest you find a Hymer dealer near you in France and have the EBL checked. Alternatively, if you cannot find a dealer, send an email to Udo Lang at Schaudt and ask him for advice. He may be able to put you in touch with someone locally who can test / repair / exchange the EBL, or offer to do it if you return it to Schaudt. Other than that, if you are returning to the UK any time soon, there are a couple of places you can contact over here.
Udo at Schaudt speaks good English by the way: Udo.Lang@schaudt-gmbh.de

I should have started by asking if this is a new fault and has everything worked OK in the past?

 

[JeanLuc]

You need to subscribe to the forum in order to continue the conversation as you have used your 5 free posts.

 

[pappajohn]

We had a problem last year with the leisure battery but we charged up with mains electric hook up.

I should have started by asking if this is a new fault and has everything worked OK in the past?

It would appear the van is very rarely charged on hookup and relies solely on split charge going by the above quote.

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[peterc10]

When you changed from the Gel battery to the lead acid one did you change the charging regime on the Schaudt controller from gel to lead acid using the dip switch? If not then the longer charging on gel setting may have cooked your new battery.