Battery not charging from solar but is from hook up?

Joined
Sep 13, 2019
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Location
Hertfordshire
Funster No
64,185
MH
Bailey 79-4T
Exp
Since 2019
Hi All

Need a little assistance regarding my batteries on my Bailey 79-4 2018 Motorhome.

It’s really odd and I’m confused. Battery is showing in display panel at 11.9v. Checked with multi meter and this is correct.

IMG_4316.jpeg

Battery 1: Fully charged at 13.8v
Battery 2: Discharged to 11.9v

IMG_4315.jpeg

Plugged in EHU and battery 2 instantly shows 12.5v
IMG_4320.jpeg


Without EHU I have a 1A drain with everything switched off

IMG_4317.jpeg

Plug in EHU and no drain??
IMG_4321.jpeg

For now it’s the stand controller which came with the MH (will replace soon with Victron).

IMG_4318.jpeg

Anyone got any ideas what’s going on and where do I start?

Have set battery 2 on controller to 10% and battery 1 to 90%. Recently had a battery master fitted by Vanbitz.

Going away tomorrow and would like to sort if possible.

TIA

Darren
 
Do you have solar out 1 and 2 going to both of your leisure batteries separately?

Battery output 1 should be feeding both of the leisure batteries as they should be connected in parallel. Output is meant for your cab battery ( usual method).
That would be my first starting point.
 
First impression is that there are far too many wires to the solar controller so wiring is not correct.

There should only be one lead going into both positive and negative of output 1. From the internal leisure batteries

And 2 output should only have one positive and one negative from the cab battery.

Also it looks like the two leisure batteries are not wired correctly. Looks like the positive and negative from the van are both going to the same battery and then that is connected to the second.
Should connect van positive to positive of battery one and van negative to battery two. Or visa versus.
Then cross connect the two positives and the two negatives. So effectively is is seen as one battery.

That’s as far as my knowledge goes. Others will be a long or advice.
 
The batteries are wired right in parallel the extra wires to the solar controller are from the battery master weather or not that's right I don't know, try disconnecting the two batteries and test volt then I think battery 2 is duff.

To add if the battery master has just been added and this fault is new it could be the way it is wired causing the problem
 
I have only had the van approx a month, the previous owner side that he had to replace one battery as this wasn’t charging. This could have been going on for a while (not sure)?

will dig into this further tomorrow in daylight. Think I might start buy removing the battery master as the current controller should do this according to the manual.

To add i have just busted my volt meter by touching the battery terminals, slight spark and then the wire heated up really quickly! Now its not working :rolleyes:

Defo something not right, more investigation required. Thanks for your comments so far

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I have only had the van approx a month, the previous owner side that he had to replace one battery as this wasn’t charging. This could have been going on for a while (not sure)?

will dig into this further tomorrow in daylight. Think I might start buy removing the battery master as the current controller should do this according to the manual.

To add i have just busted my volt meter by touching the battery terminals, slight spark and then the wire heated up really quickly! Now its not working :rolleyes:

Defo something not right, more investigation required. Thanks for your comments so far
Good idea back to basics and take it from there 👍🏻
 
I have only had the van approx a month, the previous owner side that he had to replace one battery as this wasn’t charging. This could have been going on for a while (not sure)?

will dig into this further tomorrow in daylight. Think I might start buy removing the battery master as the current controller should do this according to the manual.

To add i have just busted my volt meter by touching the battery terminals, slight spark and then the wire heated up really quickly! Now its not working :rolleyes:

Defo something not right, more investigation required. Thanks for your comments so far
Just another observation can't really tell by the pics properly but is the wire insulation removed on the positive and negative wires that are clamped at the terminals on battery 1 ?
 
Measure voltage yourself at batteries with all off. ? What do the batteries report.
 
