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UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: dazmond on January 05, 2023, 05:07:30 pm

Title: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 05, 2023, 05:07:30 pm
I had a new van battery fitted the other day and my b to b charger is charging my 2 x numax batteries up in double quick time just driving around in between jobs and driving home....

Again for the second day running I plugged my charger in when I got home  and it's showing my batteries are fully charged despite having my diesel heater running for 6 hours,electric reel,etc.....

What's happening?I've always had to plug a charger in every night when using my diesel heater all day
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 05, 2023, 05:10:33 pm
New van battery is an EFB100 start/stop battery(65ah) and my 2 numax batteries are 105ah each....
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Splash & dash on January 05, 2023, 05:11:57 pm
New van battery is an EFB100 start/stop battery(65ah) and my 2 numax batteries are 105ah each....


Spruce is the man for this one I think
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: NWH on January 05, 2023, 05:44:34 pm
I had a new van battery fitted the other day and my b to b charger is charging my 2 x numax batteries up in double quick time just driving around in between jobs and driving home....

Again for the second day running I plugged my charger in when I got home  and it's showing my batteries are fully charged despite having my diesel heater running for 6 hours,electric reel,etc.....

What's happening?I've always had to plug a charger in every night when using my diesel heater all day

Lol maybe a large pothole has sorted it Daz as it has with mine,you shouldn’t need to be charging everyday I never have done my issue was my bad wiring on the batteries burning out the wiring.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 05, 2023, 06:28:02 pm
I had a new van battery fitted the other day and my b to b charger is charging my 2 x numax batteries up in double quick time just driving around in between jobs and driving home....

Again for the second day running I plugged my charger in when I got home  and it's showing my batteries are fully charged despite having my diesel heater running for 6 hours,electric reel,etc.....

What's happening?I've always had to plug a charger in every night when using my diesel heater all day

Lol maybe a large pothole has sorted it Daz as it has with mine,you shouldn’t need to be charging everyday I never have done my issue was my bad wiring on the batteries burning out the wiring.

I've always had to charge my batteries up every night since I had my heater fitted over 5 years ago but strangely now I've changed the van battery I don't!I'm baffled....🤔
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: bravo20 on January 05, 2023, 06:34:21 pm
Perhaps your b to b charger wasn't connected properly before. Ask the guys who fit it if they noticed anything.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: simon w on January 05, 2023, 06:38:47 pm
Book your van into an auto electrician asap
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 05, 2023, 07:42:56 pm
Perhaps your b to b charger wasn't connected properly before. Ask the guys who fit it if they noticed anything.

Of course its connected up properly as when I start the van the voltage goes up to 14.1 from 12.7 and always has since it was fitted.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: NWH on January 05, 2023, 07:51:12 pm
Doesn’t mean anything it spikes and drops you need to be able to see this on the controller that’ll tell you it’s either a battery or wiring issue,you go back to the van can’t understand the heaters turned off etc and it’s reading 12-8-9 or 13-6 on the controller at some point it’s dropped below 10volts. 
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 05, 2023, 08:02:10 pm
Doesn’t mean anything it spikes and drops you need to be able to see this on the controller that’ll tell you it’s either a battery or wiring issue,you go back to the van can’t understand the heaters turned off etc and it’s reading 12-8-9 or 13-6 on the controller at some point it’s dropped below 10volts.

It's the reading on my controller.of course it's connected up as it's been recharging my batteries driving around and at lunchtime just not quite as much as it seems to be doing now I've changed the van battery....


My heater has never turned off due to low battery like yours nigel
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: DJW on January 05, 2023, 10:15:34 pm
Maybe your new battery is fully charged and doesn’t need any. Hence the excess is split to the heater batteries. 🤷‍♂️
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 05, 2023, 11:49:50 pm
Maybe your new battery is fully charged and doesn’t need any. Hence the excess is split to the heater batteries. 🤷‍♂️

Or maybe the original van battery was never that great?(Ford have been known to put sub standard batteries in the newer connects)and my b to b charger has been keeping it going as the smart charger always puts the van battery first...
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Smudger on January 06, 2023, 12:12:16 am
I would say it was either the original battery not unto the standard of the new one

OR

the connection(Earth) was not quite good enough to deliver a full charge and now its been moved its got a really good connection


Darran
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Simon Trapani on January 06, 2023, 07:05:55 am
As above. I would guess your old stop start battery was worn & so was taking most of the charge from the battery to battery charger with little left for the leisure batteries.

