Electrical Battery Not Charging.

[Sweet Pea]

Hello my husband and l have a Starcraft and have only had two weekends away in 18 months but we're preparing for a five week trip in September. While away on both weekends my husband mentioned the battery wasn't charging when on power. He didn't think too much about it thinking it was him not understanding the system. We picked the van up from storage a few weekends ago and after days on power the battery is still not charging and the panel reads that it's discharging? Has anyone any suggestions before we take the van into Jayco for them to look at it for us please? Many thanks Karen.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Hello my husband and l have a Starcraft and have only had two weekends away in 18 months but we're preparing for a five week trip in September. While away on both weekends my husband mentioned the battery wasn't charging when on power. He didn't think too much about it thinking it was him not understanding the system. We picked the van up from storage a few weekends ago and after days on power the battery is still not charging and the panel reads that it's discharging? Has anyone any suggestions before we take the van into Jayco for them to look at it for us please? Many thanks Karen.

I assume you have a drifter control panel showing that it's discharging?

If you have everything turned off (lights etc) turned off and power on does it still say discharging ?

Also what are the voltage and current numbers showing ?

Are both green and orange lights turned on on the setec charger ?

 

[Sweet Pea]

I assume you have a drifter control panel showing that it's discharging?

If you have everything turned off (lights etc) turned off and power on does it still say discharging ?

Also what are the voltage and current numbers showing ?

Are both green and orange lights turned on on the setec charger ?

Hi Bellbirdweb and thank you for for replying.

Yes the drifter control panel is showing discharging.
Yes everything has been turned off.
Both numbers are about 7 each.
We have a green, orange and red light on the setec charger.

Many thanks.

 

[mikerezny]

Hi and thank you for for replying.

Yes the drifter control panel is showing discharging.
Yes everything has been turned off.
Both numbers are about 7 each.
We have a green, orange and red light on the setec charger.

Many thanks.

Hi @Sweet Pea,
the red light is an error light and would not normally be on.

According to the manual, if the red light is on and NOT blinking, it states that the battery is connected the wrong way around.
This seems strange if you have not removed the battery since everything was working previously.

You will have to read the Setec manual to find out in more detail what it means and what to do.

If you don't have the manual, it would be worth downloading one from the internet and printing it out for present and future reference.
If it is a SETEC III (look inside the little door containing the fuses, on the front of the Setec.

Here is a link to download the Setec III manual:
http://www.setec.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/023942-ST-III-User-Manual-D.pdf

I hope this helps

regards
Mike

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Hi and thank you for for replying.

Yes the drifter control panel is showing discharging.
Yes everything has been turned off.
Both numbers are about 7 each.
We have a green, orange and red light on the setec charger.

Many thanks.

The red light on the setec is a clue. That's a fault light.

Check the battery fuse in the setec to see if it's blown.

If your battery is down to 7 volts, you may need to connect an external battery charger to bring it back up as the setec will only trickle charge until it gets up above 9v

 

[Dobbie]

Hi.....I hate battery problems, particularly when getting ready to use the van for a few weeks.

Is that 7amps or 7 volts? I've forgotten what the drifter lights show so can't help you there but I'd be checking the SOC of the battery first. Can you run a metre on it to confirm its actually giving a reading of 7 ...volts or amps?

If that's the case, I'd be looking at turning off and disconnecting the Setec / drifter and running another battery charger to confirm that the battery is ok....it might be totally stuffed and beyond any help.

Then you'd have to replace the battery and get Jayco to test the drifter.

Sounds like the Setec has a problem and the battery has totally discharged....the Jayco service can fix it but it'll cost at least a new battery.. If you have to replace it I'd recommend an AGM.

Good luck with it! When it's all sorted, I'd also suggest you set up some sort of regular charging regime to keep the battery fully charged...solar? or fully functional Setec charger running once a month?

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Hi.....I hate battery problems, particularly when getting ready to use the van for a few weeks.

Is that 7amps or 7 volts? I've forgotten what the drifter lights show so can't help you there but I'd be checking the SOC of the battery first. Can you run a metre on it to confirm its actually giving a reading of 7 ...volts or amps?

If that's the case, I'd be looking at turning off and disconnecting the Setec / drifter and running another battery charger to confirm that the battery is ok

The drifter shows both amps and volts.

If both are showing 7 it's a concern, but if the voltage is showing 7 it's also a concern.

As @Dobbie says, the battery itself may be cactus which could be causing the setec to show the fault.

 

[mikerezny]

The drifter shows both amps and volts.

If both are showing 7 it's a concern, but if the voltage is showing 7 it's also a concern.

As @Dobbie says, the battery itself may be cactus which could be causing the setec to show the fault.

From the Setec Manual:

Trickle Charge to the battery is always present. When the battery voltage is below the LVD (Low voltage disconnect) re-connect voltage (<10V and the mains power or auxiliary power is available, the battery will be charging at 0.8A. When the battery voltage is sufficient (>10.5V for first power up, 11.5V and 11.7V for subsequent reconnection with and without mains respectively) the LVD will connect the battery and allow float charging at 10A/15A (ST20-II/ST35-II). The Trickle Charge feature is provided to allow “very” flat batteries to be charged at a rate, which will extend their life.

My first step would be to get a voltmeter and read the battery voltage with everything switched off. If it is below 10.5V, I would suggest disconnecting the battery and beg or borrow another battery charger to see if you can get the battery back up to a charged state.

best wishes
Mike

 

[Dobbie]

If it's any consolation I too have power issues today!

Mine is a hiccup in solar charging and is painful. I just discovered the Projecta chargers were somehow disconnected when the van went in for a service and I couldn't get the batteries up to full via solar. Blown fuse has been replaced, different regulator attached and DC DC charger is now showing signs of life, thankfully.

