Lockdown Battery

by CJ1949 Wed May 20, 2020 9:40 am

My new 2019 Bourton is in storage so not able to use or able plug in to the power.
AS monitor alerted me to the loss of charge in leisure battery. I regularly remotely checked was low but seemed ok.

Drove over to the storage place (20 miles) but found vehicle battery totally dead could not even open doors with remote.
The storage people offered me to plug in (at to go back home for the cable I use at home) and to leave it for a few days.
Checked As Monitor remote after 2 days found the leisure battery back up to usual level but the vehicle battery shows only 1 volt.
Going back today hoping that the vehicle reading is incorrect because its still 'plugged' in to the power?
If not looks like a new battery will be required.

by Greyhound Wed May 20, 2020 9:51 am

Yeah it sounds like it's dead unfortunately. I'd keep an eye on the leisure too over time. It may be back to voltage but could have been damaged reducing it's capacity, but hopefully it'll be ok.

You could try a smart charger that can sometimes bring the batteries back using pulsed charges, but if the plates have been damaged it's a new battery I'm afraid.

This is one of the reasons I sorted my solar out before putting it in storage. We have many threads on here about the problems with the Sargent controllers being energy hungry if you leave them turned on, and trackers/alarms etc all eat away at the starter battery too.

Worth having a read through if you haven't already, and certainly worth sorting a solar system for storage, as even a modest one will help keep the batteries charged up during storage (with the Sargent fully turned off).

by IanH Wed May 20, 2020 9:52 am

Don't give up hope yet.......get one of these......
https://youtu.be/IA7glWJqM3o It's all explained in the video.
I have one and wouldn't recommend if not 100% happy
Recently, using the pulse repair function raised a 12vdc lead acid battery from 1.5v to 12v, then switched to the normal charging mode to then fully charge it. Left it 24 hrs and measured the voltage it was 12.9 v. Put it on the load (Ride on lawn mower and it worked just fine)

by bikeralw Wed May 20, 2020 10:25 am

I'm no battery expert, but in my experience voltage alone isn't an indication of a battery being brought back to life.
The battery on one of my bikes measured 12.8 volts days after being disconnected from the smart charger, but still I only got the clunk of the solenoid engaging when I tried to start the bike.
I ordered a new battery, measured the voltage out of the box at 12.7 volts. It whipped the engine into life instantly.
Taking a voltage reading under load is a better indication of battery condition.
Al

by Peter Brown Wed May 20, 2020 10:30 am

If you do need to replace your starter battery, don't reconnect it till you need to use the van or you will damage the new one in the same way.

It is possible that a fuse in the connection to the Sargent unit to the vehicle battery blew when you connected the EHU causing a surge of current from charger to flat battery.

by glyne lock Wed May 20, 2020 11:06 am

as Peter has said fuse will have blown with using the on board charger the fuse is 10 amp and charger puts out max 15amp .if you have a smart charger connect this to the jump start points under the bonnet .

by Molly3 Wed May 20, 2020 3:09 pm

I would remove it take it home and charge . if dead return with a new battery.

by CJ1949 Wed May 20, 2020 6:08 pm

CJ1949 wrote:My new 2019 Bourton is in storage so not able to use or able plug in to the power.
AS monitor alerted me to the loss of charge in leisure battery. I regularly remotely checked was low but seemed ok.

Drove over to the storage place (20 miles) but found vehicle battery totally dead could not even open doors with remote.
The storage people offered me to plug in (at to go back home for the cable I use at home) and to leave it for a few days.
Checked As Monitor remote after 2 days found the leisure battery back up to usual level but the vehicle battery shows only 1 volt.
Going back today hoping that the vehicle reading is incorrect because its still 'plugged' in to the power?
If not looks like a new battery will be required.

It seems the As remote monitor was giving a false low reading of the vehicle Battery voltage. Lucky it started with no problem so bought it home & going to leave it plugged into power for few days before returning to storage.
Thanks for the comments & advice

by justlooking Thu May 21, 2020 5:08 pm

When a battery has been allowed to discharge completely it will not take the charge from a battery charger, even a smart one. One reliable way to restore your battery is to hook another charged one alongside it in parallel, then leave them for an hour or so. The good battery will slowly feed charge into the discharged one. The good battery and jumper leads can then be removed. A charger can then be connected to top up the installed battery. See a short vid at
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=recharge+daead+battery+using+second+battery#kpvalbx=_6qXGXsW9HO2r1fAPq8q9kA836.

by Dbvwt Thu May 21, 2020 5:22 pm

justlooking wrote:When a battery has been allowed to discharge completely it will not take the charge from a battery charger, even a smart one. One reliable way to restore your battery is to hook another charged one alongside it in parallel, then leave them for an hour or so. The good battery will slowly feed charge into the discharged one. The good battery and jumper leads can then be removed. A charger can then be connected to top up the installed battery. See a short vid at
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=recharge+daead+battery+using+second+battery#kpvalbx=_6qXGXsW9HO2r1fAPq8q9kA836.

