Quote:
Originally Posted by syncrow
I changed out the house battery today and the problem seems to have gone away. I will have the battery checked by the Life Line distributor close by tomorrow. It is just two years old.
I need to look into a battery monitor and how to use it.
Thank you for your comment.
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To test a battery, they need to do a timed load test. Another method is to let the battery sit after a charge and see if the voltage drops below 12.8 after a couple of days.
With a new battery, you'll see that the separator will take longer to open after any charging has just been stopped. This is due to the float charge that has to dissipate after the charge is stopped. So after a drive, after the shore charger is shut off, or the sun doesn't produce enough to keep the batteries at about 12.8 volts or higher, the voltage begins to drop (depending on the amperage the load is pulling) until it reaches 12.8 volts. At that point the battery reserve is considered 100% @ 12.8 volts and the separator is supposed to open.
Even my Blue Sea 7622 will cycle on and off especially if the charge amperage is close to what the load is pulling. For example if I have the fridge running (about 5 amps) and I have only 3 amps or so of solar charging, the separator opens when the fridge cycles on and the voltage drops below 12.8. After the fridge shuts down, the voltage slowly starts to climb to the point the separator closes...thunk. Sooner or later the solar output is so low it can't keep up with the load and the separator opens and stays open until the charging starts over and the battery charge voltage reaches about 13.2v or higher.
The main thing is when something on your van starts acting differently than normal. My first guess was the house battery because the vehicle started OK when you kept the separator open and you only have 1 starting battery. With a diesel and two starting batteries, the same problems can happen that you're seeing provided one of the starting batteries performing below average. The good battery can mask the bad batteries output and still allow the engine to kick over. Unfortunately other things can cause similar issues and I'd hate for you to toss a good battery if that isn't the problem.
I'd still ask Lifeline about Equalizing the battery. It might help prolong its life if you find that it can be put back into service.