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Post Info TOPIC: Battery showing discharge
Marken


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Battery showing discharge
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G'day all

I have an Thumper Extreme 110AH battery from Blue Apple which is mainly used to power the external fridge but is constantly recharged by 160 watt solar panels.

It works well and I have had no issues with it but recently noticed that when connected to nothing at all the built in display is showing -0.4 amp. I am sure it used to rest at 0.00 and only noticed the new reading in the last few days after returning from a short trip.

The voltage has remained at 13.2  over the last four days so it is not showing any signs of a rapid disharge.

I would contact the suppliers (House of 12 volt) but after many repeated and unanswered emails for problems with a different item I resorted to attending one of the local shows where they were exhibiting and got the problem fixed there and then. So I don't have much faith in their communications regarding backup.

Any suggestions or ideas pls Grey Nomadders.

Regards

Marken



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Marken
brian


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If you are sure that there are no loads connected, then it will likely be a calibration error. If it is a digital meter, the problem could be a shunt calibration or the meter itself, Most good meters have a calibration pot for the purpose of getting the readings right. If it is a centre zero moving coil type meter, then there will be a small "centre zero" adjusti ng screw just below the needle. Turning this screw in the opposite direction to required needle movement will fix it.

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dorian


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The ammeter and voltmeter are digital devices. The current shunt is rated for 50A.

www.home12volt.com.au/thumper-extreme-110-ah.html

A genuine current discharge of 0.4 amp over 4 days would amount to a loss of capacity of around 40AH (= 0.4 x 24 x 4).

The power dissipation at 12V would be around 5W. Is it possible to open up the unit and feel around for hot spots? Can you disconnect the volt meter?



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justcruisin01


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Marken wrote:

G'day all

I have an Thumper Extreme 110AH battery from Blue Apple which is mainly used to power the external fridge but is constantly recharged by 160 watt solar panels.

It works well and I have had no issues with it but recently noticed that when connected to nothing at all the built in display is showing -0.4 amp. I am sure it used to rest at 0.00 and only noticed the new reading in the last few days after returning from a short trip.

The voltage has remained at 13.2  over the last four days so it is not showing any signs of a rapid disharge.

I would contact the suppliers (House of 12 volt) but after many repeated and unanswered emails for problems with a different item I resorted to attending one of the local shows where they were exhibiting and got the problem fixed there and then. So I don't have much faith in their communications regarding backup.

Any suggestions or ideas pls Grey Nomadders.

Regards

Marken

 Marken, had a similar thing a few yrs back,different battery & showing a small discharge when nothing connected.

The cause was a fault in a anti feed back diode between the positive battery terminal of the reg & the negative load terminal of reg.

A simple replacement diode from Jaycar for a few cents & all good, no further probs but I carry a couple of spares.

JC



-- Edited by justcruisin01 on Thursday 9th of January 2014 02:48:56 PM

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Marken


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RE: Battery showing discharge (update)
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Hi everyone

The battery that I have is in its own container with onboard volt/ameter so other than opening up the battery box I cannot get into the connections.

Just an update though since posting the original question the voltage has not dropped even .1 volts (still at 13.2) so I am quite sure that there is no GENUINE discharge and must be just a calibration error in the digital meter.

Rgds

Marken



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Marken
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