Greetings all

Can anybody help me to explain why my 12V leisure battery (3months old) has
discharged itself over the course of a week whilst not being used ?

OK, so its still connected in the van, but the 12V isolator switch (in the
van) is off and all items within the van that could use 12V are also off.

To me there are 2 options....first is a faulty battery and the second is
perhaps an earth leakage in the wiring before the isolator....or a 3rd
option....that something in the van by-passes the isolator and draws
constant power ?

Hope someone can help before I go mad trying to check it all out.....

Cheers

Steve

"Steve B" wrote in message
...
Greetings all

Can anybody help me to explain why my 12V leisure battery (3months old)
has
discharged itself over the course of a week whilst not being used ?

OK, so its still connected in the van, but the 12V isolator switch (in the
van) is off and all items within the van that could use 12V are also off.

To me there are 2 options....first is a faulty battery and the second is
perhaps an earth leakage in the wiring before the isolator....or a 3rd
option....that something in the van by-passes the isolator and draws
constant power ?

Hope someone can help before I go mad trying to check it all out.....

Cheers

Steve

Your 3 options cover the possibilities.
Why not charge the battery and then isolate by removing one terminal. Leave
and check after a few days. If it's still full then it's not the battery.
You can (I think I got this from uk.rec.waterways - always talking about
batteries...) test each cell by using a meter, just dip the probes into the
electrolyte of adjacent cells to get a reading of the cell - they should all
be the same - about 2.2V when charged, if one is very low then the battery
is faulty.


--
Ron Jones

Don't repeat history, see unreported near misses in chemical lab/plant at
http://www.crhf.org.uk

In message , Steve B
writes
Greetings all

Can anybody help me to explain why my 12V leisure battery (3months old) has
discharged itself over the course of a week whilst not being used ?

OK, so its still connected in the van, but the 12V isolator switch (in the
van) is off and all items within the van that could use 12V are also off.

To me there are 2 options....first is a faulty battery and the second is
perhaps an earth leakage in the wiring before the isolator....or a 3rd
option....that something in the van by-passes the isolator and draws
constant power ?

Hope someone can help before I go mad trying to check it all out.....

Cheers

Steve



Recharge it, and leave it for a week totally disconnected at its
terminals then check it, or if you have access to an ammeter, connect
that in at the battery positive terminal and see if you get a reading.
That will tell you there is something drawing current.

Your option 3 is a very possible cause esp if a new accessory has been
added e.g. radio.
--
hugh
Reply to address is valid

On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 19:28:11 +0100, "Steve B"
wrote:

| Greetings all
|
| Can anybody help me to explain why my 12V leisure battery (3months old) has
| discharged itself over the course of a week whilst not being used ?
|
| OK, so its still connected in the van, but the 12V isolator switch (in the
| van) is off and all items within the van that could use 12V are also off.
|
| To me there are 2 options....first is a faulty battery and the second is
| perhaps an earth leakage in the wiring before the isolator....or a 3rd
| option....that something in the van by-passes the isolator and draws
| constant power ?
|
| Hope someone can help before I go mad trying to check it all out.....

Take it out, and charge it up on the bench. Leave for a week
If it still goes down take it back, its the battery.

Dave F

In article ,
says...
| Greetings all
|
| Can anybody help me to explain why my 12V leisure battery (3months old) has
| discharged itself over the course of a week whilst not being used ?
|
| OK, so its still connected in the van, but the 12V isolator switch (in the
| van) is off and all items within the van that could use 12V are also off.
|
| To me there are 2 options....first is a faulty battery and the second is
| perhaps an earth leakage in the wiring before the isolator....or a 3rd
| option....that something in the van by-passes the isolator and draws
| constant power ?

Hi Steve,

Other possibilities are that the battery was never fully charged in the
first place and /or has not been receiving a charge during use.

Give it a full charge, check if any current is drawn with an ammeter in
circuit after the recharging. If the battery does go flat with nothing
connected to it, then it must be a faulty one.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT)...

Remove the 'NOSPAM' in my email address to reply.