I’m not for one moment questioning your understanding of batteries/chargers which I’m sure far exceeds my knowledge.

Many have however reported completely flat batteries being brought back to life with a charger? As I said I’m not questioning your knowledge, just trying to understand things from a novice point of view.

by Roopert Thu May 21, 2020 5:24 pm

justlooking wrote:The good battery will slowly feed charge into the discharged one.

Just a word of warning here. Initially, the rate of charge will not be slow! One battery will be at 12.8V and the other will be at 2V, roughly - so expect there to be a loud "crack" when you connect up. If the cables are thin, they will get hot.

It's quite possible that you will get hydrogen (+ oxygen) gas produced while the two are connected, so try to avoid making or breaking the connection near to the batteries - a battery gas explosion will certainly spoil your day...

by Caraman Thu May 21, 2020 11:30 pm

CJ1949 wrote:
CJ1949 wrote:My new 2019 Bourton is in storage so not able to use or able plug in to the power.
AS monitor alerted me to the loss of charge in leisure battery. I regularly remotely checked was low but seemed ok.

Drove over to the storage place (20 miles) but found vehicle battery totally dead could not even open doors with remote.
The storage people offered me to plug in (at to go back home for the cable I use at home) and to leave it for a few days.
Checked As Monitor remote after 2 days found the leisure battery back up to usual level but the vehicle battery shows only 1 volt.
Going back today hoping that the vehicle reading is incorrect because its still 'plugged' in to the power?
If not looks like a new battery will be required.
It seems the As remote monitor was giving a false low reading of the vehicle Battery voltage. Lucky it started with no problem so bought it home & going to leave it plugged into power for few days before returning to storage.
Thanks for the comments & advice

I wonder why the L Bat went flat in the first place. Clearly you had left the EC700 PSU on as you were using AS Monitor. If your solar charge was set to the L Bat or Smart, at this time of year and with the weather we have been having the solar panel should have been able to stop the L Bat being flattened by self-discharge and the EC700 which, when it's CP is left on, consumes every day up to 7.2Ah. If the solar charge was set to the V Bat then the L Bat would have lost up to 50Ah in just one week and after 2 weeks the low voltage SMS/email alert would have been sent (if it was set up) and not long after you would have been phoned by the Tracker monitoring station (because the Tracker's external power source is the L Bat). I note that after re-charging the L Bat, AS Monitor indicated that your V Bat was down to 1V but when you returned to the vehicle that battery was OK. If AS Monitor is still showing your V Bat at 1V or less, the 20A V Bat fuse in the EM40 should be checked.

by Caraman Fri May 22, 2020 7:31 am

Caraman wrote:
CJ1949 wrote:
CJ1949 wrote:My new 2019 Bourton is in storage so not able to use or able plug in to the power.
AS monitor alerted me to the loss of charge in leisure battery. I regularly remotely checked was low but seemed ok.

Drove over to the storage place (20 miles) but found vehicle battery totally dead could not even open doors with remote.
The storage people offered me to plug in (at to go back home for the cable I use at home) and to leave it for a few days.
Checked As Monitor remote after 2 days found the leisure battery back up to usual level but the vehicle battery shows only 1 volt.
Going back today hoping that the vehicle reading is incorrect because its still 'plugged' in to the power?
If not looks like a new battery will be required.
It seems the As remote monitor was giving a false low reading of the vehicle Battery voltage. Lucky it started with no problem so bought it home & going to leave it plugged into power for few days before returning to storage.
Thanks for the comments & advice
I wonder why the L Bat went flat in the first place. Clearly you had left the EC700 PSU on as you were using AS Monitor. If your solar charge was set to the L Bat or Smart, at this time of year and with the weather we have been having the solar panel should have been able to stop the L Bat being flattened by self-discharge and the EC700 which, when it's CP is left on, consumes every day up to 7.2Ah. If the solar charge was set to the V Bat then the L Bat would have lost up to 50Ah in just one week and after 2 weeks the low voltage SMS/email alert would have been sent (if it was set up) and not long after you would have been phoned by the Tracker monitoring station (because the Tracker's external power source is the L Bat). I note that after re-charging the L Bat, AS Monitor indicated that your V Bat was down to 1V but when you returned to the vehicle that battery was OK. If AS Monitor is still showing your V Bat at 1V or less, the 20A V Bat fuse in the EM40 should be checked.

CJ1949 - just re-read your post. If the V Bat was also flattened, that suggests the V Bat was set as the active battery and because the EC700 CP had been left on (it shouldn't have been) something on the habitation electrics side had been left on and was draining the battery. If AS Monitor was/is telling you that the V Bat has dropped to 1V you should have received a V Bat AS Monitor low voltage alert just as you did for the L Bat. If no V Bat alert has been received and the alert is set up properly on AS Monitor, you should inform Sargent as there may be a fault on the AS Monitor central server. Sargent will be able to see the voltage histories of both of your batteries.

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