Battery not fully charging.

Sorry if this has been on here before. I have had the van on a hook up for 2 days and the battery will not charge above 75% , it was the same last week. The battery is 3 years old and has had a lot of use. Van is a Warwick XL. Any ideas?
Baz

That age battery will be ok if it hasn't ever been fully discharged or otherwise abused. The capacity indication on the newer Sargent electrical systems can be re-calibrated. I haven't got one but there have been plenty of posts on the forum from those who do advising how that is done.

Cheers Pete, thought you would be the man.

If you put a multi meter across the terminals, that should give you a more accurate reading -  or at least confirm your 75% control panel reading.

A different control panel to yours but I had this with my battery after a period of being laid up. I relied on the battery being topped up by the solar panel. This it did, and the voltage was healthy despite the panel showing only 85%. It still showed 85% after several days on hook up.
The solution was to disconnect all power to the control panel, wait a while, then power it all back up. The reading was then 100%, and it has been ever since.

Have you tried charging it from another charger? The van charger could be on its way out. Mine did the same as yours so have just replaced it and all is good.
Not sure what Taurian means by putting a multimeter across the battery. If it means what I think it does that will only check the voltage not the amount of charge it has in it. Apologies if that's not what you meant Taurian!

Perhaps he meant that the voltage (if the battery is at rest and has been for a few hours) will indicate the State of Charge (SOC) but of course will not indicate the capacity.

Checking the voltage across the battery terminals does give a good indication of the state of charge, but you need a good multimeter and the measurement has to be across the terminals, not some remote wires where you will most likely get voltage drop.
12.7 volts, 100% charge.
12.6 volts, 75% charge.
12.3 volts, 50% charge.
12.0 volts, 25% charge.
11.8 volts, discharged.

Thanks for the replys, bought a meter now just need to get time to check the battery.

Nice one bikeralw. I've learnt something here. I reckon you would need a calibrated multimeter to get an accurate result though.

zep1975 wrote:Nice one bikeralw. I've learnt something here. I reckon you would need a calibrated multimeter to get an accurate result though.

Just get a digital multimeter.    I got mine off eBay for less than a fiver.

May I recommend:

UNI-T UT203

Can be bought for less than £30

KeithM wrote:May I recommend:

UNI-T UT203

Can be bought for less than £30

What is it?

KeithM wrote:May I recommend:

UNI-T UT203

Can be bought for less than £30

I've owned lots of meters, but never any with a clamp meter function. Does that feature go down to usefully low current value measurements? When I looked a few years back they did not seem to!

-mojo- wrote:

KeithM wrote:May I recommend:

UNI-T UT203

Can be bought for less than £30

I've owned lots of meters, but never any with a clamp meter function. Does that feature go down to usefully low current value measurements? When I looked a few years back they did not seem to!

Maplin have one for 7.99. looks good.

Micky

Bazil wrote:

KeithM wrote:May I recommend:

UNI-T UT203

Can be bought for less than £30

What is it?

A mutimeter that will read voltages and amps in both ac and dc

A review from 2013 on you tube [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

or just put "UNI-T UT203" in google

-mojo- wrote:

KeithM wrote:May I recommend:

UNI-T UT203

Can be bought for less than £30

I've owned lots of meters, but never any with a clamp meter function. Does that feature go down to usefully low current value measurements? When I looked a few years back they did not seem to!

Yes used mine the other day and it measured 0.5 amp.

Of course it will not be as accurate as one costing a £1,000

mikethebike wrote:Maplin have one for 7.99. looks good.

Micky

A link would be good but Maplins do not sell the above model anymore

KeithM wrote:

mikethebike wrote:Maplin have one for 7.99. looks good.

Micky

A link would be good but Maplins do not sell the above model anymore

I have ordered one.we have 3 available in peterborough.
Collect monday.
regards

Micky

I bought one of these off ebay for £6.95 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Unfortunately they are sold out now but may be available elsewhere. It's simple to use but the main reason i bought it was the digital readout is large, clear and very easy to read.

It appears that only voltmeters are required by many, so I will leave it there except to say check the accuracy in the specifications.

mikethebike wrote:

KeithM wrote:

mikethebike wrote:Maplin have one for 7.99. looks good.

Micky

A link would be good but Maplins do not sell the above model anymore

I have ordered one.we have 3 available in peterborough.
Collect monday.
regards

Micky

Update. Not recommended.No benefit over my normal multimeter.

Micky

This is my one, had it for many years, may not be available now though. The 10Amp setting is useful, maybe the Dwell settings less so these days..
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