Is My Leisure Battery Dead?

[LSNE]

As per title, I think my leisure battery may be dead.
I've attached a battery monitor for the last few days and it looks like the battery charges from the solar panel during the day but then drops down to 12.3v overnight.
Nothing is running from the LB apart from the battery monitor.

Screenshot_20191023-092259_Battery Monitor

• LSNE
• 23 Oct 2019

Screenshot_20191023-092306_Battery Monitor

• LSNE
• 23 Oct 2019

 

[Dellmassive]

What are those spikes?

Have you a dc-dc charger or a split charge relay?

If the battery is low you will need a good 14.6v charge for 10-20 hours.....

So your solar and driving may not be enough to fully charge the battery.

Id say use a proper mains charger to try and top up the battery.. . Then see what the voltages are at rest...

You can also get a battery tester, or take it to a shop to be tested..... though most require an attempt to fully charge the battery first.

Try these steps before getting a new battery.

OOI what battery is it, and how old?

Got a few pics?

 

[Dellmassive]

Also what solar kit you using g?

Its not generating even over 13.0v . . . . So there is not enough power to charge the battery?

What wattage panel?

What solar controller?

.....

This time of year you would need about 300w of panels and a decent MPPT solar controller to charge a 100ah AGM battery.

Less than that you may find you have charging issues.

 

[LSNE]

What are those spikes? Short runs out in the van

Have you a dc-dc charger or a split charge relay? Split charge relay fitted by converter. Waiting for funds to allow me to get DC-DC charger from Travelvolts

If the battery is low you will need a good 14.6v charge for 10-20 hours..... Battery was left on hookup for 24 hours on Sat/Sun

So your solar and driving may not be enough to fully charge the battery.

Id say use a proper mains charger to try and top up the battery.. . Then see what the voltages are at rest... Battery was left on hookup for 24 hours on Sat/Sun

You can also get a battery tester, or take it to a shop to be tested..... though most require an attempt to fully charge the battery first.

Try these steps before getting a new battery.

OOI what battery is it, and how old? Numax 100AH battery. 18 months old.

Got a few pics?

 

[LSNE]

Also what solar kit you using g?

Its not generating even over 13.0v . . . . So there is not enough power to charge the battery? Solar panel is outputting 21v and 1.4A. Solar controller shows output at 13v and 2.1A.

What wattage panel? 150W

What solar controller? Photonic Universe solar controller

.....

This time of year you would need about 300w of panels and a decent MPPT solar controller to charge a 100ah AGM battery.

Less than that you may find you have charging issues.

 

[Dellmassive]

... Battery was left on hookup for 24 hours on Sat/Sun....


What sort of charger was connected? Any idea of the max amps?

Battery Chargers - How I Did It -

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[Dellmassive]

Yeh, that's under power unfortunately and wont be enough to charge the battery... it's even below the 13.6v float voltage... so not much chance of charging a low battery.

 

[LSNE]

... Battery was left on hookup for 24 hours on Sat/Sun....


What sort of charger was connected? Any idea of the max amps? I just connected it via the electrical hookup through the Sargent power supply.

Battery Chargers - How I Did It -

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[Dellmassive]

i was under the impression that (the sargent) was just a 12v power source and not a proper battery smart charger.

best get a decent smart battery charger hooked up to it......

you need to get this sorted before getting a new battery as there is a good chance the new battery will be damaged by low power and unsuitable charging . . . .

by the looks of the BM2 readouts above the only half decent charging power was coming from the couple of short driving journeys (via the SCR)

can you post a few screenshots of the BM2 readout for the sat/sun when you had the EHU connected?



a few chargers shown here (viseo at the end) :


Battery Chargers - How I Did It -

 

[LSNE]

I didn't have the BM2 connected when connected to hookup. I'll get it back on charge at the weekend with the BM2 connected.

I thought after the charge last weekend that it would hold more charge than it has (12.3V straight away) It has been ran down previously when I lost solar and VSR when travelling round Scotland during the summer.

 

[LSNE]

OK so I charged it overnight on Friday and these are the monitor readings.
Yeah the Sargent unit does not look like a smart charger. 13.45v constant charge.
That drops down to 12.86v when taken off charge and drops to 12.48v when left overnight with nothing turned on.

 

[Dellmassive]

Hmm yep...

Looks like the battery IS taking a charge..... but there isn't enough power/current from your solar and that Sargent is just a low amp power supply (but its helping slightly)...so the battery just isn't being charged enough.


I'd say get a decent 5/10/15A smart charger added to your onboard EHU, so that you can use EHU to properly charge up the battery......(ideal for a camper setup)

Or like me just get a stand alone charger and connect up overnight as and when needed....... (ideal for a non camper setup).

Get the battery fully charged and retest, and get your charging system sorted before thinking about a new battery.

A few chargers and connection options over here (did you see the vid?)》


Battery Chargers - How I Did It -

.

 

[Dellmassive]

Here's my new charger....

Its 30a single output but they do other versions... they do a twin output version too that can charge both the Aux and starter separately.

Blue Smart IP22 Charger - Victron Energy

 

[LSNE]

Yeah I watched the vids.
I think I'll be looking at hard wiring it into the Sargent unit once I figure out how.
I won't be camping for the next few months so I think I'll install the DC-DC charger first.

 

[Dellmassive]

ok, very good.

heres the DC-DC thread > Dc-dc Charger (for Leisure Battery) -- How I Done It --


and the rest of the madness > Dellmassive`s -- "how I Done It" -- Thread

.

 

[mmi]

OK so I charged it overnight on Friday and these are the monitor readings.
Yeah the Sargent unit does not look like a smart charger. 13.45v constant charge.
That drops down to 12.86v when taken off charge and drops to 12.48v when left overnight with nothing turned on.

Even "only" at 13.4 V for 24 hours is definitely a good/adequate charge for a battery.

Are you sure you don't have any loads on? On the picture 00-11 hours (2019-10-26) (when charging) the voltage curve has no "ripple" at all, so looks like you have got a decent BM2 unit (some of then are quite "noisy"). But then 17- 11 hours the curve has a ripple on it - which certainly is indication of current drain (or suddenly poor measurement unit). Also the voltage drop suggests the same (or dead battery, which is hard to believe about such a new battery)

I'd propose to actually disconnect battery terminal just to make sure you are measuring the battery alone.

 

[LSNE]

Cheers for the input mmi.

There are no loads on the battery as far as I'm aware, but not sure if I trust the wiring carried out by the conversion company.
I'll fully charge then disconnect the battery from the system apart from the BM2 and see what I get.

During the summer the battery died in the middle of the night when my VSR and solar panel both failed. That's why I originally started questioning whether the battery was dead or not.