Battery troubles again!

colyboy

colyboy

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Hi all, me again we are still having trouble with our nine month old Carthago Malibu T 430E. We are now in very sunny costa de sol Spain. Last night our battery’s (2 lithium) only using the normal lights and tv, went down almost to zero. We realise the solar panel 120w could be dirty which we try to clean today. The engine battery is almost full, but a few days ago we went into Norauto (Spanish Halfords) and they suggested that the alternator was charging fully! This would be covered by our guarantee on the van. Would the answer be a B2B ?. We will visit Norauto and ask them to check the batteries. We Would welcome other suggestions.

Regards Colyboy
 
How big are your batteries? I would say a 120W solar panel is a bit small for February in Spain.
 
Boringfrog said:
How big are your batteries? I would say a 120W solar panel is a bit small for February in Spain.
Click to expand...
We mangage all year round in the UK with 100w.
 
You say the alternator is "charging fully"
So why the comment that it is covered by the van guarantee?
The alternator will only charge the battery when the van is running or engine idling. Have you tried to charge the lithium batteries up on hook up?

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No doubt if your van is only 9 months old it has a smart alternator, so i would have thought a b2b charger would be essential with lithium batteries.
 
Your van will have a smart alternator so you should have a B2B but it will only be a small one 25 or 30 amp so if your batteries are low it will need 7 or 8 hours driving to charge them. If you are driving every day your B2B will just about cope but I susspect you are not.

For 220 ah of batteries 120 watts of solar is far too low you need 300 to 400 watts more if you can fit it on the roof. At this time of year in Spain you will only get about 40% - 45% of their output on a bright sunny day cloudy or rainy days far less.

I think you are expecting too much from your batteries. There is still only 220 ah of batteries the main advantage of Lithium is fast charging but that doesn't work if you don't have the means to charge them.
 
Boringfrog said:
Driving every other day?
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No, we have stayed for a week (York Christmas Market).

No hook up, no TV but do keep a laptop charged to watch DVD's if the mood takes us.
 
What are you running the fridge on??? With 1 x 100Ah lithium we can go 4 days easily just using lights, pump and charging phone, laptop etc... What about your use of the heating system, even on gas it needs power for the blower.

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Last edited:
LesW said:
No, we have stayed for a week (York Christmas Market).

No hook up, no TV but do keep a laptop charged to watch DVD's if the mood takes us.
Click to expand...
I think it'll be Colyboys TV drawing his power down.
 
colyboy. I take it you're running the fridge on Gas, I found out the hard way, the fridge will drain the battery in next to no time. Is it worth going on EHU for a couple of day's to see it that improves things. At least it will help you eliminate other possibilities.
 
Many thanks for all suggestions, very useful as always . I think I know what to do now. Colyboy
 

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