Battery charger not switching

by peter.millar Sun Nov 10, 2024 4:11 pm

I have a Nuevo that seems to have a vehicle battery drain problem. The van has been idle for a few weeks in the drive and the battery hadn't enough chgarge to start it, so I plugged it in to the EHU. Forgot all about it for a week and went out today to try again. Leisure battery fully charged - vehicle battery 1.2V !!! So I went to the control panel to switch between batteries (I don't know how to tell which battry is charging) but when I pressed the button there was a strange beep and no little blue light came on.

I suspect it's set to charge the leisure battery but wont switch over. Any ideas?

by Caraman Sun Nov 10, 2024 6:03 pm

Vehicle batteries in motorhomes and cars are under constant drain from the vehicle electrics even when the vehicle isn't being used. If the vehicle isn't given a regular decent drive, the vehicle battery will become discharged especially at this time of year and if the battery is old. If the battery is down to 1.2V it has probably had it. Can't help with switching for the on-board mains charger but if my battery needed resuscitation I would try and use one of these:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by Roopert Sun Nov 10, 2024 7:49 pm

There were quite a lot of changes around the time your van was built so it's impossible to guess which of several power control systems you might have. But most of the recent Sargent units have a built-in mechanism that stops you changing over to the vehicle battery if it is below a certain voltage (and yours is way below that).

As said, a good battery charger such as a CTEK may be able to bring back some sort of life to it, but as a general rule if they have spent any length of time as low as that, they won't be much use long-term.

by IanH Sun Nov 10, 2024 8:54 pm

A better long term solution is a 100w solar panel , dual battery controller and wire direct to each battery.
Works 24/7/365 and enough to be off grid for as long as you want.

by Caraman Mon Nov 11, 2024 7:02 am

It could just be that the OP's vehicle battery has failed due to age. Even if kept fully charged, they don't last for ever.

by IanH Mon Nov 11, 2024 7:46 am

Certainly could and probably is the issue. However batteries which are kept full last better than those sporadically charged and are always available for whatever is required of them. Imho this is best done by solar, particularly for vans in outdoor storage.
This also copes best with parasitic loads such as immobiliser, alarms etc.

by Caraman Mon Nov 11, 2024 8:08 am

IanH wrote:Certainly could and probably is the issue. However batteries which are kept full last better than those sporadically charged and are always available for whatever is required of them. Imho this is best done by solar, particularly for vans in outdoor storage.
This also copes best with parasitic loads such as immobiliser, alarms etc.

I agree entirely and something like one of these would probably do the trick without going to the expense of full-blooded roof mounted regulated system which is mainly for using the van off-grid but can keep both batteries topped up when the van is out of use:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Battery charger not switching

Battery charger not switching

Re: Battery charger not switching

Re: Battery charger not switching

Re: Battery charger not switching

Re: Battery charger not switching

Re: Battery charger not switching

Re: Battery charger not switching