12 volt problem, solar or batteries? Help

MaidinDevon

MaidinDevon

LIFE MEMBER
Joined
Apr 23, 2011
Posts
729
Likes collected
4,701
Location
Bromyard, Herefordshire, UK
Funster No
16,117
MH
Hymer B654
Exp
since 2010
Hi all

Background below, but basically I woke up yesterday morning to find the leisure battery warning lightt flashing red despite not having anything on other than a mobile phone charger. I thought it would charge during the day, as the solar would help
.
Last night it was still flashing red, and the internal lights wouldn't even work, well the LED did but it flashed.

This morning I ran the engine for an hour but nothing. I have plugged into my daughters home power supply and it is charging.

Looking for some advice if possible.

I bought this van 12 months ago from Marquis, and had an extra leisure battery fitted, so I had two.
I also arranged to have my solar panel taken off my previous van and refitted onto this one. Marquis wouldnt do it, because it was second hand so I used a local mobile caravan mechanic.

I have a friend with the same van, and same solar panel set up, but only one battery. The vans have a simple display, either green, amber or red. His charges up really quickly on solar, despite using the TV all evening etc.

Mine does not, it used to dip to amber really quickly and stay amber for ages, but if i drove it for 2 minutes, or put the engine on it would charge very quickly and go green.

I went back to Marquis who checked the batteries and said they were working fine.

I looked into the cupboard this morning, to try and see if the solar is working. But I have no idea if it is or not, and the solar controller has a usb socket, but it wasn't able to charge my phone. The reading is 7.9. No lights on it so don't know if it is charging or not. My friend is getting some charge into his van, so should be the same on mine.

I am confused, and hoping someone can give me some clues before I start ringing Marquis and the caravan engineer. I don't have a lot of time either, as I am booked on the Santander Ferry on 28th October.

I have taken some photos of the solar controller, in case it helps.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20181014_105215391.jpg
    IMG_20181014_105215391.jpg
    175.4 KB · Views: 73
I don't know if 7.9volts is coming from your solar or is your leisure battery state but neither is good, if you have a multimeter check the voltage from the solar panels as they go into your controller, you should be seeing something around 18volts.

Martin
 
  • Like
Reactions: DBK
Sorry, i don't have a multi meter. Maybe I should invest in one, although I am a bit scared of electrickery.
 
As above, but how long have you been on solar only? At this time of year especially in the UK you will get very little output from a typical panel of say around 100W even when it's sunny.

In the longer term I would try and get a proper battery monitor fitted. We have the NASA BM-1 Compact and Victron do them as well. Not cheap at around £100 plus fitting but without one you will always be guessing about what is happening. There are cheaper versions available off fleabay for around £15 but I have no experience of them.
 
I would say for certain your leisure batteries are flat. I would also guess your solar panel is not providing power to your leisure batteries either. The fixes may be simple and cheap. Also, your on a hiding to nothing id your relying on starting your engine all the time to put a charge into your leisure batteries. Do you have an on board charger ? if so and can get on hook up put your batteries on charge for at least 24 Hrs. It is possible that they have been fully discharged too many times and have had it. However, you need to fix your solar power and as Martin said above the easiest way is to get a cheap digital multi meter and check the power coming from your solar panel. (U Tube will show you how to use a multi meter). I would also advise you check fuses, any that protect the solar panel, regulator and any near the leisure battery. How much solar power do you have ? Your not going to get much out of a solar panel in the UK at this time of the year but 7.9 V is too low.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
After running on solar all Summer, I've had to bite the bullet and plug into EHU, batteries were reading 12.5V. if yours are reading 7V they could be kaput...
 
I think your batteries have failed. Have they been left unattended for a long time?

If left in a discharged state, they may not recover. If one has failed, it may have drawn down the other as a result.

Isolate the batteries (big red switch somewhere). Disconnect one of the batteries and switch back on. See what voltage is displayed. Repeat, connecting the other battery instead and note the voltage of that one. If the voltages are different, keep the one with the highest battery and try charging it. It could just be that the one with higher voltage is sound enough to be recovered.
 
Hi all

The batteries have not gone completely flat before. Marquis checked them a month ago, and they were apparently fine.

I have an elctrobloc 29 and the solar charger etc, so I would have thought I have the chargers I need. The van is a Pilote City Van and only 10 years old.

The van had been at home, but with the 12 volt turned off, in case the weather got cold and dumped the water from the boiler. I then drove for 40 minutes, parked up and left it with the 12 volt on but not drawing anything. No heating, fridge, or hot water, and no lights left on, or TV. The only obvious draw was the usb charger for my phone. The batteries went flat in about 18 hours.

I had problems with batteries in the last van, and it turned out that they had not been wired up together, (in series?) not sure of the term, anyway there was never enough oomph to get the heating going. (That was on my Murvi, and the display showed that the solar was working).

The puzzle for me is that Paul and I are using the same van, it is the same year, and the solar panels are about the same, but he has a different controller and only one battery and has no problems.

I use the van regularly without EHU, so they are getting used regularly. I was parked up at a beer festival last weekend on battery power, without major problems.
 
Perhaps you could swap your batteries for Paul's (one)?
Or just buy a new set for yourself. Your batteries do not seem to have much capacity.
 
