Recently we paid $2800 to have a SP200M solar panel fitted to our caravan roof plus two 105Ah(full river 12v 105ah m8 terminal) batteries installed under the bed.
The price included a device that indicates what power we have in the batteries. (3020 solar regulator) I think its usually between 12-13.5 amps. Also an anderson plug on the 4WD AND VAN. (we already have twin batteries in the 4WD)
We already had a battery charger installed when we experienced problems a few years back. MXS 25 CTEK.
The auto elec told us we could easily run our led lights, water pump and TV/DVD at the same time without any issues for at least 3-4 days whilst free camping.
On our first trip to (free camping, fully charged batteries) we were watching a DVD and upon turning on a lights the DVD shut down. This even happened with the TV. (The van was still connected to the 4wd via the anderson plug) To cut a long story short we can't use the DVD or TV with the lights on, sometimes when using the pump the TV/DVD cuts out also. The power reading can drop from say 13.5 to 12 or even 11.5 within a minute or so.
I am not getting much assistance from the auto elec so we decided to see if someone out there can give us some ideas/clues to a possible problem/solution.
I apologise for rambling but we are not technical people.
Bob, Are you able to have the batteries tested - (all 4)? Does your Anderson plug have power without ignition turned on? With power dropping to 11.5 volts I suspect you have a dead cell somewhere in your circuit.
What type/brand of van do you have? One of the other people on here may have had a similar problem.
Possum.
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where is the power reading connected - is it direct off the batteries ..... if so it sounds like a battery fault . If the reading is remote from batteries it suggests wiring is too 'light' to your appliances .
-- Edited by lizard on Wednesday 4th of November 2015 09:54:05 AM
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I'm going to throw a few ideas up in the sky to help you get some idea of what may be wrong, then again at my age I'm probably wrong too lol.
Sounds like you have not charged the batteries at all if they are cutting out on load like that, or the system for charging and regulation is not set up properly.
Some caravan systems will allow you to set the maximum amount of current you can draw from the batteries at any given time, you may want to check these, is the fridge still set on 12 volts? Is the electrical system still connected to the car? Is the solar regulator connected correctly? (You may need to get the auto electrician to check this, could be the battery is discharging through the panel.
These are some things that come to mind at this time, if you have some way to measure the voltage of the battery that would be handy, around 13 volts is OK, anything lower than 11.9 is not so flash.
I hope this gets sorted for you, we have a similar set up to you and have never had issues even when TV and lights are on together. The solar put enough charge in the batteries for the next night.
Cheers
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Homebase is Murray Bridge Tourist Park (in a cabin). New Horse.. 2020 Ford Everest Titanium, Jayco swan for touring.
Hi Bob
The first step is to have your house batteries individually tested FOR their existing capacity [Amphrs},as batteries age they loose Amphr capacity,
Although they show fully charged by voltage it only means their remaining capacity is fully charged
If you watch your voltmeter it should show the voltage dropping with the load.
The other possibility is you have a bad connection /joint in the wiring [Do you have & know how to use a multimeter??]
If so we could take you through a step by step testing procedure
But my first check would be the actual battery terminals ,take them apart & clean ALL contact surfaces to bright metal then reassemble& see if that improves things
PeterQ
Welcome Bob , firstly does your solar system have the capabilities of telling you current draw and supply , it sounds like a bad connection some where , maybe in the wiring or a high resistance joint in one battery causing such a fast drop in supply . do you have a charger and if so what happens when you plug into 240v , , if you are still plugged into the tug that means you have 4 x 100 ah batteries in parallel , is the fridge 3 way or straight 12/240 v. some thing to think about .
We have experienced exactly what you describe. I think the simple answer to your problem with the TV / VCR is what a lot of caravans suffer from and that is wiring that is simply too small in size to handle the currents involved. I would suggest a test by wiring direct from batteries with heavy cable to the TV /VCR. Then retry the scenarios where problems were found. I'll bet that everything works fine. Now you will have the problem of supplying sufficient power by rewiring most of your 12V demands. Most earlier caravans that came with batteries were wired to work lights and nothing else. As an example I reckon you only have one 12V outlet and that for the TV. We got around this in our Coromal van by completely rewiring the fridge power circuit first. We utilized the original fridge wiring to power the TV and Sat Decoder and now don't have problems when using other power hungry devices in the caravan.
Either you have dud batteries or your system is wired incorrectly or both.
From my experience you should see 13.8volts when batteries are fully charge and connected to the solar panels. I dont let my batteries drop below 12.6 volts and that will take all day of moderate use. As has been stated volts reading is only a guide to battery storage condition you will need to get the batteries checked correctly which is done by a battery supplier who knows what they are doing, it involves placing a known load on the battery for a set period of time.
To give you some idea of a system performance my van has 3 x130 solar panels and 3 x 120 amp AGM batteries. This will run 12 volt fridge, inverter for washing machine, TV,led lighting etc. Bush camping only use gas for cooking and hot water. At start of the day 13.8 volts will drop to 12.6 volts if sunny all day and all the appliances are used. The 12 volt fridge will then have enough power for over night. So you capacity should run your TV DVD and Led lights no problem.
You are probably best finding a RV experienced electrician who knows what they are doing.
Good luck
We have experienced exactly what you describe. I think the simple answer to your problem with the TV / VCR is what a lot of caravans suffer from and that is wiring that is simply too small in size to handle the currents involved. I would suggest a test by wiring direct from batteries with heavy cable to the TV /VCR. Then retry the scenarios where problems were found. I'll bet that everything works fine. Now you will have the problem of supplying sufficient power by rewiring most of your 12V demands. Most earlier caravans that came with batteries were wired to work lights and nothing else. As an example I reckon you only have one 12V outlet and that for the TV. We got around this in our Coromal van by completely rewiring the fridge power circuit first. We utilized the original fridge wiring to power the TV and Sat Decoder and now don't have problems when using other power hungry devices in the caravan.
Alan
The TV/DVD combos in vans will generally run quite happily on 3mm twin Auto wire (about 1.13mm˛), unless you have a very large unit. I think the main problem stems from the battery voltage being pulled down by whatever loads are connected.
Edit: And or possibly a poor, high resistance, connection on the TV/DVD unit.
-- Edited by 03_Troopy on Thursday 5th of November 2015 07:46:10 AM
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