I know I don’t do enough mileage & my engine rarely gets warm enough for the right conditions for my stop start to kick in on my vivaro. Bought a new stop start battery & it kicked in for a week or so but soon went back to not working unless I’ve been on a lengthy trip. I had an auto electrician out when my ild batter failed. From time to time i do bench charge my stop start starter battery in situ. Even bought a ctek stop start charger. Just doesn’t get enough charge from me driving locally but I’m not charging that one nightly too.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: NWH on January 06, 2023, 08:14:11 am
I now know it’s never been the batteries Daz it was the wiring.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Splash & dash on January 06, 2023, 12:08:04 pm
As above. I would guess your old stop start battery was worn & so was taking most of the charge from the battery to battery charger with little left for the leisure batteries.

I know I don’t do enough mileage & my engine rarely gets warm enough for the right conditions for my stop start to kick in on my vivaro. Bought a new stop start battery & it kicked in for a week or so but soon went back to not working unless I’ve been on a lengthy trip. I had an auto electrician out when my ild batter failed. From time to time i do bench charge my stop start starter battery in situ. Even bought a ctek stop start charger. Just doesn’t get enough charge from me driving locally but I’m not charging that one nightly too.


My Renault master does  exactly the  same , but my MAN TGE stop start works all the time , ford  and Renault  are renowned  for theses  issues .
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 06, 2023, 03:22:44 pm
My heater has been running for 6 hours today.got home and plugged in charger and it went straight to float charge again....how does driving for 15 mins home(and 30 min lunch break with engine running) fully  recharge my batteries after having the heater on for 5 hours with engine off?
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: SB Cleaning on January 06, 2023, 05:09:05 pm
My heater has been running for 6 hours today.got home and plugged in charger and it went straight to float charge again....how does driving for 15 mins home(and 30 min lunch break with engine running) fully  recharge my batteries after having the heater on for 5 hours with engine off?
Oh well it will save you a few quid  on leccy now its running right....

I haven't mains charged mine in 2 years nearly,  you shouldn't have to keep plugging it to charge every night.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 06, 2023, 05:25:50 pm
My heater has been running for 6 hours today.got home and plugged in charger and it went straight to float charge again....how does driving for 15 mins home(and 30 min lunch break with engine running) fully  recharge my batteries after having the heater on for 5 hours with engine off?
Oh well it will save you a few quid  on leccy now its running right....

I haven't mains charged mine in 2 years nearly,  you shouldn't have to keep plugging it to charge every night.

Are you using a diesel heater and electric reel every day?
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: NWH on January 06, 2023, 05:33:32 pm
My heater has been running for 6 hours today.got home and plugged in charger and it went straight to float charge again....how does driving for 15 mins home(and 30 min lunch break with engine running) fully  recharge my batteries after having the heater on for 5 hours with engine off?
Oh well it will save you a few quid  on leccy now its running right....

I haven't mains charged mine in 2 years nearly,  you shouldn't have to keep plugging it to charge every night.

Listen to him Daz and you should listen to me coz I know everything you shouldn’t be needing to charge every night lol.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Simon Trapani on January 06, 2023, 05:36:33 pm
Electric reels don’t use much. They’re not running that long.

Still good practice to keep those batteries charged up. At least you know it shouldn’t matter if you miss the odd night.

Does seem a bit odd though a 45 minute engine run time is sending it straight to float. Battery to battery chargers are supposed to be more efficient though.

You’ll just have to keep an eye on it.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: NWH on January 06, 2023, 05:41:39 pm
It won’t be the reel I was told the drain they have is minimal whilst in use,the diesel heater is a whole different story they’ll test you’re batteries.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: SB Cleaning on January 06, 2023, 06:09:31 pm
My heater has been running for 6 hours today.got home and plugged in charger and it went straight to float charge again....how does driving for 15 mins home(and 30 min lunch break with engine running) fully  recharge my batteries after having the heater on for 5 hours with engine off?
Oh well it will save you a few quid  on leccy now its running right....

I haven't mains charged mine in 2 years nearly,  you shouldn't have to keep plugging it to charge every night.

