Leisure Battery or Bigger Problems

dfbemt

I think my battery is toast but I just wanted to check with the experts here 1st before I go and buy a new one and find out that I have a different or additional problem

A few things I noticed

1 - after a drive, the battery is charged at about 12.8 to 12.2 volts. After approx 5 hours of sitting idle with nothing turned on but the camper plugged in (we have gone to the town for the night) and the battery is drained (reading about 8 volts and will give power to the inside lights for approx 30 secs)

2 - when we wake up in the morning there is no power whatsoever. Even the cab radio won't turn on. The fridge light is very dim even though we are still plugged in.

3 - on our drive home last night we had a rotten egg smell (sulphur ?) and the outside of the leisure battery compartment was very hot

4 - we were away for most of the week. On our 1st night plugged in I noticed a fan (?) working inside the camper, on the inside of where the mains lead plugs in. Never had this happen before

I'm hoping that those of you who are knowledgable in this field will be able to inform and guide me through the wonderful world of campervan power supplies and electrics.

Fingers crossed I just need a new leisure battery.

Aidan_M_M

dfbemt wrote: »

I think my battery is toast but I just wanted to check with the experts here 1st before I go and buy a new one and find out that I have a different or additional problem

A few things I noticed

1 - after a drive, the battery is charged at about 12.8 to 12.2 volts. After approx 5 hours of sitting idle with nothing turned on but the camper plugged in (we have gone to the town for the night) and the battery is drained (reading about 8 volts and will give power to the inside lights for approx 30 secs)

2 - when we wake up in the morning there is no power whatsoever. Even the cab radio won't turn on. The fridge light is very dim even though we are still plugged in.

3 - on our drive home last night we had a rotten egg smell (sulphur ?) and the outside of the leisure battery compartment was very hot

4 - we were away for most of the week. On our 1st night plugged in I noticed a fan (?) working inside the camper, on the inside of where the mains lead plugs in. Never had this happen before

I'm hoping that those of you who are knowledgable in this field will be able to inform and guide me through the wonderful world of campervan power supplies and electrics.

Fingers crossed I just need a new leisure battery.

Yup, battery is deffo shot. You need to check for over charging too though

joe250

I got the egg smell the first time i plugged in camper after buying it and when i checked battery it was empty.
A new battery fixed the problem.

moodrater

Disconnect immediately its a chemical, fire and explosion hazard as is lead acid batteries are junk in no time when left flat. I think all chargers should be required to incorporate a clipon thermistor or therocouple as an additional line of defence. A guy over on octane.ie lost his house as a result of trying to chargeb dead leisure battery caravan went up taking the house with it.

niloc1951

moodrater wrote: »

Disconnect immediately its a chemical, fire and explosion hazard as is lead acid batteries are junk in no time when left flat. I think all chargers should be required to incorporate a clipon thermistor or therocouple as an additional line of defence. A guy over on octane.ie lost his house as a result of trying to chargeb dead leisure battery caravan went up taking the house with it.

This is no exaggeration, disconnect it immediately, (neg (-) terminal first) and get rid of it.
Batteries in this condition are known to have exploded, if you take H&S seriously wear eye protection when working on it.

dfbemt

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

Yup, battery is deffo shot. You need to check for over charging too though

Aidan, when you say check for overcharging.....

What do you mean and what should I be checking exactly?

moodrater

dfbemt wrote: »

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

Yup, battery is deffo shot. You need to check for over charging too though

Aidan, when you say check for overcharging.....

What do you mean and what should I be checking exactly?

When you fit the new battery check the voltage its charging at at various stages during the charge process.
Under normal charging you shouldn't see more than 14.2 volts or maybe 14.4 for a battery with AGM charge mode.
Float charge should be in the region of 13.8v a little less for AGM batteries.
If you don't have a multimeter with overcharging you'll hear the battery gassing like an effervescent tablet but I wouldn't rely on that observation.
I'd also check that the chargeer fuses haven't been bypassed or fitted with higher values.

Aidan_M_M

moodrater wrote: »

I'd also check that the chargeer fuses haven't been bypassed or fitted with higher values.

boards.ie/thread/2056741317?page=1#post_80545682

See above!!

dfbemt

Old battery is now removed, thanks to all for help. No obvious signs of any leaking or damage (externally battery looks brand new but is at least 4 years old) but I will get a new one all the same.

Old battery was an Inci Aku 100ah.

If you were to go for the best battery, based on cost v's performance (eg not necessarily the cheapest or the dearest !!) what would you choose?

I have measured the available space and it looks like I am restricted to 350 x 190 x 175, or thereabouts.

After some browsing on the www I am leaning towards an Elecsol 105ah Deep Cycle AGM battery (more expensive but with with 7 year warranty and 6,000 deep discharges) or the Elecsol 110ah Deep Cycle Leisure battery (nearly half the price, 5 year warranty and 1,000 deep discharges).

Any preferences on either of the above or any other recommendations?

Should have said, camper is a Laika on a Ford with the battery under the passenger seat, just in case that makes a difference.

moodrater

AGM batteries are great, I have two here 7 years old that I charged about 12 months ago still reading 12.9v you don't get that with a flooded cell!

I think you'll find that the 7 year warranty elecsol battery is 6000 cycles at 20% DOD not deep cycles.

Anyway unless your charger is an agm setting you probably won't see the ridiculously large cycles that are claimed the float charge will be too high and paying double probably might not be justified.

Get a price for a banner energy bull battery too o'connor brothers in cork or europower in dublin do them.

Aidan_M_M

I find deep cycle , gel batteries don't like an alternator charge , in the long term. Hardly any MHs have the 12v charge controller that regulates the amperage going into the battery when driving. Hence we always fit The more standard types, I find them more stable in the long term. Just my 2c. I've had to swap out a few Elecsols for people doing a lot of driving and wild camping.