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Batteries constantly dying even though on trickle charge - help!


OliveOyl

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Hi All

 

Another newbie here.

 

I have an old boat which is stationary at the moment, and hooked up to a landline. One)brand new leisure battery on constant charge via a 12v battery charger (as recommended by neighbouring boaters). Been fine for months then suddenly - battery dies. Battery charger red light on (for power) but not charging, Went and bought another 115ah battery, checked battery charger, all fine - lights came back on, water pump works again., hurray!

 

Few weeks go by, lights die, water pump not working. Battery dead. Charger still plugged into mains socket and attached to battery but not charging. My multimeter registered 00 charge!!!

 

Got out a very old small battery charger 6V and put battery on charge - bingo,it's now charging (I found out from internet about smart chargers not 'recognising' very low/no volts in batteries).

 

Now what do I do? I have even found out what 'parasitic drain' means and checked that nothing is switched on, but am lost for ideas. Is it something to do with the inverter? (I flipped a switch upwards on it yesterday and the TV went off so I have now put it back down).

 

 

I can wire a plug and change a fuse, but other than that, the sum total of my electrical knowledge is written above. (I have impressed myself with having got this far!).

 

Any advice/suggestions very much appreciated, as I am determined to crack this.

 

 

OliveOyl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Just random thoughts :

 

1) is the landline actually 'switched on' ?, have you credit ? have you tested it with any other appliances ?

2) is the battery charger connected to the inverter ? is it drawing its power from the battery rather than the land line ?

3) on my 'home' battery charger (not the boat one) it has two red lights - one comes on when you connect it to the battery, the other comes on when it is getting 'mains'

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Hi Alan

 

1) Not sure what you mean by "is the landline switched on" ??? The wire is plugged into the mains - yes electricity has credit - and into the box thing at the back at the boat where elec connects. "Have you tested....?" do you mean have I connected the battery charger to another battery to check? No, but Halfords did when I returned the battery and charger to complain - the battery was dead, but they connected the charger to one of their batteries and it came on as 'charging'.

2) I have no idea I'm afraid. I took pics yesterday in the hope someone on here could help me fathom it out.

3) I only have one battery charger. From Halfords, three lights, first one=power, 2nd =charging 3rd=fully charged (only the power light comes on when attached to this battery and mains).

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If you have shore power you should not need to run the inverter. Maybe the inverter is drawing more power than the charger can provide? Please post a photo of your inverter and your charger showing make and model number. This will enable us all to give you quick and accurate help.

  • Greenie 1
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A mate of mine bought a Halfords charger for an occasionally used car a few months back and it didn't work right out the box. He returned it for replacement and then found that it turned itself off after 24 hours. On my suggestion he returned it and bought a CTEK.

 

So that's a long-winded way of saying that the charger is probably useless for permanent connection in a marine environment. It is also very possible, as others have suggested, that you have something on the boat which is drawing more power than your little £40 charger can supply.

 

There's a charger from Halfords for £39 here: http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/battery-chargers-jump-starters/halfords-automatic-battery-charger-vehicles-up-to-2-0l It states in the blurb " Not suitable for vehicles with START/STOP technology, or for long-term connection.".

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Hi Alan

 

1) Not sure what you mean by "is the landline switched on" ??? The wire is plugged into the mains - yes electricity has credit - and into the box thing at the back at the boat where elec connects. "Have you tested....?"

 

A land-line can 'trip' if overloaded or is there is a fault anywhere in the 'system'. (same as a 'fuse' box in a house) When this happens it will not be 'putting out' any electricity, eve if it shows you have credit.

Check to see if the 'switch' (on the bollard) is in the 'on' position.

 

Re testing - I meant switch off your inverter and plug a hair dryer / toaster / soldering iron / electric drill (or some such 'mains' appliance) and see if it works - if it doesn't, then for whatever reason you are not getting electricity from the land line into your boat

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If the problem is NOT other loads, and is simply that the charger is unsuitable for long-term connection to a battery then for only a little more money I'd suggest this CTEK: http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/battery-chargers-jump-starters/ctek-m45-12v-3-6a-4-stage-marine-battery-charger It should be be okay for maintaining a single 110Ah battery

 

edited to correct the link

Edited by WotEver
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I will try and upload some pics in a few minutes.

 

My puzzle is - how come it all worked fine for months, then stopped. I'm not aware of making any changes,.

 

 

The boat has sockets (like in a house, no lighter type sockets). The water pump and lights run off 12v I understand, and it it these that are dying/have stopped working.The TV, fridge, freezer, all work (via sockets) . So in response to MROSS, if I turn the inverter off, all the power to the sockets stops, and then there will be nppower to the boat for anything. As I said, I will try and find out how to upload the pics I took yesterday.

 

Meanwhile everyone, thank you so much for taking the time to try and help.

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Maybe it's just because you have been using more electricity? Lights on for longer in the winter. I guess you were just breaking even before with the charger able to top up the batteries when your usage was low (at night) but now you are using just enough to flatten the battery. A battery that is never fully charged gets worse and worse.

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... if I turn the inverter off, all the power to the sockets stops, and then there will be nppower to the boat for anything. As I said, I will try and find out how to upload the pics I took yesterday.

 

Which inverter is it? As you have shore power, that should be feeding your sockets without the inverter being switched on, although that is not the case for all inverters , hence my question.

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That charger has a 20A fuse. So, if you are using 1A in all your 240 sockets the charger is not able to keep up. (12V x 20A = 240 Watts - at 240V this is only 1A and this ignores efficiency of your inverter)

 

I see that charger is suitable for long term connection but only if there is no load on the battery.

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That charger has a 20A fuse. So, if you are using 1A in all your 240 sockets the charger is not able to keep up. (12V x 20A = 240 Watts - at 240V this is only 1A and this ignores efficiency of your inverter)

 

I see that charger is suitable for long term connection but only if there is no load on the battery.

 

Are you talking about the CTEK? If so then yes, it is only a battery maintainer. If OP is using lots of 12V appliances then she needs a 'proper' charger, not a forty quid Halfords toy.

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Are you talking about the CTEK? If so then yes, it is only a battery maintainer. If OP is using lots of 12V appliances then she needs a 'proper' charger, not a forty quid Halfords toy.

No, I was reacting to the photo. I thought the OP had posted it, but it was Bizzard. (My CTEK did not prevent my car battery failing when I was away for 3 months but battery was quite old, odd because it was fine when I left)

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