J
jsundqvist
- Messages
- 2
Hi,
I have a -99 California Coach which i bought in 2013. At that time it still had the original Sonnenschein leisure battery (140ah) from -99 fitted and it held up good. After two seasons, however, the battery totally broke down and at the time it happened i believed that it was due to someone leaving the fridge on and thereby ruining the battery.
I bought an expensive replacement battery (the Exide ES 1600 140ah one that has replaced the Sonnenschein battery) and it worked out well during 2015 and 2016. This winter, however, i suddenly experienced problems with the battery running out very quickly. The first time it happened i had left the van standing in a dark place for a month or so and since it is fitted with a solar panel i thought that it was due to the battery having been slowly drained since it had not received the solar charge it usually gets (used to park it on the street). Once i got back home i instantly plugged the van to the mains charger (for a week or so) and it helped a little, but the battery wore out very quickly also the next time (should mention that this was during winter time in Sweden, so below 0 degrees celcius).
The third time around it did not work at all. I have tried to charge it, and to recondition it using the "recond" setting on the CTEK, but this won't work either. Thus, i do believe that my new battery has gone completely worn out in less than two years. Although it has been deeply discharged a couple of times, also in cold conditions, it doesn't seem reasonable that it should totally break down in this short time? Last winter it was stored outside of the van, plugged to a CTEK charger in maintenance mode.
Therefore, before i go and buy myself a new expensive battery, i wonder whether there is something else that may have caused the batteries (perhaps the old one as well since it went from ok to useless so quickly) to break down?
It seems as if it, at least historically, has charged just fine from the mains and also when driving. Voltage indicator says between 14.3 and 14.5 when driving (and has done so since i bought the van).
Very hard finding skilled California mechanics in Sweden, so i think i need to find this out myself. Anyone have any clues what might be the issue here? May it be the CTEK charger that destroyed it? Or the van's internal charger?
Happy to hear your thoughts!
I have a -99 California Coach which i bought in 2013. At that time it still had the original Sonnenschein leisure battery (140ah) from -99 fitted and it held up good. After two seasons, however, the battery totally broke down and at the time it happened i believed that it was due to someone leaving the fridge on and thereby ruining the battery.
I bought an expensive replacement battery (the Exide ES 1600 140ah one that has replaced the Sonnenschein battery) and it worked out well during 2015 and 2016. This winter, however, i suddenly experienced problems with the battery running out very quickly. The first time it happened i had left the van standing in a dark place for a month or so and since it is fitted with a solar panel i thought that it was due to the battery having been slowly drained since it had not received the solar charge it usually gets (used to park it on the street). Once i got back home i instantly plugged the van to the mains charger (for a week or so) and it helped a little, but the battery wore out very quickly also the next time (should mention that this was during winter time in Sweden, so below 0 degrees celcius).
The third time around it did not work at all. I have tried to charge it, and to recondition it using the "recond" setting on the CTEK, but this won't work either. Thus, i do believe that my new battery has gone completely worn out in less than two years. Although it has been deeply discharged a couple of times, also in cold conditions, it doesn't seem reasonable that it should totally break down in this short time? Last winter it was stored outside of the van, plugged to a CTEK charger in maintenance mode.
Therefore, before i go and buy myself a new expensive battery, i wonder whether there is something else that may have caused the batteries (perhaps the old one as well since it went from ok to useless so quickly) to break down?
It seems as if it, at least historically, has charged just fine from the mains and also when driving. Voltage indicator says between 14.3 and 14.5 when driving (and has done so since i bought the van).
Very hard finding skilled California mechanics in Sweden, so i think i need to find this out myself. Anyone have any clues what might be the issue here? May it be the CTEK charger that destroyed it? Or the van's internal charger?
Happy to hear your thoughts!
