Battery not charging

Hi all,

Need some help! 

Leisure battery has stopped working and is down to 10.2volts. Van battery is fine and alternator is fine as had it checked. 

Got a split relay fitted which is showing a red led light when ignition is on. No broken wired running to the leisure battery.

Is it a case of new relay or anybody got any pointers before I buy one?

Dan. 

When the engine is running are you getting voltage too the relay? Normally out of the relay it’s fused before it goes too the leisure battery. Check the fuse if so.

When the engine is running are you getting voltage too the relay? Normally out of the relay it’s fused before it goes too the leisure battery. Check the fuse if so.

DJT said:

Hi all,

Need some help! 

Leisure battery has stopped working and is down to 10.2volts. Van battery is fine and alternator is fine as had it checked. 

Got a split relay fitted which is showing a red led light when ignition is on. No broken wired running to the leisure battery.

Is it a case of new relay or anybody got any pointers before I buy one?

Dan. 

Click to expand...

Not sure how yours works. Our split charge relay only shows a red light when the alternator is charging. If you have power to the relay then your problem is either the relay or the cable after the relay that goes to the leisure battery. There should be a fuse between the relay and the leisure battery, so if you are getting power to the relay, then check if you are getting power from the relay. If you are then look at the fuse.

The best way to identify if an alternators charging is with a multimeter. A charging alternator should show 13.9v + across the battery.

How old is the battery and how much have you used it? They do wear out..

Fuse is fine, alternator and van battery is good. Not sure if voltage is getting to relay?!

Ive just phoned the chap who fitted it and he said he would charge it over night? Had the battery about four months now, used near enough every day but by no means maced it out. I haven't done a top up charge myself. Is this something I should have been doing?

DJT said:

 I haven't done a top up charge myself. Is this something I should have been doing?

Click to expand...

Yes.

Some people seem to get by without it, but I believe the health of your leisure battery is better off with regular topping off.

I charge it every night, just mounted the charger and a retracting cable reel permanently in the van. 5 second job to hook up.

How many miles are you driving on average is an important factor if you are only doing short runs and driving a few miles from home then split relay is pointless hence your battery has dropped to 10.2 which means it has never had a decent charge in 4 months and you have scraped by with the skin of your teeth and possibly prematurely knackered your battery. 

Mine goes on charge every 2 nights through the warmer months then every night through the colder months as recommended by @spruce I consider him the expert and although my last Halfords battery only lasted 1 year despite having a 2-year guarantee I put that down to them been rubbish so going to but a Banner Battery next

The issue I have is that I use a Stream-Box pump-box so I am restricted in the size of the battery I can place inside the plastic box after doing a little research just now batteries fall under different classes as explained  On this page so typically batteries we are sold and used aren't the correct class of battery. 

Well that is brilliant, at least now I know what to do in the future.

So final question is any decent chargers anyone recommends?

Its a 150amp battery

DJT said:

Well that is brilliant, at least now I know what to do in the future.

So final question is any decent chargers anyone recommends?

Its a 150amp battery

Click to expand...

Search for ‘Numax’ battery chargers.

Halfords smart charger works just fine.,but a C-Tek charger is supposed to be the best.

County Durham Lad

I had a problem with my battery because I didnt use it. Put it on a trickle charge for a couple of days and it brought it back to life.

Thanks everyone for there help. Brought a smart charger and hooked it up over night, works great now! Will charge it more frequently in future!

DJT said:

Thanks everyone for there help. Brought a smart charger and hooked it up over night, works great now! Will charge it more frequently in future!

Click to expand...

The lead acid battery experts recommend you only use the first 50% of your batteries capacity before recharging. Running your battery flat will shorten its service life span. For your 150amp battery you should recharge after you have used 75 amps. With our Varistream controllers and the flow we use, each of our Shurflo pumps draws about 4.5 amps of current per working hour. Our experience is that on an average day we work 6 hours, 3 hours will be actual time the pump is running. This isn't always true as it depends on the work we are doing.

If we use that example as a single cleaner then you have used 13.5 amps from your 75 amp available charge. So in theory your battery will last a week before it needs recharging. Howver, I would still bench recharge it every 3 days at the most.

The fuller a battery gets when recharging the slower it accepts a charge. If my battery is fully charged and I run my pump for 5 minutes, my alternator will take a lot longer to replenish the charge than 5 minutes. As your battery gets flatter is will accept a higher rate of charge but as you are taking slightly more from the battery than you are putting back, sooner or later that the proverbial glass will be empty of water.  ( I read it would take a motorhome's alternator a 750km (450 miles) road trip to fully recharge a flat 75amp leisure battery. My Citroen Relay swb van has a 90 amp alternator and if memory serves me, the lwb Boxer, Relay, Ducato have higher capacity alternators when sold for motor home conversions. IMHO there is no way any of us are driving enough miles a day to rely on alternator charging alone to keep our batteries fully charged.)

I have a combo volt/amp gauge connected up to my leisure battery in my van. At any given time I can see how much current my pumps are drawing and when the engine is running, the rate of charge going back into the battery. When the battery charging amps are between 1 and 2 on my way home I don't bother with getting the charger out. If the alternator is still pushing in 3 to 6 amps when I get home then the charger gets plugged into the battery for recharging.

In summer I usually recharge my 110 amp leisure battery every couple of nights (depending on battery demand) and in winter I do it every night when I put the frost heater in the back of the van.

I've got small problem with my portable long reach kit. When battery is connected to the charger, just one green light is lit up. 

It never changes despite of overnight charging or even if battery is charged all weekend.