Electrical Flat Battery

[chartrock]

Our van has not moved from its shed since early November and it has not had power plugged to it. I went in it yesterday to get something and. the solar regulator was warbling and the battery voltage was reading 8.3 V. The internal lights would not come on so I plugged the power in, the lights then worked but the voltage stayed the same. I left it for a few hours and then checked it again but it had only gone up to 8.5 V.

I then hooked up my battery charger (Projecta 6200 smart charger) direct to the battery and immediately it started to show 12.9-13.2 V so I left it hooked up overnight. By morning it was a steady 13.5 v so I unplugged the Projecta and left it to the inbuilt charger. Late this afternoon it was reading 13.1 V while still plugged in to 240V. There is nothing running on 12 V in the van so I don't know what is dropping the battery voltage and also why is the Setec not keeping it fully charged?

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[Billrw136]

Paul - I assume that if it was in a shed then the solar was inoperative? As you know our van sits outside and the solar keeps the battery charged...
The Setec is just a trickle charger?? Whereas the Projecta has more oomph??
Failing battery?? Leave it on the Projecta longer??
I was surprised that the breakaway battery in our van failed so soon - only charges when van being towed.
Bill

 

[G Daddy]

There must be something drawing a small current from the battery, maybe less than 0.5 amp, or the battery has a internal fault? You are lucky to get the battery back up to charge as 8.3 Volts is dead. The maintenance voltage setting for Setec's is only 13.1V to 13.3V. I not sure what voltage the Setec will start charging from, would have to read the manual again. A lot of battery charges won't charge batteries that have dropped below 9.5 to 10 Volts.

 

[NoWorries]

13.5 down to 13.1 is normal as a 12.7 reading is a fully charged battery but as taken from the Setec manual
"To prevent corrosion on the battery positive plate due to continuous float charging current (VFloat = 13.65V), the unit utilises a storage mode voltage (VStore = 13.25V) when no activity on the battery is detected. This extends the battery life. During store mode, the unit exits to boost mode (VBoost = 14.05V) for 15 minutes every 24hrs to maintain charge in the battery. If battery activity is detected during store mode it exits automatically into float mode."
So I would assume that if it is going below 13.25v then you may have a problem with the Setec

I know it is a obvious question but is your battery isolator switch on or off, and are you using the Setec full time (ie plugged in to 240 24/7)

 

[NoWorries]

Sorry re read the part that you said that the van had not had power to it
Also from the manual
Battery Connect/Disconnect Connect: 10.50 ± 0.2V (Input Mains not present) and first power up Connect: 11.70 ± 0.2V (Input Mains not present and not first power up) Connect: 11.50 ± 0.2V (Input Mains present) Disconnect: 10.0 ± 0.2V
So if it was 8.3 as G Daddy said it would not have even tried to charge it. (edit it charges at 0.8 of a amp hence the 0.2 volt change)
The solar regulator was probably the culprit as they consume a small amount of power so if no direct sunlight was hitting the panels then it could drain a battery.

 

[chartrock]

13.5 down to 13.1 is normal as a 12.7 reading is a fully charged battery but as taken from the Setec manual


So I would assume that if it is going below 13.25v then you may have a problem with the Setec

I know it is a obvious question but is your battery isolator switch on or off, and are you using the Setec full time (ie plugged in to 240 24/7)

Yes mate the switch is on but the 240 has not been plugged in for around 3 months

 

[chartrock]

Sorry re read the part that you said that the van had not had power to it
Also from the manual
The solar regulator was probably the culprit as they consume a small amount of power so if no direct sunlight was hitting the panels then it could drain a battery.

That would explain the loss of battery voltage. I never knew that the regulator used power, I only thought it passed power through when in sunlight. I will have to ensure it has power applied a bit more often.

 

[NoWorries]

It only draws a tiny bit of power but over three months it can add up, but how old is your battery
it may be self discharging as well.
Easiest way to tell charge the battery for 24 hours then fully disconnect it test it with a multimeter and then test it a couple of days later
if it has gone below 12.7 then it may be time for a new one.

 

[NoWorries]

Just did the calculations and the solar controller would have only taken about 1amp out of your battery
so you might be losing power some where else (gas detector?)

 

[chartrock]

Thanks for that @NoWorries, it has been extremely helpful, The van was supplied new in December 2014 and the battery was in it so unsure of exact age but around 18 months would be a good guess. I will do as suggested over the next couple of days to check it out.

 

[chartrock]

Just did the calculations and the solar controller would have only taken about 1amp out of your battery
so you might be losing power some where else (gas detector?)

No, there is nothing plugged into 12 v anywhere that I know of.

 

[G Daddy]

The manufactured date code should be stamped on the top of the battery. If you can find this you can look up he battery manufacture and get their date code breakdown, battery could be a fair bit older than van.

 

[bigcol]

@chartrock , just out of idle curiosity
- do you have
radio
fridge
coffee machine

anything plugged in, but NOT being used

I suggest Radio, as thats what killed the battery in my Flamingo, even though it was turned off, it was still drawing power for the memory settings

also, as per houses, TV turned off, but still plugged in with still draw power, slightly, but still draw

just throwing it out there

 

[Drover]

First off Paul just check the wiring on the Setek, mine had some horrible joins and one that fell out. 3 mths without charge doesn't do the battery any good.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

@chartrock from what I can see there is no problem.

Anywhere between 13.3 and 13.1 with 240v connected would be considered fully charged.

 

[achjimmy]

I always assume that something is drawing from a battery. Even complete disconnected they will lose some after a while. See how it goes @chartrock but once a battery has been down that low it's life is considerably reduced.

 

[boots33]

Hi @chartrock

If you have an agm or gel battery then there is no way your battery should have discharged that low in just a few months. As the battery has dropped well past the setec cutout voltage it may indicate the source of your drain is connected directly to the battery or even perhaps the battery itself. Your battery will certainly have been placed under a lot of stress being discharged so low.

If it is something draining it will be easy to locate (famous last words) give me a yell if you want me to throw the meters on it to see

 

[chartrock]

Wow, thanks everyone for all the feedback.

@G Daddy I'll look at the battery a bit closer tomorrow and check the date. It sure could be a bit older than the van

@bigcol the radio and fridge are still plugged in but obviously turned off. I'm not sure how to turn 12 v off these two but the TV is unplugged and stored, as is the coffee machine.

@Drover I have not looked at the wiring on the Setek so I might pull it out tomorrow for a look.

Thanks @Bellbirdweb I am monitoring the battery currently.

@achjimmy, you're right, I will have to watch it.

@boots33 it is a 100 AH gel battery as installed by Jayco. I will monitor it over the next few days but thanks for the offer, you might get asked round for coffee in the not too distant future.

 

[achjimmy]

Paul the radio has a constant 12V feed. that's how they hold the present channels. should draw buggerall though

 

[Rockape]

Hi @chartrock ,
As has been previously said, your solar regulator will consume a very small amount of current when connected and not in use. Also the Setec power supply will consume a small amount of current when the battery switch is left in the on position. When I store my van I generally switch it off. Also if the battery switch is left in the on position when mains power is disconnected, any devices connected to the 12 volt supply such as the stereo and tv will be in standby consumming a small amount of power. You could buy yourself another solar panel to mount on your shed that can be conncted to your caravan to charge the battery when it's in storage. You can do this by connecting a second input from the solar regulator to an Anderson connection under the caravan that allows a second solar panel to be connected. This is what I plan to do with mine as its stored under a carport.
Cheers
Nick