Free Amateur Radio Courses:-
http://www.ukradioamateur.org

I had a similar problem with my last caravan, an Avondale. The battery just
would not retain its charge when connected to the caravan. Avondale even
took the 'van back to their works to try and rectify the fault but to no
avail. I think the term they used was that there was a leak (open circuit?)
to earth.
"Steve B" wrote in message
...
Greetings all

Can anybody help me to explain why my 12V leisure battery (3months old)
has
discharged itself over the course of a week whilst not being used ?

OK, so its still connected in the van, but the 12V isolator switch (in the
van) is off and all items within the van that could use 12V are also off.

To me there are 2 options....first is a faulty battery and the second is
perhaps an earth leakage in the wiring before the isolator....or a 3rd
option....that something in the van by-passes the isolator and draws
constant power ?

Hope someone can help before I go mad trying to check it all out.....

Cheers

Steve

Thanks for all the help so far.

Well the battery has been on slow charge for about 20 hours now, and the
little LED's on my charger say that it's fully juiced. (how sad is it to go
and check that out first thing in the morning whilst waiting for the kettle
to boil !!). I've dropped my meter across the terminals and it's pulling
11.4V (which to me says its OK, so possible there is something in the van
causing the problemo).
Thanks again all - will no doubt be back later when it drains in 10 minutes
!

Out of interest, are car/leisure batteries like NiCAD in the sense that they
can develop a "memory" of charge and never charge past that point ?

Steve

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 08:29:57 +0100, ray fisher
wrote:

| In article , Steve B
| writes
| Thanks for all the help so far.
|
| Well the battery has been on slow charge for about 20 hours now, and the
| little LED's on my charger say that it's fully juiced. (how sad is it to go
| and check that out first thing in the morning whilst waiting for the kettle
| to boil !!). I've dropped my meter across the terminals and it's pulling
| 11.4V (which to me says its OK, so possible there is something in the van
| causing the problemo).
|
| 11.4volts means knackered :-(

It could just be that the charger is knackered
Try charging it with a a different charger for at least a day.
If the battery still shows 11.4 V open circuit it is knackered.

Dave F

writes
| | Thanks for all the help so far.
| |
| | Well the battery has been on slow charge for about 20 hours now, and the
| | little LED's on my charger say that it's fully juiced. (how sad is it to go
| | and check that out first thing in the morning whilst waiting for the kettle
| | to boil !!). I've dropped my meter across the terminals and it's pulling
| | 11.4V (which to me says its OK, so possible there is something in the van
| | causing the problemo).
| |

I don't know what you mean by 'pulling', but measuring 11.4v across the
battery terminals would mean the battery is absolutely flat (faulty
charger/ faulty battery) or has at least one faulty cell.

On charge the voltage should rise, depending upon the charger it should
rise to between 13.8 and 14.2.

Once fully charged and allowed to stand for a few hours, it should
measure 12.5v.




--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT)...

Remove the 'NOSPAM' in my email address to reply.

Free Amateur Radio Courses:-
http://www.ukradioamateur.org

In article , Harry
Bloomfield writes
writes
| | Thanks for all the help so far.
| |
| | Well the battery has been on slow charge for about 20 hours now, and the
| | little LED's on my charger say that it's fully juiced. (how sad is it to
go
| | and check that out first thing in the morning whilst waiting for the
kettle
| | to boil !!). I've dropped my meter across the terminals and it's pulling
| | 11.4V (which to me says its OK, so possible there is something in the van
| | causing the problemo).
| |

I don't know what you mean by 'pulling', but measuring 11.4v across the
battery terminals would mean the battery is absolutely flat (faulty
charger/ faulty battery) or has at least one faulty cell.

On charge the voltage should rise, depending upon the charger it should
rise to between 13.8 and 14.2.

Once fully charged and allowed to stand for a few hours, it should
measure 12.5v.


Actually it should measure 12.7v fully charged - 12.5v is half charge,
(measurements being taken at least 3hrs after charger is switched off).
--
ray fisher