Annoying but not as painful as having to replace an expensive battery. Been there, done that so I'm sympathetic with battery issues.

 

[Sweet Pea]

Thank you to everyone who has replied. Doug has a lot clearer picture of understanding the battery system and will have a crack at the suggestions mentioned today. One thing he said this morning is that the batteries are charging when plugged into the car, it's just when plugged into power that there's a problem.

Dobbie fortunately we're not going away until September and Doug has booked the van into Jayco Sydney mid July so we've plenty of tweaking time

Mike thanks for the link.

I will post the outcome and hope it may be of use to another member.
Many thanks

 

[Dobbie]

That's good.

If you've any spare time you can help me sort out my solar charging.
It's got to be right as we leave next week for a couple of months...unless we run out of power.

It's always good to have those manuals ...Setec...etc at hand when away as well.if you don't have manuals for the fridge and other delicate appliances I'd recommend you download those as well.

If you need them it's sure to be when you're away.....

 

[Crusty181]

Battery isolation switch turned on ???

 

[Dobbie]

Yep.....starting to think we might have one stuffed battery.

But will continue testing, gnashing of teeth, and pointless moving of the test solar panel.

 

[Grizzly_Oz]

We had a similar problem with our 16' expanda. Everything was going well, i thought the batteries were charging when on the grid. We put a cover over the van for a couple of months and discovered the batteries dropped down to 11.5v. In reality the solar panels were keeping the batteries charged and when the cover went on the charge dropped and so did the power. We discovered that stuffing a sleeping bag under the seat next to the trickle charger had pulled the chord for the trickle charger out of its socket. Plugged in and 24 hours later all is good.

 

[Dobbie]

Update on our power issue:

All fine now.....issue was isolated to roof solar which had been working beautifully while away last time....then we were stuck in the cyclone in a caravan park under a big tree.

We finall twigged....bat poo all over the solar panel ....now perfectly clean and running like a cut snake. Just demonstrates that it's worth checking if you can bear to climb up on the roof.

In my testing /checking / isolating I came across a y adaptor for Anderson plugs that I'd made up ages ago and forgotten. I hooked the two portable panels to the adaptor, then to the regulator and boom....up went the solar input....and now the roof solar is pushing it as well. I was lucky the regulator for the portables is 30 amps.

We may never come home at this rate.

and.....I also found our State of Origin maroon stubby holders so they're packed. I'm looking forward to watching the game in some remote place.

Go Queenslander....with minor apologies to those in need in NSW.

 

[Sweet Pea]

Update on our batteries not charging.

Well no matter what we tried the batteries did not charge. We dropped the Starcraft off to Jayco Sydney on Monday and picked her up again yesterday. Two new batteries and close to $900 later

The problem was in the setec box, there was loose wireing preventing recharging when plugged into 240 power. Jayco say they've reconnected the wiring but that the batteries were too far gone to charge. Doug will have a good look at it on the weekend to make sure that it is indeed charging. We feel it's been like this since we bought the van but just didn't realise it because we didn't fully understand the system which is no excuse and we've only had a few days away so it wasn't enough time for us to realise the problem. And just how do we prove that? And from Jayco's point of view we are ultimately responsible for the van and if we had noticed it in the warranty period we may not have paid.

We feel very lucky that the problem has been resolved or the loose wiring could have been a potential fire or electrocution. The main thing is it's fixed although a very expensive lesson and we can now look forward to our first holiday in September.

Ps I'm in love with an expanda and absolutely want it but I know I don't always get what I want lol. When we were looking at vans we didn't even look at the expanda and both Doug and I agreed if we did look at the expanda we might just have bought one although we're very happy with our Starcraft

 

[Crusty181]

we can now look forward to our first holiday in September

Have you not used the van since you purchased it?

 

[Sweet Pea]

Hi Crusty yes we've used the van twice since we bought her but we've only had six nights away in total. The second trip Doug commented the power wasn't working but forgot about it once home.

This is what Jayco has written on our paperwork.

Job 1c. Batteries not charging.

Concern 1: battery not charging when plugged into mains.

Cause 1: found loose wiring on plug inside the C-tek control module.

Correction 1: repaired and checked operations of C-tek and drifter panel and found 12vdc not discharging to batteries from C-tek.

Job 2c. No 12v power working when on mains power.

Concern 2: no 12v power working when on mains power.

Cause 2: found batteries upon check to be at 8.1vdc and very low amp hours.

Correction 2: replaced with two new batteries and checked all reported faults with fully charged batteries, all operation ok.

Replacement parts:

Ritar 100ah gel batteries.

Initially we were told the job could cost up to $240 but on pick up we were shocked when the girl asked for $900 and l suggested a phone call to let us know would have been appreciated.

Hope that helps explain our lack of power better than I've explained it. Our van is getting an annex fitted and we pick her up today so we will be plugging her in and monitoring over the next few days. We're getting ready for a month away in September so we want everything sorted before we go. There's much excitement here as we've not had a month away in 20 years.

 

[Drover]

Damn I wish I had seen this thread as being a new van I would have suggested checking the connectors on the Setek and battery switch, on my old 14 they needed replacing as stuffed from new and the wires in the switch were just pushed in. Glad its all sorted now, they certainly know how to charge. Enjoy your trip and let us know how you go.

 

[Sweet Pea]

Drover that's okay and because it was inside the setec box we wouldn't have found it as Doug didn't want to pull apart the box in the hope that if the box proved faulty it would be replaced without charge. You win some, you lose some but you always learn.

On the upside our annex is awesome.

Thanks.