john47 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I have been having problems with my van battery this winter. It is discharging very quickly when connected to van, I fitted it last Sunday and checked it at 12. 68v, I also fitted a 10w solar panel complete with controller, this was positioned in the Heki skylight. As I've been having problems I went on Tuesday to check the battery and found it to be down to 10. 56v. I brought it home and put it on charge, it recharged to full in about 12 hours. After trawling through this forum I came across a post that suggested putting a lamp(s) across the battery, I did that this morning, I used a 10w festoon lamp for 10 mins and after removing the lamp the battery voltage was 12. 5v. Extrapolating these figures I came to the conclusion that the battery would be completely discharged in around 16 hours. The big questions are, did I do the test correctly and if so is my battery dead. I am almost at the ditch it and get a new battery stage but am reluctant to pay out over £100 if I don't need to. I have not yet done the removing fuses test yet because it is proving a bit difficult to find the time to get to the van at the moment. Quote 2011 Lunar Clubman ES & 2007 Hyundai Tucson Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjohn Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) Before you ditch the battery, have you checked to make sure there is nothing attached that could be draining it? If so then isolate it. if all is o. k. then I would not hesitate to buy a new one. ..Peter Edited February 13, 2014 by peterjohn Quote Peter and Sandy pulling a 2016 Coachman VIP 565 with 2016 Ford Kuga 2. 0. 180 ps. Titanium Nav. Retired and loving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brecon Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 It certainly seems that your battery is on its last legs. 12. 68v is almost fully discharged so is not a good place to start. Recharging from 10. 56 v in 12 hours suggests that it is only partially recharging and it should hold at about 12. 8v after it has been fully charged to around 13v. How old is the battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CommanderDave Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) A 2011 caravan ? If so I would not expect a battery to be on its last legs . If you have a mover you can usually tell by how long it lasts moving the caravan . I dont think I would judge a battery by 10 minutes with a festoon bulb connected . Try putting all the lights on in the caravan for a few hours and see how much it drops then . Have you checked the fluid level ? Dave Edited February 13, 2014 by CommanderDave Quote Jeep Commander 3. 0 V6 CRD Isuzu D- Max Utah Auto Elddis Crusader Storm 2000 Kgs, Unipart Royal Atlas Mover . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brecon Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 It makes no difference that it is a 2011 van, the battery is probably 2010 and anything over 3 years is deteriorating, in fact even new batteries do suffer damage that renders them useless from day one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 There is nothing to indicate the actual age of the battery, it could have come off a previous caravan and be much older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumdrop Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 12. 68v is a full charge, could you have left theTruma 12v fan on? it can be very quiet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tictag Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Halfords do a drop test (aka load test) that will quickly determine the health of the battery. Might be worth a shot. If you want a more scientific approach, check out a post I did a month or so ago, measuring the C/20 discharge rate to measure actual capacity. I still have the test kit (power resister & two croc-clips!) so could post it to you. After a full charge you should end up with about 13. 4v o/c but this will quickly stabilise down to around 12. 8V under a light load before then discharging at whatever load you have connected. 12. 1V is about 50% discharged depending on temperature, type etc and 10. 5V is about fully discharged. As has been mentioned, check electrolyte levels if you can. Some smart chargers (e. g. CTEK) have 'reconditioning' stages that purport to reduce levels of sulphation (a symptom of premature ageing). There are also some tablets you can buy (e. g. Bataid) that may help - though I've never used these myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john47 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 I have reapplied the 10w lamp and in 2 hours the battery has fallen a full 2. 0 volts so I think I can safely assume that my battery is dead as it is now showing 10. 21v. As regards the other suggestions mentioned in this thread the master switch was off, the tv booster was switched off and the radio front panel removed so can't honestly see what else I could do. However going off the results from my load test and speaking to an electrician friend I think I can safely say RIP battery. The caravan is a 2011 Lunar Clubman but I do not know how old the battery is as the dealer brought one from the office and fitted it on pick up day. One other thing I have discovered is that the alarm, a keenelectrics, the pp9 battery should be replaced every 12 months, something else I was unaware of. Does this have to be rechargeable or not, the keenelectrics web site doesn't say though it does mention it should be a tamper proof battery, whatever that is. Quote 2011 Lunar Clubman ES & 2007 Hyundai Tucson Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefthand Down Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 A good drop test is to use the movers checking the before and after voltage readings. Testing a batteries voltage just after a charge is not correct as it needs an hour to settle before testing. Quote Ford C-Max and Coachman Festival 380/2 SE 2006 Motto Carpe Diem Still trying to find the perfect pitch. ..110 amp Battery+ 65 watt roof mounted Solar and 25 watt Wind Turbine. LED lighting. Status Aerial 315. Loose chattels marked with UV,. Safefill Gas Fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john47 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 The battery was left for 2 hours before I started the test. Quote 2011 Lunar Clubman ES & 2007 Hyundai Tucson Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john47 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 The battery was left for 2 hours before I started the test. Just to clear things up, this test has been carried out in my garage so there has been no possibility of anything else draining the battery other than the lamp. The test is still ongoing and in the last 2 hours the voltage has remained the same. It would still seem that the battery is at fault because of the intial voltage drop in the first 2 hours, unless anybody else has other ideas. Quote 2011 Lunar Clubman ES & 2007 Hyundai Tucson Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bspks Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 If the voltage is now holding constant, I suspect that one of the cells has failed, whilst the others are still working, in that case it is likely to hold 10 (ish) volts for quite some time with such a small load connected. That being the case, there's no way to restore its performance so it will need replacing for proper use. Quote Ssangyong Korando Sports SX / Adria Altea 472DS Eden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_B Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 John have you checked the battery with an hydrometer, as well as checking each cell for voltage it will indicate if you have a cell down by the colour of the acid Quote Paul B . .......Mondeo Estate & Elddis Avanté 505 (Tobago) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john47 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 It is a sealed battery so I cant check with a hydrometer. I think it is a dead parrot. Quote 2011 Lunar Clubman ES & 2007 Hyundai Tucson Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tictag Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 You might might find it's just resting. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreadly Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 There is nothing to indicate the actual age of the battery, it could have come off a previous caravan and be much older. There should be a battery age code stamped into the tope somewhere. Quote An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. Mahatma Gandhi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john47 Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 It is down to 7. 92 this morning so will definitely be ordering a new one today. Thanks for ideas and suggestions. The good thing to come out of this is that I probably know a good bit more about batteries than I did a week ago. The bad side is I'll have to wake the wallet moths up. Quote 2011 Lunar Clubman ES & 2007 Hyundai Tucson Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreadly Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 It is down to 7. 92 this morning so will definitely be ordering a new one today. Thanks for ideas and suggestions. The good thing to come out of this is that I probably know a good bit more about batteries than I did a week ago. The bad side is I'll have to wake the wallet moths up. . Yep, may have a twisted plate or the insulation has broken down between plates. Either way it is shorting itself internally. Quote An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. Mahatma Gandhi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tictag Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I've got a spare 110AH Numax XV31MF you can have, save you disturbing those moths, though I'll not be back in Manchester for a week or so. You could, of course, always take a trip to come see me in Hope Valley! It was bought new with the caravan last August. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john47 Posted February 14, 2014 Author Share Posted February 14, 2014 Thanks very much tictag but I have just ordered the same battery from Tayna. Quote 2011 Lunar Clubman ES & 2007 Hyundai Tucson Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tictag Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 OK. If you're buying new, you might want to consider the 120AH XV50MF. Same size, 10AH more capacity. I replaced my 110AH XV31MF with two of these (hence the spare). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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