split charging question

[swartie]

does anybody know much abou this.

i have a leisure battery all set up. I stripped out the interior and all the cables for a refit. now when i go to connect it all back up i have hit a few problems.

it was all going ok until i connected the radio. everything went dead. I checked the voltage and had 10v so thought it may just be flat as i had been running a 12v strip light for a few nights while connecting everything back up in the dark.

so i took it for a long drive (2hours) and switch van off dead. I then went away over he weekend and after a 5 hour drive i switched the van off and dead. i wanted to listen to radio in the rain so reconnected it back to front fuse box.

another thing i noticed, if i use the tap or light the relay for the split charging buzzes. I never had that before, i have tried another relay and still get the buzzing sound. everything is earthed up properly (just incase) but i am now stumped

anybody got any ideas

 

[slammedresto]

leisure batterys charge much slower than a normal battery. give it a full overnight charge, so you know its full, then see if there is another problem, maybe its not charging

 

[swartie]

thats what i am worried about, but i checked the voltage readings everywhere and when the engine is running the charge is coming through.


main worries is the relay buzzing

 

[slammedresto]

pop to a local club meet, always a guru there 8)

if not its trial and error

 

[Araon]

I think you need to pop it on the bench and deep charge it, when on the bench you should see the battery charge level at approx 14V, most modern chargers will perform two if not all three of the steps required to "condition" the battery which your alternator just wont do. a bulk charge max current and voltage will give you 80% absorbtion should take it to 95% and finally float this is the low (12V/13V) voltage and current this will stop the battery from overheating and warping/sulphateing the plates.
You measured the voltage at 10V that may be too far gone, how old is the batt? if fairly new try adding some repair tablets(unless its a sealed unit) before chargeing.
Check the voltagewhen the battery is off load you want about 13V.

 

[swartie]

its a fairly new battery. I will go out and see what the voltage is later, it may have charged up a bit.

any ideas why the relay for the split charge would buzz when using the light or something?

 

[Araon]

The current draw on the system would / could cause it to buzz trying to retain that charger can become quite a draw on the system if its fighting to retain a circuit. If you can remove the load drawn off the split charger then it should rule out probs there. But would first of all and easiest check the battery. I bet its still struggling to achieve a steady 12V charge, put a load on it say a fan and observe the current draw.