Brand new battery is crap? No receipt

[davidathomas42]

I’m pretty sure the battery I have in the MH that’s 2 years old is crap. The battery was told to me to have been replaced on the Hab check last week before purchase and it is a different brand to what Bailey fit so I believe them.

But it’s crap. After only an hour the main control panel warns of low battery and last night I woke at 3am with the Aldi heating having turned off due lack of power.

I switched over to the smaller cab battery so I didn’t freeze but obviously was worried about it been able to start the engine at 8am

It was fine. No low power warning. Voltage still high etc.

The Hab battery had been on EHU for 20hours prior to been used free camping so should have been 100% full and is 100amps. I was only running the heater and a few lights for a couple of hours.

My wonder is. On the 5th I’m having a 460ah lithium set up installed. But I’m free camping until then. Do I buy a replacement agm / lead acid type for a week then return it (not sure that’s ethical or if they accept returns?) or risk using the current Leisure one until it’s dead then swap to cab to limp thru the night? I’ll be driving a little to charge and maybe do a couple of nights on grid.

Can’t wait for POWER!

 

[suavecarve]

Location. You may be able to borrow a battery for a week

 

[Roger S]

Yuasa batteries are not generally crap, here one I would be happy with. Were you running the heating off gas ?

 

[bigtree]

Yuasa is a decent brand, plus the indicator window is showing green which shows it’s ok.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Just go on EHU for a night I know you will have to part with money but i would not try to get a battery and then return it, if you did that would say a lot about your standards.

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[St3v3]

I've got a spare battery in Bristol...

 

[davidathomas42]

Yuasa batteries are not generally crap, here one I would be happy with. Were you running the heating off gas ?

Yes heating on gas so battery powering the system.

It says low battery very quickly VS the cab one that doesn’t.

The window is green and I’m told it’s new and yes a good brand so I’m really shocked I can’t even get a night out of it even in these temperatures.

 

[Miggs]

Are you 100% sure you are not draining it?

 

[Jim]

A new, perfectly good battery can be ruined in a week, let alone 2 years, so you can't really assume the person was telling porkies.

Heating on gas can kill batteries which is why the 3 way heater with a convection option (not using a fan) is/was popular with year round campers.

That said I can't remember the last time I left heating on all night. We've woken up toasty in bed but with thick ice on the inside of the windows plenty of times. It's camping, remember

I have 3 or 4 fully charged batteries, We're in Sutton on Sea, if you get here you can borrow one.

 

[offagen]

Yuasa batteries are usually very good. Have you checked that it is actually being charged? I had a Leisure battery that behaved similarly and discovered that the installer had inserted an inline fuse incorrectly so no current was flowing to the battery. Sometimes there's a simple solution to problems. I hope you are able to sort it out.

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[Sapper520]

If you’re anywhere near North Somerset today, you can plug into my electricity for the day. I’m going away tomorrow, so unfortunately I can only offer it to you today.

 

[Cush]

What’s the reading with a meter across the terminals. That should confirm your dead battery or a fault with the control panel, perhaps caused during refit?

 

[GeoffnDee]

The battery could be faulty even if the window is green as the indicator only relates to the state of charge of one cell in the battery (one of the other cells could be faulty).
As suggested, a check of the battery voltage would confirm if this is the case.

 

[Wingingit#1]

Are the terminals tight ?
Yuasa are normally pretty good .
You could buy a replacement from the right place for £150 ish and sell it 'used' in 2 weeks time for about £80 .

 

[MisterB]

Clacton on Sea, spare battery available if it helps,?

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[Lenny HB]

Looks like a date code to the left of the retaining strap March 2020, if it is a date code could be old stock not kept charged or a secondhand one.

 

[Spriddler]

I’m pretty sure the battery I have in the MH that’s 2 years old is crap. The battery was told to me to have been replaced on the Hab check last week .

But it’s crap. After only an hour the main control panel warns of low battery and last night I woke at 3am with the Aldi heating having turned off due lack of power.

Get whoever replaced the battery at the hab check to sort it out?

