pinky

Apologies if you already are aware of this info

FYI the charger units in caravans will only 'top up' a leisure battery up to the level it was when it is first attached NOT fully recharge it (this I was told by an independent caravan engineer) so don't rely on it. So it needs to be fully charged first, and a brand new one might not be. I've used M-mover all season long for 5 years and never had to replace a battery (even a cheapy £50 one)

The battery needs to be fully charged before you use it in the van, and at the end of the season I put mine on a CTEK charger to keep it topped up over winter then you know its generally going to be OK for the next season.

My CTEK charger will recover a so called dead one, and did when an old fashioned type charger didn't, but you need a high capacity one to do it as leisure batteries are difficult to recover.

This is what I use;
http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/ctek-xs7000.php

Nick,
the warranty with batteries is non to clever though, if it has a two year warranty and it fails after a year they don't normally replace it with another battery they give you half your money back or sell you another one at half price, a well known nationwide motorist store is good at that
Also if the battery has been stood and is completey discharged there is a good chance it is totally it would pay you to get one of those solar panels just to keep it trickled over the winter it worked for me for two years but have access to power now so it is connected to the mains throughout the winter. p****d off with a Digital Keyboard Warrior

Thanks MVS, I knew a battery needed a charge to fully top it up, hense me taking it off in December and it was fully charged then, between then and Sunday, it was still working the lights anyway

My ring smartcharge 16 previously did this not problem, but since been on charge since Sunday it still saying 0% charge, when charging it looks to be trickle charging at 12v or 0.2amp (I think that's what the display says)

It's still flash it's green light to say it's charging, if the battery was It would tell me, and it sparked like when I touched + to -

With it been a smart charger I'm wondering if it's slowly charging it to try bring it up to a limit where is can be normally charged with it 14v input Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Smart chargers on a dead battery tend to put them on a high charge rate, our Optimate says by up to 24v sometimes to de sulphurise 'dead' batteries. Haven't read all the posts but just though that could be relevant  Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

Mmm I wonder what mines trying to do then.....  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

It sounds like the charger 'may be trying' but I have to say I'm not a great fan on the Ring ones. They often say they have the capacity to charge a 125aH battery lets say, but in reality can only 'maintenance charge it'.

Also it depends whether it can tell it is a leisure battery. Some of the 'so called' smart ones can't, as they are purely designed for Deep Cycle (car batteries) and short of looking at the chargers specs its hard to tell. The one I linked to can supply up to 7Amps which is as high/higher than a a lot of 'old type' ones you may be able to borrow.

More info here, don't just take my word for it, these things win awards for good reason

http://www.ctek.com/EN-GB/consumer/mxs-7000.aspx

P.S. If fully charged I think sparks would be a bit more serious (melting things) even a part charged one holds a lot of residual energy

Looked at specs/manual of current Smart16 and it should have a manual recondition control/button have you tried this

Think you need to disconnect batt & mains to reset this, it will come up with an error F05 after 5 attempts if it thinks the battery is sh gged.

HTH

I have tried the button but still read zero

Just tried it with a load, fog light on my cycle rack, dropped to 11.8v and 0.2amps

Tried the charger to check charge of wifes car, said 0

Tried the charger on my car an it said 80%

Going to have to get a volt meter and try this battery as I am now thinking 0 might mean 100%, thinking there might be a problem with the display but when I press the recondition button all displays do light up Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Manual does suggest it should say 100% so maybe the display is somehow malfunctioning, I take it your wife's car still starts and the battery isn't flat.

If it's reading 11.8v it's still low so maybe it does need a good charge at a high rate for a couple of hours if you manually set this, then reeboot/reconnect to get it on it's normal cycle.

Manual is here is you haven't already found it/lost them

http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/images/pdf...026-08.pdf

Yep, the wifes car start

You can only press the button to say what amp you want to use, there's a guide to which to use to which size battery, mine is a 110amh/h so need to select the highest setting 16 for charging

If I press the recondition button it have 3 horizontal lines that move up, then eventually it selects the charging cycle, in my case 12.0v


Rang my mate who is a RAC chappy, hopefully he'll have a tester and I'll bottom this once and for all

BTW the charger is new, dropped my last one and got it replace end of last year, Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Well it maybe , showing it had 300amp charge or something, couldn't find it's SAE? on the battery so guessed at 1000 truck as his tester didn't have an option for leisure type

Wifes needs a charge and my 700 SAE is producing 863 Which is fine I think

Anyway his connected it to his van and will have it on charge for a day or so to kick some life into it, hopefully Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Result

My mate in his RAC van dropped off the battery last night, the visual indicator that was showing, black (in need of a charge) was showing green (charged)

His meter also said it had gone from 300 sae? to 588 sae?, my battery charger was popped on it and it said 100%, but we decided that it would be no harm to leave it on charge and it started charging at 14.2v

I guess it needed that jolt to kick start the in to been able to be charged  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

NP, I have just picked up your threadafter a day or so away and it sounds to me that the battery will be f d anyway. either the cells have sulphated due to them being drastically run down or even if it is fully charged up there is a cell damamgede and the first time it comes under load the battery will fail again. Two points though:
How come your fridge workd on 12 volt when engine of tow vehicle not running (sounds like a relay has gone belly up)
What's up with CG, trying to help a vanner
On a final note the Elecsol batteries are superb even if a bit dearer as they do not use lead and they take the high amperage load from a mover much better. Ralph
Zurmatt Silver, Diesel, Automatic, side steps, mud flaps, mats, boot liner, TomTom Start 60 installed, rubbing strips, removable Brink tow bar, after market tinted glass, front styling bar, Rear spoiler, Motorlicious tail pipe trim. Wood Company centre armrest

Or maybe a light left on some where that you havent seen.
I always make sure im the last one out of the van and turn the main DC switch off incase some little fingers start playing with the light switches

walsherz wrote:

I always make sure the last one out of the van splashes petrol around and drops a match

 At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race