Thank you all for your replies. I do not feel confident to disconnect batteries etc, but really appreciate all the advice. It will help me to discuss the issues with the experts. I find they tend to ignore my input. Does anyone else find that they don't listen to you when you try and explain the problem, take the van away, and come back with assurances that it is all fixed now, with a metaphorical pat on the head!


I will contact Marquis tomorrow, the van is still under warranty, and I think i will call the mobile engineer as well. Trouble is he is in Yeovil, and I am in Herefordshire now.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
I will go back out to the van, and see if the voltage has changed, the van has been on EHU for about an hour and a half, so should have charged a bit if they are going to. BRB
 
You really need to buy a multimeter, around £10 or so fro screw fix or similar and just check the voltages on your batteries and coming from your solar. I don't think it was a good idea to turn off the 12 v as this would probably prevent any charge getting to your batteries. One of them may be duff. Marquis are guaranteeing your batteries so would not necessarily advise you correctly if one battery was duff.
A multimeter is easy to use if you check u tube.
 
It may be a totally different problem that you have but a few years back my batteries flattened after a 24 hour ferry crossing even though I had switched everything off bar the ECU power. Fortunately I met a very experienced motorhomer who helped me out. Using a circuit tester we established that two circuits were drawing over 5 amps even when everything on those circuits was switched off. The cause was loose wiring at the back of the ECU.
The tool I have is similar to this:
Amazon product ASIN B001SBFZK0
 
Switch your charger on. Not cold enough yet to worry about the boiler dumping water and when it is cold enough you will want your boiler to dump the water if you have not drained it first. Forget about your previous van, you need to understand how your present set up is and more importantly, if you just change your batteries (again) and continue as you have in the past you will ruin another set of batteries. Tell the dealer/repair person you want to see the Solar regulator working and showing a charge coming from the solar power to the leisure batteries. I think you are discharging your batteries far too much and this is what is killing them. Try and not let them go below 12.2 V (50%) and keep them charged up as much as possible. If it's on the drive plug it into the mains and get your onboard charger switched on. Best of luck.
 
Okay. The solar panel regulator is stlll reading the same. The weather hasn't changed, and the sun is hiding behind clouds and rain so the level of sun available hasn't changed since i first checked them.

i unplugged the hook up, and the battery panel is showing green! Would the batteries be fully charged in less than 2 hours? I know they were flat because the lights stopped working, and started once hooked up.

Paul isn't here, we were comparing via phone.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
No your batteries will not be fully charged in 2 hours but if the light has gone green I guess it shows that at least you have had some charge from the mains hook up and they are not critically flat now.

I think your original post suggested that you were not getting a charge to your leisure batteries from either driving or solar, so there could well be a common issue going on there.

Martin

EDIT and yes you need a multimeter, you can't do yourself much harm on 12 volts just keep away from 240.
 
Last edited:
If you are going back to Marquis (and that sounds like a good idea), play “thick”. Just tell them that the “Leccy won’t go (the little light is working but nothing else is – no need to mention mains or battery)”. If you try to suggest what the problem is they may be distracted by your suggestions and assume that you know more than you do.

If you end up with two new batteries (I’d not be happy with just one) I’d ask what might have caused this. You don’t want to repeat the experience.
 
buy a multi meter without it your just guessing plenty of youtube videos to show you how keep it set on 20 volts dc and you cant do any damage to the van i would get the van on ehu with the battery charger switched on for 24hours at least before checking
 
Off to Halfords for a multi meter. Thanks for the good wishes. I will let you know how I get on. I can't plug in at home. I can play "thick" though.:)
 
Having had it happen twice to me, I suspect one of the batteries is duff, that will take both down to the same level, you can only tell that by disconnecting one for the other, if you have he same issue one battery will probably read 12+ volts the other well down in single digits

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
A few minutes, or even hours, of hookup or engine running has not charged your batteries, what you are seeing is the charging source voltage not the battery voltage.
At 7 volts your batteries are beyond charging and need replacing once the reason has been found for them not being charged.
 
The voltage across the battery terminals is not a very good indication of the state of charge. In many cases it can be totally misleading.

For example, when a very flat battery is connected to a charger (or solar panel), the charger will raise the voltage to 13 Volts almost immediately, even though obviously it needs charging for several hours more to get it to the 100% charged state.

The battery voltage is only an accurate indication of charge state if the battery is disconnected from everything completely, as if it was on a test bench. Even then, you have to wait about an hour for the voltage to settle down to its final state.

The red/yellow/green leds are simply a crude voltage indication, and are no substitute for a proper 'battery monitor', which is constantly counting the charge going in and out, and showing the percentage remaining.
 
Update

Investigation by Marquis at Tewkesbury. The controllers are working. They took my batteries out to charge and test in the workshop and lent me a leisure battery to go home with. They found that one battery was dead but the other is in good health.
It turned out that when I bought the van last year and paid for a new battery they didn't match it. Which I expected them to do and which Tewkesbury confirmed they would.
It was an original Pilote battery so probably 10 years old.

They have replaced it free of charge and assure me that the newer battery hasn't been damaged. I have the printout. So I have 2 years guarantee on one and 3 years on the other.

All's well that ends well but two unnecessary trips to the dealership is irritating.

Still I can head for the ferry to Santander next Sunday confident that my solar panel and batteries are working as they should.

And fair play to Marquis they treated me well and resolved the problems.

Thanks for all the advice and support.

Karen
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top