What do you guys think .. Battery query

QFour

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Ok so we moved yesterday so driving for 3 hours in the sun so 2 x 80A leisure batteries should be fully charged. It was hot last night so SWMBO had her fan on 240V 30w running off the 650w inverter. It was running all night from 10pm to about 7am when the Habitation Panel alarm went off. Switched off the inverter and that shut it up. SWMBO used the tap an hour or so later and everything went off.

It's all back on now and 150w panel is putting 6A back into the battery ( Spanish Sun )

So the question is do we have a knackered battery. Having thought about it I think we have. Does anyone else agree or have I missed something ?
 
Approximately 30A hours off your nominal 160A capacity batteries assuming
they are in top nick, shouldn't have set your alarm off.... in theory. But as the fan pulls the 3A
there will be a voltage drop and it may be that your alarm settings are conservative and err
on the side of safety a little too much by showing an alarm at 12.3v, if you detach the load ie
switch everything off you may notice the battery voltage reading rises within a few minutes and
records 12.5v this will be more realistic, soon as you put the load back on it'll drop down to 12.3v again and
once again sets the alarm off. Opinion varies on what the lowest voltage reading should read
consistent with long battery life.
My own controller cut power off at 10.7v so it said in the manual, much too low, apparently a misprint,
it would have ruined the batteries in no time if I had stuck to that discharge level.
 
Same thing happened to me,2 x 115 ah batteries,only I was running my 240v tv off the 300w inverter,forgot to switch the inverter off when we switched off the tv.Middle of the night got up for a wee,switched on the light(led) everything switched off including the most important device,the fridge even though it was on gas.
As we were miles from anywhere I just started the engine up for the time it takes for a cuppa,sussed out the inverter was on and tv standby drawing current,sorted that out and been fine since.So to answer the question,not in my opinion if you got a good few hours out of it.I havent done the maths but suck it and see usually works for me.
 
I've never understood the reason why anyone would use 240 volt appliances unless on electric hook up.
12 volt fans and tv etc are readily available.
 
Thanks for all the replies. SWMBO used the 12v fan last night so no early morning alarms. Think I will put an Ammeter in the circuit when I get home and find out how much power is actually being consumed. All we need to do now is find a power point to plug the electric bike charger into :unsure: or someone with a roof full of solar panels.
 
I only ever get hook up if I go on a site with power which is rare so my battery’s never get fully charged (lead acid). I have 300w solar on the roof and 270ah of batteries. I do use a lot of power each day as I have 110ltr compressor fridge.

Unless it is the height of summer or I am moving every couple of days I need to be careful charging my scooter. On a couple of occasions I have left it plugged in til mid afternoon and there is then not enough solar to get the battery’s to float so I need to be careful.

As shorter days are now here and UK solar isn’t doing much for me I get the generator out every few days if I am stationary. I have noticed a big difference depending where I am though, middle of the country (Peak District) seems worse for solar harvesting. You would think being closer to the sun would help wouldn’t you :)
 
Been up on the roof and cleaned the panel this morning. It was filthy so will get a bit more today. Option B is to go to the local campsite and just plug everything in for the day, get showers and then back to the Aire again. 150w panel is putting out 6.1A at midday. Looks like may need another panel that can be moved around. Something to consider for next time. I did find a generator that puts out 12v only. Uses a small Honda engine and an alternator. Output was 50A
 
If your going to carry a genny get a 240v one big enough for her hair drier. (y)
 

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