Electrical Breakaway battery charging

[mfexpanda]

We had the monitor start beeping on the way to halls gap.
It was low battery that set it off .
I plugged it in to the 240v to 12v thingy that I believe came with it but it still didn't charge .
Is it suppose to charge while driving or just through that short lead that comes out of the box ?
It went off again on the way home so I'll need to open it and maybe the battery is stuffed or I should read the instructions

 

[relgate]

Which one do you have. The new wireless one? It has a little lead that you can plug a transformer into but it should charge off the tug whilst driving

 

[Glen Bundesen]

How old is the van mfexpanda? If it isn't holding a charge, then maybe it is stuffed. They are just those small sealed batteries you have in house alarms. Depending on the brand of the breakaway, you can fit a replacement battery by opening the lid of the breakaway box.

 

[mfexpanda]

Yes the wireless one . The monitor in the car started beeping and when we stopped the low battery light on the unit on the van was on . I think it has a couple of fuses which I'll check tomorrow if they're ok then I'll open it up and check the battery . Vans only around 5 months old .

 

[Dandy]

Ours was flat when we took the van in for the first service. 10 months old! At first the dealer wanted to charge me. Then when we went through the short history they replaced it under warranty. The service manager couldn't tell me if the battery charged off 240v so they tested it and found it doesn't. This seems stupid to me as we leave the van on trickle charge and also have solar installed. This has no benefit for the break away battery!?

It only charges when connected to the car. That's ok if there is no drain on the circuit and you tow regularly. The shelf life of the battery should be more than a few weeks. Even if you leave it for the colder months it should take a charge when you tow. There should be a switch to link the circuit to solar,

A fellow 17.56.1 owner told me he pulls the cable out of the breakaway unit at caravan parks but I was told that this would apply the brakes and flatten the battery.

The bottom line is that I reckon there must have been a dodgy batch of batteries at some stage.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

@mfexpanda I have the same unit, and it beeps about a low battery every time we hook up the van, but usually stops after a few minutes.

This leads me to believe it charges off the car, but I can't understand why it wouldn't be hooked up to the Setec given it could be kept topped up from the solar or power that's connected all the time.

I'm going to see if I can hook it up to charge from the main battery, given they are sitting next to each other.

 

[dagree]

Keep us posted @Bellbirdweb as that was one of the things on my list to look into !

 

[coled1970]

Ours charges from the vehicle whilst travelling and we where given a lead to plug in to it when on 240v to charge it.

 

[Smirke]

Hi @mfexpanda . Ours went dead after a week of picking it up. Stayed that way for the whole trip. Was told by everyone we called that it was to charge off the battery while driving and when plugged in to 240V. General consensus was that the battery was faulty and would need to be swapped. So far nothing has been done. (Not due to me not taking it anywhere to be looked at/fixed either)

 

[mfexpanda]

Ok spoke to the service manager at prestige jayco .
He's first question was what type of car we use as they've have a few issues with the smart alternators .
I don't think my colorado does but told him I tried to charge it using the 240v to 12volt power supply that came with it over night and it was still flat .
Checked 2 and 3 pins on the car and there is power there .
Checked the 2 fuses on the brakeaway unit all good.
Checked wires from unit to van plug all good .
Opened unit and there is another fuse on the battery but all good .
Checked battery and 11.7 V Dc .
Checked the 240v to 12v power supply and it's at 11.4 V DC at the plug end .
Put the battery tester on the battery and was fine till load was applied and it failed but the tester may just be too big for such a small battery .
So jayco is happy for me to buy a new battery and send them the bill .
Is there something I may have missed and should try ?
I haven't hooked up the car and put my meter on it at the battery to see what is at the battery end but did notice
Dust and muck in the Car plug that I need to spray and clean and maybe it was a bad connection but it should have still charged when on the 240 v lead .

 

[achjimmy]

Explain the 240v to 12v charging pack for it? Any pics? We didn't get one?

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Explain the 240v to 12v charging pack for it? Any pics? We didn't get one?

Neither did we

 

[mfexpanda]

I found this under the bed and it's not from the TV as its in the cabinet connected to the TV so I presumed it must have come with the breakaway unit but I'm not sure now as it wouldn't float charge when charged .

 

[mfexpanda]

Would this be a better option and would it work on the type of battery in the breakaway ?

 

[chartrock]

I had a closer look at mine today and it has a single wire coming out to a socket like a match to the plug on @mfexpanda's unit above. I plugged my backup power unit in to it and it showed a charge. The test worked fine as did the remote test receiver. I may have to run a cable from the truck through to the unit to charge while driving as there is no other visible means of charging.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Looks like I'll need to add a small DC to DC charger from the onboard battery so it will stay charged from solar or 240v

 

[Bellbirdweb]

This is the charger they sell for it

http://caravansplus.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=14610

 

[Smirke]

Explain the 240v to 12v charging pack for it? Any pics? We didn't get one?

Us either. At least I don't think we did.

 

[coled1970]

Pic's below of the charge we had in the supplied in the van. Plugged in the sockets today to check if charging from the tow vehicle and hey presto when the ESC wires where plugged in the battery showed up with little green light to say it was charging.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

So climbed into the tunnel boot today and had a look, and sure enough there is a DC cable sitting there waiting for a charger to be plugged in.

I rifled through the shed and found a charger, put a new plug on it and plugged it in, and what do you know, it's charging.

Now showing as fully charged.

Looking for a low capacity DC to DC charger to keep it topped up.