Yet another charging question (1 Viewer)

[Jerrymjj]

I'm sorry. I really am. I've been on the Forum for about 3 years now, the length of time we have owned a motorhome and I still do not understand the habitation electrical system. Can someone educate me please? We have a Sargent EC200 charging system. At night we turn this off as we find the fan intrusively noisy. I understand the consequence of this it that the habitation battery will not charge overnight and any 12v drain will lower the battery voltage. I do not know however if turning this off somehow affects the EHU? Having our young granddaughter with us last night, we left on a plugin illuminated nightlight, an old one in actual fact which seems to have an early LED or neon in it. It does little more than illuminate the plastic moulding. It was plugged into a 13A outlet socket. By this morning, according to the control panel's display, the hab battery was 11.4v. This battery is less than a year old and is plugged in throughout the year being fed by the Sargent unit. My question is, (Praise the Lord!!! At last!) is why should a 13A socket drain from the EHU affect the habitation battery? As far as I know, no other 12v drains were running.... Is the EHU entirely independent of the charging system? Having switched the Sargent unit back on it had restored the hab battery to a healthy 13 volts within a few hours.

 

[treetops1]

Have you checked that the socket is not connected to the battery by a converter .lol

 

[Jerrymjj]

No, definitely not. Not sophisticated enough for converters but many thanks.

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[tonyidle]

13v within a few hours is not healthy. According to Sargent their unit outputs 13.5v constantly which will not fully charge a 12v battery. You need to consider installing a 'smart' charger that will bring the leisure battery to full capacity. A smart charger will, as a minimum, charge at 14.2 - 14.5 volts for a period followed by a maintenance charge of 13.8v. Most will have an even more sophisticated charging regime. You can retain the Sargent and fit a smart charger in addition. Doing so will extend both the level of charge and working life of your leisure battery.