Flashing battery icon

[sidepod]

Bit of an odd one. Battery symbol on the overhead panel is flashing. I believe this should indicate sub 10.5v? Display is showing 12.7.
Neither fridge nor heater will work which suggests low voltage.
Once plugged in, all is good
Battery should be fully charged as it was plugged in overnight on Thursday followed by a 800k drive yesterday.

 

[WelshGas]

Bit of an odd one. Battery symbol on the overhead panel is flashing. I believe this should indicate sub 10.5v? Display is showing 12.7.
Neither fridge nor heater will work which suggests low voltage.
Once plugged in, all is good
Battery should be fully charged as it was plugged in overnight on Thursday followed by a 800k drive yesterday.

Have you tried resetting the Control Panel ?

 

[sidepod]

I’m not sure there is such a function? It’s been a long time since I studied the workings of this panel.
Anyway, plugged in for a couple of hours and all seems to be working although voltage display shows 13.1 which, I think is a partly charged? (Despite studying electrical engineering for 4 years battery charging is a dark art!)
So the question is, how did the battery become discharged in 24 hours and why was the display showing 12.7? TBC.

 

[WelshGas]

I’m not sure there is such a function? It’s been a long time since I studied the workings of this panel.
Anyway, plugged in for a couple of hours and all seems to be working although voltage display shows 13.1 which, I think is a partly charged? (Despite studying electrical engineering for 4 years battery charging is a dark art!)
So the question is, how did the battery become discharged in 24 hours and why was the display showing 12.7? TBC.

Can you not actually switch the Control Panel Off?
You can on the T5.1 and T6. There is actually a button for that.

 

[sidepod]

So I pulled the fuse for the display and the voltage shown fluctuates. Battery definitely not holding charge. All good on hook up.
Probs a failed battery which is a bit disappointing as it’s >3 years old. More investigation when I get back to base.

 

[sidepod]

Just to close the loop. Brand new battery fitted. All good again.

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

Is your charger original? Because you say your failed battery was less than three years old, I have known battery chargers to eventually bugger batteries as the Capacitors inside them dry out and there is then excessive ac ripple on the dc side when on electric hook up.

 

[sidepod]

Is your charger original? Because you say your failed battery was less than three years old, I have known battery chargers to eventually bugger batteries as the Capacitors inside them dry out and there is then excessive ac ripple on the dc side when on electric hook up.

Ok interesting. The charger is original. Is there a simple way to check this?

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

If your multimeter has a setting for Hz else it would be an oscilloscope

 

[sidepod]

If your multimeter has a setting for Hz else it would be an oscilloscope

It does, Duty cycle/Hz.
So what would I be expecting to see?

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

Set to hz and see if there is a frequency on the battery supply, both with battery connected and disconnected. Any ac pulsing isn't good for batteries, lighting doesn't care

 

[sidepod]

So got around to testing this, zero trace of frequency at the battery connected and disconnected.

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

Then there is no ac leakage on the battery charger, does it have different charging settings for different types of battery? What type of battery was/is fitted? Sealed Lead Acid (SLA), Absorbed Glass Mat Technology (AGM), and the new Lithium have different charging characteristics which might explain a premature failure if the wrong setting was selected.

 

[sidepod]

Then there is no ac leakage on the battery charger, does it have different charging settings for different types of battery? What type of battery was/is fitted? Sealed Lead Acid (SLA), Absorbed Glass Mat Technology (AGM), and the new Lithium have different charging characteristics which might explain a premature failure if the wrong setting was selected.

It does but they are correct.

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

Just a bit of bad luck with your previous battery then