Battery problem?

[woody12]

Hi. I have a chausson Citroën welcome 76. 2009. I have a problem with 12 v system The battery shows 3 v on multi meter.
however when I connect it to a charger , the charger initially shows 3 v then displays ’pull’ then instantly reads 14 v and all 12 volt stuff inside van works. After short time battery reverts to 3 v. I have connected it overnight on mains but does not make any difference. Any thoughts. Thanks.

 

[Abacist]

Battery on charge will always show full voltage! At 3 volts it sounds as if your battery is ready for the scrap heap - sorry!

 

[Abacist]

A dead battery will not “hold” a charge so it reverts to 3 volts when disconnected from the charger.

 

[pappajohn]

New battery for Xmas then!!!
Once they get much below 10v they're just a plastic box with water in.

 

[Spriddler]

.....the charger initially shows 3 v then displays ’pull’

Do you mean 'Full' not 'pull'?

The 14v is the charger output and is powering the 12v habitation systems.
It may be dropping back to show 3v when the charger is still connected because the charger's overloaded and activating an internal auto cut-off, thus you are then only reading the battery's 3v. The overload cut-off normally resets itself within about 10 to 20 seconds after the load is removed.
If you mean the voltage drops back to 3v after the charger has been disconnected that's normal because you are just reading the battery voltage.
Almost certainly the battery is done for, especially if this isn't the first time you've run it flat.

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[woody12]

Hi thanks very much. I’m new to motorhomes. I have two batteries under the bed Adjacent to each other. both test 3 v with multimeter. I have a solar panel connected on one battery along with other connections.
the second battery only has one live and one negative cable. I assumed this is the engine battery But
the van starts easily So I’ll need to find the battery for the engine.

 

[Figaro]

Cab battery could be under the cab floor, near side.
Haven't you got a manual for the Citroen side

 

[Lenny HB]

Two battery wired in parallel (which I assume they are) will always read the same voltage you need to seperate them but with one down at 3v I expect they are both ready for the bin.
Don't actually bin them worth £10-£15 each at the scrapy.

 

[woody12]

Ok thanks everyone for your help. I’ll just replace both batteries and I hope that fixes the problem.

 

[Lenny HB]

Hopefully you will pay up and join Fun now, it will be well worth it as you are a newbe.

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[peterc10]

Ok thanks everyone for your help. I’ll just replace both batteries and I hope that fixes the problem.

I suggest before you do that you should try to find out what has caused your batteries to get that flat. If you don't do that you will probably have the same problem again in a few weeks.