Measure voltage yourself at batteries with all off. ? What do the batteries report.
This was earlier before hooking up

Battery 1: Fully charged at 13.8v
Battery 2: Discharged to 11.9v

Will need a new multi meter as I busted mine earlier too 😩
 
See post two, rule that out first. Bat 1 connection on the controller should feed BOTH leisure batteries. Bat2 connection on controller, feeds very little to maintain a starter can battery.
This explains one charged and one not.
If the leisure batteries are properly wired in parallel together, the voltage will be equal.

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There is something fundamentally wrong with the wiring. As Ditcha says, you need to go back to basics and start from there.

The two leisure batteries should be wired in parallel. Batteries in parallel act as if they are one big single battery. If they are wired in parallel, then their voltages will always be equal to each other. The fact that they are not means that they are not wired in parallel.

The solar controller is wired incorrectly. The Battery1 output should go to BOTH the leisure batteries in parallel. The Battery2 output should go to the STARTER battery, not to either of the leisure batteries.

The leisure battery wiring and the solar controller wiring need to be sorted out before the BatteryMaster is considered.

What make/model is the distribution/fusebox? It is possible that the distribution/fusebox is one of those where the two leisure batteries are connected by separate wires all the way to the distribution/fusebox. Instead of the usual arrangement where the batteries are connected together by short link wires, and one pair of pos/neg wires goes to the distribution/fusebox. I don't like the separate wires method precisely because it can cause confusion, as I think has happened here.

The BatteryMaster is wired to the Battery1 and Battery2 outputs 'correctly', in that if the solar controller was wired to the leisure batteries and the starter battery, the Batterymaster would trickle-charge the starter battery from the leisure battery. However the BatteryMaster is not really necessary in that situation, because the solar controller will trickle-charge the starter battery.
 
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Will start tomorrow by removing battery master and chasing the wires to see where they all go!
The fuse box was fairly warm when I looked earlier this evening, will post photos too.
Pretty sure I saw some wiring diagrams in the manual so that will be on my list too.

Thanks again all for point me in the right direction.
 
Will start tomorrow by removing battery master and chasing the wires to see where they all go!
I think it would be a good idea to remove the wires from the solar controller too. Make sure you know which wire came from which terminal, and tape the ends to avoid any shorts.

Then see if the two leisure batteries charge correctly from the mains charger. Maybe the two leisure batteries are wired separately to the distribution/fusebox which connects them to the charger. If the two voltages are not the same as each other, maybe there are separate fuses in the wires, and one of them has blown. Or a bad connection somewhere.

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I have only had the van approx a month, the previous owner side that he had to replace one battery as this wasn’t charging. This could have been going on for a while (not sure)?

will dig into this further tomorrow in daylight. Think I might start buy removing the battery master as the current controller should do this according to the manual.

To add i have just busted my volt meter by touching the battery terminals, slight spark and then the wire heated up really quickly! Now its not working :rolleyes:

Defo something not right, more investigation required. Thanks for your comments so far
Should be a fuse inside the multimeter if you open it up.
 
To add i have just busted my volt meter by touching the battery terminals, slight spark and then the wire heated up really quickly! Now its not working :rolleyes:
That should not happen if you are measuring voltage. Was the meter set to measure DC Volts? DC symbol is two lines, one solid, one dotted. Set range to 20V DC. Are the two probe leads plugged into the correct sockets on the meter? Black lead into the 'Common' socket (COM), usually the centre one. Red lead to the socket with 'V' in the label, usually the one on the right.

As Jimbohorlicks says, there should be a fuse inside the meter, with luck that will be the only problem.
 
So after further checking today I’m at a lose! All fuses are good and the one leisure battery is charging fine the second one still not charging from solar, however charges fine when driving or on hook up.

Chased the cables to this fuse and underneath I have found another connector with fuse.

IMG_4559.jpeg


IMG_4561.jpeg

Can’t really see this clearly however there is an inline fuse, when I put the multimeter on it shows this is the second battery connector and not charging from solar.

The cables disappear under the floor and I have been unable to follow further.

IMG_4562.jpeg


Have swapped the battery connections to new terminals connectors and all is good.

