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 Topic: 1992 Sprite Musketeer 12v electric fail
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30/6/2024 at 2:16pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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Sounds to me like the battery has come to the end of its life and is simply not holding a charge. Any drain on it just kills it as it no longer has any capacity, even though its voltage is up after being charged. The only other alternative is a major short circuit within the caravan, but I would have though that would have other symptoms such as a burning smell or the battery getting hot. It would also blow the battery fuse unless anyone has bypassed it. A duff battery seems the most likely.
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Best Regards,
Colin
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30/6/2024 at 2:41pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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That sounds like a classic worn out battery! You don't say how old it is, but imply it's been used for a while, depending on quality of battery in first place and how well it's looked after, their life can be anything from under a year to 10 or 12 years!
The voltage reading, be it multi-meter or inbuilt van charge meter, really only shows the state of charge, but NOT the health/capacity of the battery. It may only have the tiny functional storage capacity equivalent of say a AAA cell but still be fully charged, which is why it 'dies' on any load application. Batteries lose storage capacity as they age.
Best 1st move is get battery load tested by a battery supplier (Halfords and many garages can do it), that'll confirm it's state of health (expect it to be declared 'dead'!).
Second option is a very poor connection to some part of the electrics, causing an exceptional volt drop on load. The battery terminals are always a favourite suspect, as prone to corrosion (clean and protect with Vaseline or Lithium grease). The rest of the electrics may need terminations checked in a systematic way.
Battery terminal check is the easy way to start, followed by a battery load health test, then if no joy with first two, the tedious task of checking through wiring/terminals, it's not so much the difficulty of task as the inaccessibility/access problems.
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via mobile 30/6/2024 at 2:10pm
