Hab Battery Hari-kiri!!! (1 Viewer)

[DrDeath]

Arrived back from France everything worked perfectly! Parked in the lock up on Monday lunchtime.
Popped back Friday lunchtime and the hab battery is dead! In spite of being the sunniest week of the year!!
We are obsessional about our switch off routines and everything was switched off!
We have a tracker which takes a trickle but has never been an issue.
We noted that a blade fuse had blown it was marked "Van".
The van control panel shows voltage of 6.6 and 18.9 on the vehicle battery
It's a 3 year old Bailey Adamo with a lead acid battery.
We collected it at the end of covid
The question is was this a simple battery fail or should I be looking for other electrical faults underlying??

 

[Burge]

18.9 on Vehicle Battery is really odd ....should only be reading 14.5 v when Engine running

 

[Gellyneck]

Have you put a meter over the battery terminals as 18.9v seems strange.

 

[GeoffnDee]

It is possible that the solar regulator is faulty allowing overcharging of the batteries which can damage them.
Have you tried replacing the habitation (van) fuse ?

 

[PlacidoD]

Are you sure you have not misread it and it in fact read "13.9" which would be pretty normal!

On the other hand a three year life expectancy for lead acid batteries is something like the norm.

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[WillH]

I've just swapped out my hab battery at 5 years old, lasted longer than I expected.

 

[Gina M]

We have just swapped our hab battery it was 7 years old!!

 

[DrDeath]

Morning chaps,
Thanks for the replies. I did think that 18.9v was not right, so my wife now thinks I have wasted money on a multimeter but van battery reads 14.8 and hab battery 4.24! I think the 18 reading is related to to the van reporting it wrongly.
Good thought re the solar regulator but am not sure how to check this. All worked perfectly up to last week.
I have indeed replaced the "van" fuse but no change in the state of charge!
If no other explanation, then blame the cheap original battery

 

[headlight]

Morning chaps,
Thanks for the replies. I did think that 18.9v was not right, so my wife now thinks I have wasted money on a multimeter but van battery reads 14.8 and hab battery 4.24! I think the 18 reading is related to to the van reporting it wrongly.
Good thought re the solar regulator but am not sure how to check this. All worked perfectly up to last week.
I have indeed replaced the "van" fuse but no change in the state of charge!
If no other explanation, then blame the cheap original battery

Try replacing the battery in the multimeter as when they become low the meter can give some weird readings.
I had it with 2 multimeters last year.

 

[GeoffnDee]

IF the habitation battery is down to 4.24v I do not think it will charge correctly now ,even with the fuse replaced, the 14.8v reading at your starter battery may be because the solar regulator is in boost mode (which may be because it is also trying to charge the , faulty ? battery) and it may decrease in a while to a lower float voltage if you remove the van habitation battery fuse again for now.

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[Raul]

Your 18.8v sounds like the solar voltage, if the battery went south, the solar regulator will hold the voltage at around 19v on solar side.
If that voltage has passed to the battery side, it is possible the solar regulator is gone.

 

[CAB96]

Is it adding them both together?

My phone app does that with Bluetooth BM2 monitors, gives you the total voltage, not very useful!

 

[1967bowesj]

Only real way you can check is dissconect batteries so no solar or draw on battery then leave 30 mins and test volts at battery terminals. Make sure the positive leads are taped over incase the solar is pushing volts through

 

[DrDeath]

Try replacing the battery in the multimeter as when they become low the meter can give some weird readings.
I had it with 2 multimeters last year.

Hi, a good thought but it is brand new!! As I was trying to suggest re my wife's suggestion

 

[DrDeath]

Your 18.8v sounds like the solar voltage, if the battery went south, the solar regulator will hold the voltage at around 19v on solar side.
If that voltage has passed to the battery side, it is possible the solar regulator is gone.

That or other problems??? I know you know quite a lot about van electricity
Is there a simple way for a simple man to check my solar regulator??
Thanks
Richard

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[GeoffnDee]

Your Seattle control panel should have readings available within it that show the solar power input , there should also be a LED light on the Truma ? solar regulator to indicate what is happening with the solar charging system .

 

[Raul]

That or other problems??? I know you know quite a lot about van electricity
Is there a simple way for a simple man to check my solar regulator??
Thanks
Richard

Hi Richard, disconnect the regulator from the solar, charge the hab battery and confirm with the multimeter on battery that reads 12v or above. Re connect the solar and allow it to charge to 14-14.4v, if exceeds that, then the regulator has popped due to very low battery voltage. When the voltage is well below 10v the regulator behaves like the battery is disconnected. When you disconnect a battery from a regulator with the solar still attached, it can burn out.

Before you do this test, eliminate the possibility of the battery being gone, try to charge the battery outside the van, with a 230v charger.
Remember the procedure of disconnecting first the solar then the battery from the controller.

 

[DrDeath]

Thanks guys
Now I expose my ignorance!
All I know about my truma panel is how to turn the heating on! I can make an educated guess but I don't know what my seattle panel is .
I also don't know how to disconnect my solar

And I don't know how to delete incorrect GIFs

 

[GeoffnDee]

The Seattle control panel is the habitation power control panel , the Bailey Adamo owners manual gives the information regarding the readings for the solar etc that can be checked using it , the solar section of the manual has the information regarding the Truma solar regulator, that I think you will have fitted , along with any LED flash signal meanings.
If you do not have a manual for your Motorhome www.baileyofbristol.co.uk. will have it.
As suggested by Raul ,Have you been able to confirm that the habitation battery is ok ? (not faulty)