Are you using a diesel heater and electric reel every day?
Yes
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Spruce on January 06, 2023, 06:29:40 pm
I'd be focusing on the battery charger.

First thing I would do is plug the charger into the electric and test the voltage output using a multimeter. You should get a reading of around 13.9 to 14.2volts.

If you get nothing then it could be a break in the cable leaving the charger at the gland. I had a break there and had to repair the break.

If you switch the charger on and off at the socket and you manage to start the charger, a capacitor on the circuit board has likely blown.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 06, 2023, 06:31:14 pm
As I've always needed to charge up my batteries every night since having the diesel heater installed I thought it was normal esp with not doing much mileage(i average around 10-15 miles a day)
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 06, 2023, 06:33:43 pm
I'd be focusing on the battery charger.

First thing I would do is plug the charger into the electric and test the voltage output using a multimeter. You should get a reading of around 13.9 to 14.2volts.

If you get nothing then it could be a break in the cable leaving the charger at the gland. I had a break there and had to repair the break.

If you switch the charger on and off at the socket and you manage to start the charger, a capacitor on the circuit board has likely blown.

The charger is brand new spruce.its working fine mate.(numax connect and forget 20amp charger)
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Jonny 87 on January 07, 2023, 08:14:35 am
I'd be focusing on the battery charger.

First thing I would do is plug the charger into the electric and test the voltage output using a multimeter. You should get a reading of around 13.9 to 14.2volts.

If you get nothing then it could be a break in the cable leaving the charger at the gland. I had a break there and had to repair the break.

If you switch the charger on and off at the socket and you manage to start the charger, a capacitor on the circuit board has likely blown.

The charger is brand new spruce.its working fine mate.(numax connect and forget 20amp charger)

Problem is Daz, you don’t know if the charger is working correctly unless you follow what spruce has said. It could be lighting up faulty and saying the battery’s are fully charged when they are not.

If you don’t have a multimeter, check your batteries voltage with the engine off using the controller. Then plug the charger in and you should see the voltage increase. If it doesn’t, then your charger isn’t working properly.

There’s no way that your batteries are fully charged from even an hours driving a day. These heaters take a wack of charge out.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 07, 2023, 09:32:48 am
If my mains charger wasn't working then my heater would be dead after 3 days of running it for 6 hours per day.my leisure batteries would be flat and the little red light on the heater would flash( indicating low voltage).

My b to b charger must be putting enough power into my leisure batteries to keep them fully charged just driving to and from jobs.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Smudger on January 07, 2023, 09:47:46 am
correct Daz - the batteries just wouldn't last without charging.

if everything is running well don't look for a reason to f@@k it up.

as said - previously you had a bit of a dodgy earth wire

PS glad to see your ding your bit for the environment sitting there with the engine running for 1/2 hour a day

Darran
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: SB Cleaning on January 07, 2023, 09:49:29 am


My b to b charger must be putting enough power into my leisure batteries to keep them fully charged just driving to and from jobs.
Mine  has done for nearly 2 years, I do more mileage than you some days though.
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 07, 2023, 12:02:53 pm
correct Daz - the batteries just wouldn't last without charging.

if everything is running well don't look for a reason to f@@k it up.

as said - previously you had a bit of a dodgy earth wire

PS glad to see your ding your bit for the environment sitting there with the engine running for 1/2 hour a day

Darran

Yep always have my engine running at lunchtime mate... :)

Summer for air con and winter for heated seat....👌
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: dazmond on January 07, 2023, 12:05:57 pm
Checked the voltage with battery charger disconnected and engine off(12.7)and with charger connected and engine off(13.6)so it must be working fine!🙂
Title: Re: Charging issue?..new van battery.
Post by: Spruce on January 07, 2023, 01:47:19 pm
I'd be focusing on the battery charger.

First thing I would do is plug the charger into the electric and test the voltage output using a multimeter. You should get a reading of around 13.9 to 14.2volts.

If you get nothing then it could be a break in the cable leaving the charger at the gland. I had a break there and had to repair the break.

If you switch the charger on and off at the socket and you manage to start the charger, a capacitor on the circuit board has likely blown.

The charger is brand new spruce.its working fine mate.(numax connect and forget 20amp charger)

Then I would switch the b2b charger off for a couple of days and then see what the charger does when you put it back on.