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Subject Topic: Flat battery help !! Post Reply Post New Topic
01/8/2010 at 7:41pm
 Location: england
 Outfit: Fleetwood Garland 1994 165 5
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Hello just been too our van this weekend to get it ready for next weekend, and discovered the battery was flat, it had not been left on. Brought it home too charge it took back and still nothing, everything ok such as water pump and tv booster when mains plugged in, but will not charge the battery or use any life from it. On our last trip when we arrived home we found the other elec lead (12S) had been dragging on the road and the end came off !!! We only have single electrics on the car. Is this a conicidence why the battery is not working at all ??


01/8/2010 at 9:48pm
 Location: West Mids
 Outfit: Swift Ace Statesman & X-Trail 2.0
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It's possible the damage to the 12S may have caused a problem. The 12S socket is responsible for powering fridge and charging the battery while in transit, so depending on exactly what happened with the connector while bouncing around, a short circuit could have occured somewhere.
Does your charger at home indicate the batteries accepting a charge ok? You mention the waterpump and TV amp ok, but slightly contradict by saying "... or use any life from it". It's possible the pump and amp are drawing enough from the 'charger' as some units are a dual charger/12v supply (not sure with the Fleetwood).
I'd suggest getting the battery checked at a garage or motor factors, who usually have the kit to check the battery state properly.
Oh, and get that 12S plug repaired and secured too.

-------------
Paul

Every day's a school day!


01/8/2010 at 9:53pm
 Location: Bristol
 Outfit: Lunar Conquest 544 a
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How long did you charge your battery for , it could be that it needed more time to recharge .
Your 12S lead may have shorted the battery , does the lead show signs of burning / melting .
If you fully recharged the battery and it still doesn't power anything in the caravan either you have a master 12volt switch turned off somewhere or a blown fuse , follow the live cable from the battery and check for fuses .

atb

Wizard



01/8/2010 at 11:39pm
 Location: Scotland
 Outfit: Coachman 570 6 Highlander
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Hi  C61   If the S12 cable has worn through the Green + and - White they are the only two wires that have a link to the van battey  it may have blown the fuses, On my Fleetwood there are 4 Fuses under the off side front seat 2 -15amp + 2 10amp the 10amp are neg the 15amp  Positive  On my van I have a lot off problems with these not making contact and if they are blown or not making contact I dont get any power.

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Kito


02/8/2010 at 1:42pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: Swift Charisma 01 + L200 Barbarian
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When you charged the battery, did you check to see if it needed topping up with distilled water?

On some of the older (non-sealed battery units) there were little circular caps that needed to be unscrewed, if you looked in them it'd show the battery fins, these should be just covered with distilled water.

If you need some, it's usually available from most car spares places (or even supermarkets) for pennies.

Unfortunately if it IS this type and it DOES need topping up, it could be dead if you've had it on charge without checking/topping up the water.

Also, it sounds like you've been charging up the battery by connecting to your home mains, it might be worth trying an external charger. The van we have, had a faulty charger unit, so take the battery out and do an independant test (some places like kwikfit can test it for you to see if it's dead).

Hopefully this isn't the case and you get sorted soon!!!


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02/8/2010 at 7:34pm
 Location: ashfields notts
 Outfit: elddis Mistral
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Check directly from the wires coming from the battery there is usually a fuse some times it looks like a car fuse check to see if its blown  

                                                                               cheers Stan



21/8/2010 at 3:34pm
 Location: Port Talbot
 Outfit: Motorhome Autohomes Wanderer
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 A simple test;

B&Q are selling small electric test meters for £5.99.

Attach the meter to the battery terminals. Turn on the car engine, you should see the meter showing an increase of the voltage reading.

No increase then the car charging wires are faulty. Repair them and do the same test check.

Not often realised, 12 volts on the terminals mean a discharged battery.

Brian



21/8/2010 at 6:06pm
 Location: Royal Wootton Bassett
 Outfit: GrandlandX & Coachman 520 4& M-Mover
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Sorry Brian

12.8 volts = Full
12.4 volts = Half Full or Half discharged which everway you look at it
10.7 volts = Dead


21/8/2010 at 9:15pm
 Location: West Yorks
 Outfit: Lunar Clubman 475-EK - Nissan X-Trail
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A completely discharged lead acid battery that has been left discharged for a long time can take a lot of coaxing back into life. At first it seems like a hopeless task because the charger seems to make no difference. Even after 12 hours there may be no current showing on the battery charger meter. Leave it connected to the charger for several days and, unlikely as it sounds, the battery may well come back to life. Try it, you have nothing to lose...

Simon H



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The optimist sees the glass as half full. The pessimist sees the glass as half empty. To the engineer the glass is twice as big as it needs to be...


22/8/2010 at 10:00am
 Location: Keswick
 Outfit: Bailey
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If the battery charges ok and you checked it and a full charge reading was given with a multimeter but nothing worked once it was back in then my money is on a blown fuse.

Phil



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If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe    


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22/8/2010 at 11:25am
 Location: Port Talbot
 Outfit: Motorhome Autohomes Wanderer
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OK, you've established the charger is working.

You've charged the battery from another source!

After that it still does not give battery functions. Then as cwdc56768 says the fuse from the battery to the control panel which distributes the 12 volts is faulty.

Regarding you cables from the tow. They must be in good condition/repaired. These could be blowing the control panel fuse from the battery. With this fuse blown you wont get any 12volt function!

Brian




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