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Subject Topic: winter caravan and battery maintenance Post Reply Post New Topic
PersonIan4310
02/12/2015 at 8:58pm
 Location: Birmingham
 Outfit: Elddis Odyssey L R Discovery Sport View Ian4310's Profile View Profile   Reply to Ian4310 Reply   Quote Ian4310 Quote  
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Hi all,

I have an issue which I really cannot be on my own with. I have a nearly new twin axle caravan which has an alarm and as a requirement of the insurance, a tracking system, both powered by the caravan battery (120A/H). My storage facility which is CASSOA Gold star has no facility for power to the caravan over the winter period.

Because (as with most storage) it is in the countryside, over the winter period, I suffer many "alerts" due to the low temperatures taking the battery to below 10 volts which does the battery no good but also potentially invalidates the insurance as having a working alarm and tracker is a (part) of the conditions of insurance.

I have to change the battery on a two week basis which is a chore and unnecessary cost. I have tried moving the battery inside the core of the caravan and also solar panels. Neither have worked successfully.

I cannot be the only caravan owner suffering this problem. What is the long term solution to this issue?


Persontonyv8power
02/12/2015 at 10:05pm
 Location: Herts. UK
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Hi Ian, last year we had a Cadiz ll which had both the alarm and tracker. Over the winter we never had an issue with a flat battery even over a 3 month period of storage. I cannot help thinking that assuming your batteries are in good nick and hold a charge you have a something taking power when it should be switched off. Silly question maybe, but is your master switch actually off as it should be?


PersonOpensauce
03/12/2015 at 7:37am
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Fully charge battery & with battery in place put a meter across terminals to check for discharge. As pointed out, there should be an isolator switch for mover.

A battery should be charged at least once a month but battery should for your purposes last for a month without excess discharge, so you should only need to visit caravan once a month. Easiest would be to have 2 batteries on the go & bring a fully charged one from home each month.


PersonIan4310
03/12/2015 at 10:49am
 Location: Birmingham
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Hi both,
Thanks for the replies.
In answer to the queries, all isolation switches (master and caravan mover) are off. I do use two 120 a/h batteries alternatively, the oldest of which is three years. they both charge up to 13.5 volts and hold the charge. I do not think it is a discharge issue, more of a temperature issue. when brought back to the house, a battery showing 10 volts, when warmed in the house will show over 12 volts.

A once a month changeover of battery I can manage but this is far more frequent in really cold weather and the alerts are nearly always at night.


VangoMan02
03/12/2015 at 10:57am
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Are you checking the battery immediately after charging, as this would show the high reading of 13.5v. Normally battery should read around 12.7v when fully charged.,I would let battery settle for an hour or so before checking.

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Personjeff juke
03/12/2015 at 12:20pm
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All about batteries here...Click

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PersonDaveS1
03/12/2015 at 7:22pm
 Location: Hatfield Peverel Essex
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Had the same problem with mine until I installed a small solar panel which is kept propped up between the window and blind.
Problem solved!
Daves1


PersonGrampian91
04/12/2015 at 8:08am
 Location: Midlands
 Outfit: Mondeo Avondale Gram View Grampian91's Profile View Profile   Reply to Grampian91 Reply   Quote Grampian91 Quote  
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The tinted caravan windows will cut down efficiency of solar panels.

I had a tinker with some in August and it made quite a difference.

Testing the battery off charge wont give any accurate readings. Under load the battery voltage may drop considerably.

I tested a 110Ah leisure battery that was 5 years old and seemingly in good nick, but in use without hookup it had the low battery light on after 3 days.

I fully charged it alongside a 60Ah car battery, A single 100w 240v bulb running off a 600w inverter.
The leisure battery had the low battery alarm (10.8 volts) after a mere 20 minutes.

On the 60Ah car battery it was still holding 12.2 volts after several hours.

It dropped down to 12volts very quickly from its original 12.8?

How much power does the alarm and tracker use?


PersonIan4310
08/12/2015 at 2:46pm
 Location: Birmingham
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Hi all,

The good news is that I have solved my own problem. I have a good friend where I can park my caravan and have it mains coupled over the winter.

It is interesting to note some of the battery facts though.
As VangoMan02 states, the fully charged and at rest figure is 12.7 volts (mine show 12.77 which is reassuring) However, a 50% discharged battery is 12.4 volts which (in my mind) does not give much room for practical use and going below 12.4 is not recommended as it deteriorates the battery. Why then have a low battery alert on the tracker at 10 volts as it is with mine? The more I look the less I like


PersonGrampian91
11/12/2015 at 2:26pm
 Location: Midlands
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The 10v low battery alert is because that maybe where the tracker stops working. They are not bothered about your battery and its state of charge as long as its enough to keep the tracker going.


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PersonSantaFe RMK
21/12/2015 at 5:42pm
 Location: Woburn Sands Milton Keynes
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On my 2010 Coachman we had a Phanton tracker, which would go off when the battery went down a bit, I complained to Phantom, and the said the internal voltage sensor was set to high, they remotley reset the sensor, (by Black Magic) nobody came anywhere near the caravan, and lo, I didnt have the problem again,
Another power draw is the radio, you have to remove the front fave if it has one.


Personissym
22/12/2015 at 1:04am
 Location: Cambridgeshire
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Interesting read, especially as we got a 4am call yesterday from Phantom, battery flat when we went to check. We normally get 8 weeks over winter from a battery but this was only 4 weeks. We have toyed with the idea of solar panels but the caravan storage and our position wouldn't get any sun. We try and go away once a month, even through winter but weddings and health means we haven't been away since the end of September,
Anyway, nice long pull to Devon on Wednesday and 10 days on site, hopefully that will keep us fully loaded till February when we are going to site the van for the summer; part of the agreement is to leave the electrics connected even when not in residence!

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PersonTaylor56
22/12/2015 at 8:38am
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Quote: Originally posted by Ian4310 on 08/12/2015
Hi all,

The good news is that I have solved my own problem. I have a good friend where I can park my caravan and have it mains coupled over the winter.

It is interesting to note some of the battery facts though.
As VangoMan02 states, the fully charged and at rest figure is 12.7 volts (mine show 12.77 which is reassuring) However, a 50% discharged battery is 12.4 volts which (in my mind) does not give much room for practical use and going below 12.4 is not recommended as it deteriorates the battery. Why then have a low battery alert on the tracker at 10 volts as it is with mine? The more I look the less I like

Don't forget to tell your insurance its no longer stored in a secure storage.


Personjoe blog
27/12/2015 at 7:25pm
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Hi the alarm and tracker has its own power supply, as I found out when the tracker Contacted me when I moved the caravan from the workshop without the battery contacted



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