SCR question, and leisure battery

[ShropsWindowCleaner]

Hi all. I have a SCR fitted to my 08 Renault Trafic, and a leisure battery powering pump and electric reel. Never had any issues until recently. Split charger appears to be working correctly. However, when the engine is running the leisure battery is only receiving 13.4 volts, which apparently is too low to charge it. The battery is getting on a bit, and doesn’t hold a charge like it used to. Would the fact it’s only receiving 13.4 volts be the fact the leisure battery needs replacing? Or is there a an issue with my SCR? The van battery receives 14.4 volts when the engine is running. Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

[ched999uk]

First thing I would do is check all connections to the SCR including all earth points. If you are getting a 1v difference between the van battery and the SCR then there is probably a problem. Any poor connections will reduce the voltage so check fuse connections as well as earths at both ends of the cables. If you have a multimeter you should be able to locate the poor connection by measuring the voltage at each point along the cable from van battery. i.e. use a long wire and connect the multimeter to the -ve of the van battery. Measure the van battery voltage at it's +ve terminal, then keeping the multimeter attached to the -ve of the van battery measure the voltage at the input to the fuse on the thick cable that goes to the SCR near the van battery, then check the voltage at the output of the fuse, then the input of the SCR, then the output of the SCR and so on till you find they point at which the reading drops. That should lead you to the fault.

I would also bench charge the leisure battery.
Hope that helps?

 

[ShropsWindowCleaner]

First thing I would do is check all connections to the SCR including all earth points. If you are getting a 1v difference between the van battery and the SCR then there is probably a problem. Any poor connections will reduce the voltage so check fuse connections as well as earths at both ends of the cables. If you have a multimeter you should be able to locate the poor connection by measuring the voltage at each point along the cable from van battery. i.e. use a long wire and connect the multimeter to the -ve of the van battery. Measure the van battery voltage at it's +ve terminal, then keeping the multimeter attached to the -ve of the van battery measure the voltage at the input to the fuse on the thick cable that goes to the SCR near the van battery, then check the voltage at the output of the fuse, then the input of the SCR, then the output of the SCR and so on till you find they point at which the reading drops. That should lead you to the fault.

I would also bench charge the leisure battery.
Hope that helps?

That’s an extremely helpful reply, thank you! ???? I will do that over the weekend and let the forum know how it goes ??

 

[ShropsWindowCleaner]

After some troubleshooting it turned out the battery was dying, and died when I had three houses to go last week ? New leisure battery purchased and connected. Everything running smoothly and SCR functioning well. I contacted Tayna batteries, but was put off purchasing from them as they don’t give a warranty with their batteries if used on a pole system. I went to Euro Car Parts and got a similar spec battery with a warranty ??

 

[ShropsWindowCleaner]

After some troubleshooting it turned out the battery was dying, and died when I had three houses to go last week ? New leisure battery purchased and connected. Everything running smoothly and SCR functioning well. I contacted Tayna batteries, but was put off purchasing from them as they don’t give a warranty with their batteries if used on a pole system. I went to Euro Car Parts and got a similar spec battery with a warranty ??

I will add though, that Tayna were very pleasant and extremely helpful with general advice on leisure batteries for pole systems. Just a shame about the warranty.

 

[Iron Giant]

I will add though, that Tayna were very pleasant and extremely helpful with general advice on leisure batteries for pole systems. Just a shame about the warranty.

If Euro Car Parts knew what you are using the battery for they most likely would honour the warranty either,

I purchased my Numax battery from Tanya Batteries 3 years ago last August and it's still going strong just had BAT flash up the odd time on my controller when reeling in with my electric reel towards the end of my working day.

 

[spruce]

I will add though, that Tayna were very pleasant and extremely helpful with general advice on leisure batteries for pole systems. Just a shame about the warranty.

Most battery suppliers and manufacturers are rejecting window cleaner claims. We are classed as battery abusers.

Lead acid batteries require being fully recharged asap when they have been used. Once you start to let your battery's charge drop below 50% capacity, your battery's longevity will suffer. Unfortunately, most SCR users believe they do enough mileage to keep their batteries fully charged when they aren't as they don't do enough mileage.

My battery goes on charge every night.

 

[spruce]

Battery Warranty - What is Covered?

Your new battery comes with a manufactiuers warranty. Here we explain what is and what is not covered.

www.tayna.co.uk

This is how nearly all supplier's warranty is worded to exclude window cleaners.

Reading between the lines, this website page has a lot of useful battery care tips. One is to keep our battery fully charged to prevent sulphation.

As I've often repeated, an Australian RV magazine stated it would take a road trip of 750km to fully recharge a leisure battery.