Anyone have any thoughts? Will try the Bailey FB group too.
 
I think this setup is unusual, so I'd like to clear up some very basic questions. Is there a vehicle starter battery as well as these two leisure batteries you have pictures of? Does the solar charge the vehicle starter battery?

When the hookup charger is working, are the two leisure battery voltages exactly the same, or is there some difference?

If the two leisure batteries are not linked together, then the two power wires from the leisure batteries should go straight to the PDU, either to the same terminal or two adjacent terminals. Is it possible to see if that is how the connections have been made?
 
I think this setup is unusual, so I'd like to clear up some very basic questions. Is there a vehicle starter battery as well as these two leisure batteries you have pictures of? Does the solar charge the vehicle starter battery?

When the hookup charger is working, are the two leisure battery voltages exactly the same, or is there some difference?

If the two leisure batteries are not linked together, then the two power wires from the leisure batteries should go straight to the PDU, either to the same terminal or two adjacent terminals. Is it possible to see if that is how the connections have been made?
So having checked today when on hook up one battery is showing 12.84 and the other one is 13.93. It’s clear to me that the system is wired up incorrectly.
 
As well as these two batteries you show in the pictures, is there definitely another third battery that is the starter battery?

I can see there is a BCA charger in one of the pictures. There is also presumably a 12V distribution/fusebox,if so what make/model is it?
 
As well as these two batteries you show in the pictures, is there definitely another third battery that is the starter battery?

I can see there is a BCA charger in one of the pictures. There is also presumably a 12V distribution/fusebox,if so what make/model is it?
This is the only other picture I have of the fuse box. I have yet to find the battery for the engine (not under the bonnet!). 99% sure there is another battery for the cab as the 76-4T states twin hab battery.

1697218134821.jpeg
 
This is the only other picture I have of the fuse box. I have yet to find the battery for the engine (not under the bonnet!). 99% sure there is another battery for the cab as the 76-4T states twin hab battery.

View attachment 822584
Look under the passenger seat footwell. If its a Fiat there will be a big removable lid under which you will find the vehicle battery. :)

PXL_20230410_103033914.jpg
 
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Just to update on the battery issues. It’s all sorted now, turns out whoever connected the second battery split the +/- and put one on each battery instead of adding extra leads 😂

All happy and both batteries are now equal and charging from solar. Need to tidy up and cover the terminals otherwise done.

IMG_4598.jpeg

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The solar controller is wired incorrectly. The Battery1 output should go to BOTH the leisure batteries in parallel. The Battery2 output should go to the STARTER battery, not to either of the leisure batteries.
Next you need to sort out the solar connections. The two leisure batteries are now in parallel, and act as one big battery. They should be connected to the Battery1 output of the solar controller. The other solar controller output, Battery2, should be connected to the starter battery.

If that's done, you could then wire the BatteryMaster, which I think was originally wired correctly, on the assumption that the solar controller was wired correctly. So putting back the original BatteryMaster wires should see it working properly. Admittedly it's a bit redundant with a dual output solar controller, but it does have the advantage that it will keep the starter battery topped up if there is a hookup connection, even if there's not enough solar.
 
Next you need to sort out the solar connections. The two leisure batteries are now in parallel, and act as one big battery. They should be connected to the Battery1 output of the solar controller. The other solar controller output, Battery2, should be connected to the starter battery.

If that's done, you could then wire the BatteryMaster, which I think was originally wired correctly, on the assumption that the solar controller was wired correctly. So putting back the original BatteryMaster wires should see it working properly. Admittedly it's a bit redundant with a dual output solar controller, but it does have the advantage that it will keep the starter battery topped up if there is a hookup connection, even if there's not enough solar.
Solar 1 is connected to the hab batteries.
Solar 2 is connected to the starter battery (found it 😎)
Will connect back the battery master on Thursday as we are preparing to go away for the weekend. At least now the hab bats should last longer 😂
 

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