Hoping and pretty sure some bright spark can help as I,m in serious need of it. Done 3 trips this year( many previously same batteries without any problems.) having three batteries only marked 100 AH @ 20 hr. .( I thought somewhere it would state 120 amp or similar ) We also have three mounted solar panels controlled by a Plasmatronic PL20 which all appear to be fine along with the charger. Last trip a couple weeks ago all good first night then power died totally and used generator to charge a maintain power for next 5 days. Thought maybe a short in system but multimeter says no. Today checking all Im capable of batteries have inbuilt Hydrometer which tells me one in perfect condition and other only need charging. What worried me more was when feeling the so called perfect battery is was quite warm while other two were not. Now here I am embarassing myself letting everyone know Im not the sharpest tool in the shed..
Cheers all.
Jeppo not camping until further notice.
Peter_n_Margaret said
04:15 PM Mar 28, 2020
Either one battery is stuffed or you have a power leak.
Disconnect the battery that gets warm and run with just the other 2 and see how you go.
Cheers,
Peter
Ozzie_Traveller said
04:28 PM Mar 28, 2020
G'day Jeppo
If P&Ms suggestion doesn't fix things, maybe you need to visit a battery service for them to individually examine each one and see what's going on
Phil
Jeppo said
04:39 PM Mar 28, 2020
Thanks. Will do and post results.
Jeppo said
02:26 PM Mar 29, 2020
Thanks for your help. Firstly I removed the so-called top notch battery being the very warm one then checked again this morning and behold the readings are now up from 11.3v up to 12.8v. Charge solar 1.5A. and 3Ah in. .ps no 240 v connection. Maybe the battery isnt as good as indicated. Any comments or anything else i should now do ?. Thanks a lot for your help.
Aus-Kiwi said
03:42 PM Mar 29, 2020
Check HOW the charger side is connected ? You could be charging one battery priority. Or pulling load off one more . The batteries sound like they need balancing ? Are batteries charged by solar by about 11AM on good day ? When charged ? Check individual batteries charge . It will tell you they are all charged, condition or possibly as said they are not being charged evenly . Is connection for charging ? - on one end and + Battery outer battery . If its connected to one ? Youll can have balance issues !!
Jeppo said
04:18 PM Mar 29, 2020
Thanks for your advice. Very sure batteries are connected correctly as previous owner is a electrician having wired up many caravans. He totally rewired whole system 5yrs ago with all new gear and batteries and has worked fine for us in last 4yrs.. Think maybe just batteries need replacement. I will have individual batteries checked first thought. Cheers. Ps. Believe batteries about 7yrs old. Van also has a 12v Megapulse claiming extends batteries by up to 5 times ?. Think I'll just run of 2 batteries and replace if problem returns.
Jeppo said
04:31 PM Mar 29, 2020
Batteries are 7yr old. Not 5. Two yr old when rewired.
Jeppo said
12:00 PM Mar 30, 2020
Can i just replace the one battery or critical to replace all 3. Only on pension and cant afford three. Maybe just keep running on just two batteries. Checked voltage this morning which has jumped from 12.8 v. to 13.4 v. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
blaze said
12:13 PM Mar 30, 2020
rest easy, smile and enjoy your day
run with the two
cheers
blaze
Peter_n_Margaret said
12:14 PM Mar 30, 2020
Jeppo wrote:
Can i just replace the one battery or critical to replace all 3. Only on pension and cant afford three. Maybe just keep running on just two batteries. Checked voltage this morning which has jumped from 12.8 v. to 13.4 v. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
Jeppo, 3 batteries is a relatively large bank. What solar have you got and what is your overnight power consumption?
It is likely that 2 batteries will be sufficient for your needs.
Cheers,
Peter
Jeppo said
01:59 PM Mar 30, 2020
Thanks for answers and suggestions.
Our solar panels (3) mounted, are Uni_Solar US64. RATED POWER 64 Watts each. Honestly dont know overnight usage and never before concerned as we hardly ever had to use our 2400 Yamaha gennie to top up. Should check though and will do on next trip if ever happens.
Longest trip to date was xmas just gone. Six weeks along the Murray. Loved it and will do again.
Cheers.
Jeppo.
Peter_n_Margaret said
03:21 PM Mar 30, 2020
Check what the battery voltage is in the morning BEFORE the sun starts charging via the solar panels.
If that is consistently OK, you will be cruising.
Cheers,
Peter
Jeppo said
03:56 PM Mar 30, 2020
Think that's a good idea and will do. The timer on solar control system was set at 10 04 pm when actually 4 08 pm. Adjusted when i disconnected 3rd batt. Don't know why used but guess correcting time is a plus.
Peter_n_Margaret said
04:58 PM Mar 30, 2020
The timer on the PL20 determines when it starts a new counting day.
I have mine set to think 6pm is midnight so it starts a new day just as the sun stops and the charge stops. That way, I can look at the total power OUT in the morning and it tells me how much was used overnight. Of course it also tells you the SOC (State of Charge) at any time (you will need to change the battery capacity to what you now have for this to work properly).
All of the above is dependent on having the PL properly set up and configured so it counts all the loads and measures all of the charge. If they are not correct, check the voltage in the morning as I said previously.
They are an old technology controller, but extremely good in terms of the information available.