 

[Bobby-gg]

Was the hab battery actually charging whilst on ehu - you said you'd been on hook up for 20 hours prior, so should have been charged, but was it actually charged, or did you assume it's charged?

Is your charger actually working?

What capacity charger is it?

How flat was the battery before charging on ehu for 20 hours?

 

[Roger S]

Might be worth checking your fridge is running on your hab battery

 

[davidathomas42]

Get whoever replaced the battery at the hab check to sort it out?

That was in Newcastle and I’m in Chesterfield. £120 round trip fuel won’t work. Plus hassle.

I’ll get the multimeter on it tomorrow on and off charge on both engine running and EHU to see what’s going in etc.

I’m in a hotel tonight then on a C&M club site at Castleton tomorrow so I’ll be able to poke about a bit. At least when I get to the 5th I’m having a proper install done so that should solve any gremlins

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[davidathomas42]

Was the hab battery actually charging whilst on ehu - you said you'd been on hook up for 20 hours prior, so should have been charged, but was it actually charged, or did you assume it's charged?

Is your charger actually working?

What capacity charger is it?

How flat was the battery before charging on ehu for 20 hours?

I assumed it was charged. The voltage reading on the control panel had gone up from 11.9v to 12.5 off charge. It shows 13.7v while on EHU and with engine running.

I’ve only had the van for 5-6 days now. I’ve done 400miles driving in that time and only used it for 2 nights off hook up. The 2nd been last night. I can’t imagine it’s not charged after all that driving and EHU

I believe the charger from the alternator is 20amps. Not sure from the EHU

 

[Pausim]

13.7V is a maintenance level voltage rather than a proper charging voltage. Lead acid batteries generally need 14V plus to charge properly and keep the plates from sulphating. Is your charger a multi stage charger?

 

[davidathomas42]

13.7V is a maintenance level voltage rather than a proper charging voltage. Lead acid batteries generally need 14V plus to charge properly and keep the plates from sulphating. Is your charger a multi stage charger?

there is little information in the Bailey handbook about it. I’d have to remove the wooded surround to see the actual charger. It’s getting swapped out for a Victron charger inverter on the 5th though anyway. It’s more just trying to amble thru until then.

 

[headlight]

I assumed it was charged. The voltage reading on the control panel had gone up from 11.9v to 12.5 off charge. It shows 13.7v while on EHU and with engine running.

I’ve only had the van for 5-6 days now. I’ve done 400miles driving in that time and only used it for 2 nights off hook up. The 2nd been last night. I can’t imagine it’s not charged after all that driving and EHU

I believe the charger from the alternator is 20amps. Not sure from the EHU

When was the new battery showing 11.9v as that is to low for a new battery.
I've had a new battery that arrived at 11.6v and had to be replaced by the supplier as although it appeared to charge fine it had no capacity.

 

[Sue and Rick]

Looks like a date code to the left of the retaining strap March 2020, if it is a date code could be old stock not kept charged or a secondhand one.

There is a sticker generally on the back of the battery which shows the date when it was factory charged, then subsequent recharges at six and then three months. Arteries not sold after 9 months after manufacture are generally not sold and recycled.

https://academy.gs-yuasa.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GS-Yuasa_Battery_Management_Guide.pdf

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[Sue and Rick]

That battery is NCC class C designed for minimal use off grid according to Yuasa web site

Choosing The Correct Leisure Battery by Yuasa

Yuasa Leisure batteries are built to handle high demands. Follow our tips to look after your battery correctly to get the best possible service life.

www.yuasa.co.uk

 

[davidathomas42]

That battery is NCC class C designed for minimal use off grid according to Yuasa web site

Choosing The Correct Leisure Battery by Yuasa

Yuasa Leisure batteries are built to handle high demands. Follow our tips to look after your battery correctly to get the best possible service life.

www.yuasa.co.uk

Now that’s interesting. Basically the totally wrong battery for my use.

Again nice that the dealer paid attention when I told him I’m buying this MH to live off grid for 12-18months

Well I think I’ll see if I can amble thru to fitting date. At £150 for a decent battery that’s the same as paying for 6 nights on a decent site or even a Brit stop pub with EHU.

Dealers eh!