leisure battery charging probs,weird fault?? any tips?

[chipvan]

hey guys can anyone cast thier expert brains on this one.. i have a twin charge willington kit

Tonight i noticed with the engine off that the inside lights were not on.

Then i just thought must be the fuses on the kit,all ok..weird

Then after a short drive home i tried again and bingo lights,radio ect all good.but then they all went again..
mmmm

so out came the multi meter with the engine running and with everything on i got 13.7v on main battery and 12.7 on leisure

then with engine off got 12.7 aprox on both

I then let the lights,raido blinds ect fail again.... and tested the leisure battery still 12.7 mmm weird..

should i just change up the leisure battery,than see what happens?? iam not sure how long it would take for it to charge by itself..

another thing is the cenrtal locking is not working either...



With all on everything i can switch on the lights ect are fine,not dim and would seem alternator is charging.....



Please help!! ahh

[g8dhe]

Your test results aren't clear!
Checking your Starter battery at 13.7v when the engine is idling sounds about right.
If your L/B only measures 12.7v when the engine is idling sounds correct as well, the voltage isn't high enough to cause the split charge relay to operate, the split charge relay usually needs above about 13.8-14.2 volts or more to operate.
With the engine off then both measure 12.7v that also sounds correct!
However if the lights/blinds/radio/central locking all fail then that suggests that whatever is powering them has also failed so you wouldn't be measuring 12.7v on both batteries ...... that is not right
The central locking switch fuse is also on one of the fuses switched over to the L/B that's why that fails.

Where exactly are you measuring the voltage on each battery ?
The best place is to put the probes actually on the lead terminals of the battery, not the connectors, nor any odd earthing points that are convenient - check at the battery terminals themselves!

[chipvan]

Thanks for you input

I took readings on the clamps that go round the posts of battery,and just done the same on the posts

central locking works when engine is on and so so all other things...

all starts and runs fine,it just seems to be on the l/b side of things..

[briwy]

Is the earth lead from the leisure battery earthing OK? Unbolt it, give it a clean a smear with vaseline or copper grease and try again. Just a thought.

[chipvan]

yep done that one...

not sure when the led green light on relay should come on? it seems to always be on is this correct?

not quite sure why buy i think it could be the relay...spose contact willinton for another one?

[Simon Jones]

My Willinton relay doesnt have the green LED, but I think it should only be on when its in charging mode. It may stay in that state for a few minutes after the engine is switched off until the voltage on the main battery drops so the relay disconnects.

[g8dhe]

Humm OK;

twin charge willington kit

What is the Twin bit about ?

How quickly do the interior lights etc take to go dim when you stop running ? I'm wondering if rather than a flat battery, which you voltage measurements say isn't the case, its a corrosion problem on connector / fuse somewhere on the L/B side causing the voltage to drop ?

[Velocette]

Humm OK;

twin charge willington kit

What is the Twin bit about ?

How quickly do the interior lights etc take to go dim when you stop running ? I'm wondering if rather than a flat battery, which you voltage measurements say isn't the case, its a corrosion problem on connector / fuse somewhere on the L/B side causing the voltage to drop ?

+1 I would check the main fuse on the LB harness it may be loose or corroded. Could be an internal open circuit in the LB but I think those are quite rare.

[rita]

yep done that one...

not sure when the led green light on relay should come on? it seems to always be on is this correct?

not quite sure why buy i think it could be the relay...spose contact willinton for another one?

I think they have had problems with some relays in the past.

[chipvan]

Noticed when the charge led goes on on the top of the relay then that's when all the power to stuff connected to lb goes,still no fuses blowing...

[g8dhe]

Where is the feed to the Willinton fuse panel taken from ? Is it actually connected to the L/B connector or is it connected somewhere between L/B and relay ?

[chipvan]

i contacted willinton,and he said try the earth from leisure battery...when i looked some twitt( ) when they fitted it forgot to scrape the paint off the body to get a good earth and just bolted to bodywork......

after doing it properly it all seems to be ok...not cliking off like it did

[briwy]

That's what I meant when I suggested checking it. Sorry, perhaps should have made it clear I meant checking the lead to the body connection, not the battery.

[chipvan]

damm it,that seem look like it was sorted,but alas not cigar as yet...

[g8dhe]

You say that the L/B voltage never falls below 12.7 volts, yet the power isn't getting to the devices;
So check the voltage at the fuses, both sides, measure the voltage between battery terminal and the fuse then repeat between the chassis of the vehicle and the fuses is there any significant difference ?