More Battery questions...

[WJACC]

Yesterday's question related to the traumas of getting the seat out to get at the leisure battery, todays are a follow on..

When I took the battery out it was measuring 13.14 V this morning only 12. 7 V so I am assuming it is crackered?

I checked the van this morning, no leisure battery connected but there is an alarm sounding. I didn't disconnect the engine battery, so I reconnected the leisure battery while I source a new one but the alarm stayed on, any thoughts please... It wasn't sounding for the 6 hours yesterday after the leisure battery was disconnected.. It seems to be coming from the solar panel controller which is a Teleco.

The old battery is a Varta AGM, replacements readily available. If I was to go to GEL who are the recognised reliable makes..


Thanks again

 

[andy63]

Yesterday's question related to the traumas of getting the seat out to get at the leisure battery, todays are a follow on..

When I took the battery out it was measuring 13.14 V this morning only 12. 7 V so I am assuming it is crackered?

I checked the van this morning, no leisure battery connected but there is an alarm sounding. I didn't disconnect the engine battery, so I reconnected the leisure battery while I source a new one but the alarm stayed on, any thoughts please... It wasn't sounding for the 6 hours yesterday after the leisure battery was disconnected.. It seems to be coming from the solar panel controller which is a Teleco.

The old battery is a Varta AGM, replacements readily available. If I was to go to GEL who are the recognised reliable makes..


Thanks again

Think you are jumping to conclusions without really knowing for sure.. you say the battery is done but the voltages you quote are not conclusive and a result of a charging source been present and then 12.7 is stil l a good voltage..
You really need to check the capacity of the battery with a known load and see how it preforms before reaching any conclusions about it..
The seat removal you mention frightens me now... my back gets bad just thinking about it
Andy..

 

[Boycie]

Firstly if your battery was tested at 12.7 after at rest for some time I would say its still good. As far as the alarm is concerned you need to follow this rule if you have solar.
1 Connect your battery(s) first.
2. Connect your solar second.
The controller will then recognise your battery.

When disconnecting.
1. Disconnect your solar first.
2 . Disconnect your battery(s) second.

My personal preference is Hankook for my leisure batteries as they have always served me well. Other people will have their own preference. I purchase from Battery Megastore but there are other good suppliers.
Hope this helps.
Phil
P.S Some solar controller's require you to input your total battery(s) amp hours on initial set up.

 

[autorouter]

When I took the battery out it was measuring 13.14 V this morning only 12. 7 V so I am assuming it is crackered?

A full battery, after disconnecting from any charging sources, will gradually drop to its resting voltage, which is about 12.7 to 12.8V. The 13.14V reading means that something was charging it (solar?) so the battery voltage is not a good indication of the state of charge.

The only way to test a leisure battery, if the voltage looks OK, is to apply a load and see how long it keeps supplying the load. For example, a 100Ah battery should supply 5 amps for 20 hours. If you load it with 5 amps and wait 10 hours, it should be down to 50%. Disconnect and wait for the voltage to settle. If the voltage is 12.2V then the battery is OK.

 

[golly]

When I took the battery out it was measuring 13.14 V this morning only 12. 7 V so I am assuming it is crackered?

12.7 V after 12hrs or so with no charge input sounds ok to me, the 13.14 would be your solar applying a charge I think

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

 

[Guigsy]

12.7v overnight looks fine to me. Van is currently on the driveway.

Mine has solar. Once the sun goes down, it drops to 12.9v and slowly degrades overnight. Even with almost no load. I think this is normal.

(The big flat spot in the middle of yesterday was me disconnecting the monitoring system, so no updates for a few hours.)

 

[WJACC]

Firstly if your battery was tested at 12.7 after at rest for some time I would say its still good. As far as the alarm is concerned you need to follow this rule if you have solar.
1 Connect your battery(s) first.
2. Connect your solar second.
The controller will then recognise your battery.

When disconnecting.
1. Disconnect your solar first.
2 . Disconnect your battery(s) second.

My personal preference is Hankook for my leisure batteries as they have always served me well. Other people will have their own preference. I purchase from Battery Megastore but there are other good suppliers.
Hope this helps.
Phil
P.S Some solar controller's require you to input your total battery(s) amp hours on initial set up.

Thanks for the above

Please excuse the basic questions...

When you say connect/ disconnect the solar, is that from the electrobloc or direct from the panel?

Think you are jumping to conclusions without really knowing for sure.. you say the battery is done but the voltages you quote are not conclusive and a result of a charging source been present and then 12.7 is stil l a good voltage..
You really need to check the capacity of the battery with a known load and see how it preforms before reaching any conclusions about it..
The seat removal you mention frightens me now... my back gets bad just thinking about it
Andy..

The problem I've had with it is I went through the tunnel last week, so for a maximum of an hour the battery wasn't being charged by the engine or solar and after 40 minutes just powering the fridge it tripped out. Now from fully charged it will trip just powering a few lights after a few hours.. Similarly with the TV, it lasts a couple of hours.

So I'll disconnect the solar, switch the fridge on and see how long before it is discharged..

 

[andy63]

So I'll disconnect the solar, switch the fridge on and see how long before it is discharged..

It does sound like the battery is low on capacity..your most probably right replacing it..
The fridge does represent a fair load and most probably around 120w..but even taking into account that that sort of load will lessen the batteries nominal capacity if its failing in less than an hour. hope its all sorted soon...and the seat goes back without causing you pain
Andy..

 

[WJACC]

A little test this afternoon. Solar disconnected completely. No EHU etc.

At the start battery reading 12.9V. Switched on antenna and tv only, ran for 2.25 hours before tripped out. 10 minutes before it stopped battery reading 11.3V... 15 minutes after tripping battery read 12.7V. After I put the antenna down only 12.3V...

I don't know if I'm further forward or not....