Cheers,
Peter
Aus-Kiwi said
11:19 PM Mar 30, 2020
Sounds like old batteries are tired ? Imo just replace one at a time when you can afford ?? Obviously with 2 batteries youll drain them lower. Assume you have battery charger connected to generator?
Jeppo said
12:11 PM Mar 31, 2020
Checked voltage this morning and maybe not good ?
14.4 V
2.5A charge
00 load. (nothing being used)
5Ah in
0 Ah out
Not sure how to change battery capacity but will readup manual directions. What should it be set to with 2 batt. (24 or higher) ?
Will replace 3rd batt if necessary. Or as your advise ..
Jaahn said
12:53 PM Mar 31, 2020
Hi Jeppo
I will say what I would do if they were mine. But if they are 7 years old I would expect some bad news for sure.
Park the van so it will get sun on the panels. I would disconnect two of the batteries and monitor what happens to the one connected when it charges and then put all the lights on and see what it delivers till it is down to say 12V. Recharge that one. Repeat with the other batteries connected one at a time.
The results will tell you the rough capacity of each one. Probably tell you quickly which one is stuffed. Then just see what the good two, or one will do together. Meanwhile save the fuel money you are not spending for some new batteries in the future. I would bet there will be some battery specials available after a while to move some stock.
I would not put a new battery in parallel with 7 year old batteries. If you have two that are OK use them untill they do not get the job done and then scrap them. Time then to buy one or two new ones. Possibly you do not need three. Measure your usage to see what you need.
Jaahn
-- Edited by Jaahn on Tuesday 31st of March 2020 12:56:57 PM
Jeppo said
06:11 PM Mar 31, 2020
Thanks for all replies. I'll take all aboard and see what happens. Reset and check controller and batteries individually and see what happens. Live with 2 batteries until obviously no good then sell my Pings and buy couple new batteries. Only joking. Sell van first.
Hoping and pretty sure some bright spark can help as I,m in serious need of it. Done 3 trips this year( many previously same batteries without any problems.) having three batteries only marked 100 AH @ 20 hr. .( I thought somewhere it would state 120 amp or similar ) We also have three mounted solar panels controlled by a Plasmatronic PL20 which all appear to be fine along with the charger. Last trip a couple weeks ago all good first night then power died totally and used generator to charge a maintain power for next 5 days. Thought maybe a short in system but multimeter says no. Today checking all Im capable of batteries have inbuilt Hydrometer which tells me one in perfect condition and other only need charging. What worried me more was when feeling the so called perfect battery is was quite warm while other two were not. Now here I am embarassing myself letting everyone know Im not the sharpest tool in the shed..
Cheers all.
Jeppo not camping until further notice.
Disconnect the battery that gets warm and run with just the other 2 and see how you go.
Cheers,
Peter
If P&Ms suggestion doesn't fix things, maybe you need to visit a battery service for them to individually examine each one and see what's going on
Phil
run with the two
cheers
blaze
Jeppo, 3 batteries is a relatively large bank. What solar have you got and what is your overnight power consumption?
It is likely that 2 batteries will be sufficient for your needs.
Cheers,
Peter
Our solar panels (3) mounted, are Uni_Solar US64. RATED POWER 64 Watts each. Honestly dont know overnight usage and never before concerned as we hardly ever had to use our 2400 Yamaha gennie to top up. Should check though and will do on next trip if ever happens.
Longest trip to date was xmas just gone. Six weeks along the Murray. Loved it and will do again.
Cheers.
Jeppo.
If that is consistently OK, you will be cruising.
Cheers,
Peter
I have mine set to think 6pm is midnight so it starts a new day just as the sun stops and the charge stops. That way, I can look at the total power OUT in the morning and it tells me how much was used overnight. Of course it also tells you the SOC (State of Charge) at any time (you will need to change the battery capacity to what you now have for this to work properly).
All of the above is dependent on having the PL properly set up and configured so it counts all the loads and measures all of the charge. If they are not correct, check the voltage in the morning as I said previously.
They are an old technology controller, but extremely good in terms of the information available.
Cheers,
Peter
Checked voltage this morning and maybe not good ?
14.4 V
2.5A charge
00 load. (nothing being used)
5Ah in
0 Ah out
Not sure how to change battery capacity but will readup manual directions. What should it be set to with 2 batt. (24 or higher) ?
Will replace 3rd batt if necessary. Or as your advise ..
Hi Jeppo
I will say what I would do if they were mine. But if they are 7 years old I would expect some bad news for sure.
Park the van so it will get sun on the panels. I would disconnect two of the batteries and monitor what happens to the one connected when it charges and then put all the lights on and see what it delivers till it is down to say 12V. Recharge that one. Repeat with the other batteries connected one at a time.
The results will tell you the rough capacity of each one. Probably tell you quickly which one is stuffed. Then just see what the good two, or one will do together. Meanwhile save the fuel money you are not spending for some new batteries in the future. I would bet there will be some battery specials available after a while to move some stock.
I would not put a new battery in parallel with 7 year old batteries. If you have two that are OK use them untill they do not get the job done and then scrap them. Time then to buy one or two new ones. Possibly you do not need three. Measure your usage to see what you need.
Jaahn
-- Edited by Jaahn on Tuesday 31st of March 2020 12:56:57 PM