Hi, I have a Ring 4 smart charger which I've used in the last week on my own leisure battery and the one in the garage for the Mr. Shifta. I noticed it was getting warm (it's always got a bit warm, I assumed that was normal). However, I've just taken the charger over to my dad's caravan and checked later to find that it was really hot, almost hot enough to melt the work surface it was sat on... is this normal? Was it just the surface it was on reflecting the heat back onto itself? I've moved it over to a block of wood on the sink unit, but as I've had to come home I can't check now whether it's still getting over-warm - and I don't want my Dad's caravan going up in flames!
If anyone has one of these, could they let me know if theirs gets warmer on certain surfaces than others? If so, I know it will be ok now. Maybe I should stand it on its side, as its the bottom that seems to get hot.
Please someone!!! HELP{!! I don't know if I should be phoning my dad to say disconnect the thing!
BTW, it's on its maximum 4amp charge (has two and four amp) options, and I manually switched it to four amps as Dad forgot to charge his bought new last year leisure battery and it's flat as a pancake. I'm just hoping the battery will take a charge, as it might have been left flat for some time.
Thanks Lobey. Yes, I should phone and get Dad to disconnect it, just to be on the safe side, methinks. Can they test chargers to see if they work? I didn't know they could be tested!
Just phoned Dad, asked him to check... he's been out (grumbling at being disturbed at this time of night, sigh!) but he says the charger is now only warm, and not hot to the touch as it was previously. I can only assume that it was a heat reflecting surface (the worktop) that was making it too warm as now its fine. So panic over! I just thought I'd report back in case anyone else does the same, or worries about it like me!
And now I'm off to me bed without worrying all night that there will be a burned out wreck there in the morning! LOL!
I think it's the battery needs taking for testing and perhaps boost charged to get the voltage up, then you may well find your charger will cope
As it is the poor thing is thrashing itself to death trying to get some charge in a dead flat battery, 4amps is no good at all for that purpose.
It is though overload protected so should shut itself down if it gets to hot
Quote: Originally posted by Jax365 on 29/3/2012
Thanks Lobey. Yes, I should phone and get Dad to disconnect it, just to be on the safe side, methinks. Can they test chargers to see if they work? I didn't know they could be tested!
They can test the output of the charger. If that output is 4amp, then the unit should not be getting as hot as you suggested. If however there is something wrong with the charger and it is putting out more than 4amp, then better not to use it at all, but to return it to the manufacturer.
Quote: Originally posted by arc systems on 29/3/2012
I think it's the battery needs taking for testing and perhaps boost charged to get the voltage up,
My understanding is that true 'Leisure batteries' can't readily be tested, certainly not by the 'drop-test' equipment used by garages for 'starter' batteries. And doing so is damaging to these batteries as is 'boost' charging at the levels used for 'starter' batteries.
As a safe guide the charging amps used on these Leisure type of batteries should be no greater than 10% of their Ah rate.
I have done a 'drop test' that replicates the C20 test [discharge over 20 hours] using halogen bulbs; that readily identifies and quantifies batteries that are failing to hold capacity.
As 'arc systems' is suggesting the flat batteries low voltage could be the issue. The Ring 4 charger being a 'smart' charger could have been in difficulties with the highly discharged battery in determining what it is and what to do? An initial charge on a rudimentary charger with no such intelligence might have been better to lift its voltage to a recognisable level for the Ring 4 to be able to cope.
Thanks for all your replies. If it hasn't started charging when I go over in an hour or so, we'll give it a blast with an ordinary car charger. I understand a lot more about both the battery and smart charger now. It's always worked well on my own stuff, but that is never left to go flat, so it's only topping up, not charging from scratch.
many many thanks, will be by later with an update.
Here's the update, the battery was charged up enough to pump water through the pipes! So it is taking a charge. That was a close call, as I know that leaving a leisure battery over winter without topping it up isn't very clever. My Dad just forgot, so from now on I shall remind him when I do mine.
So we have left it on a different charger overnight, so that should do the trick and charge it completely.
Is it a multimeter that measures whether a battery is charged or not, or by how much? I think I might need one. Although my own caravan has a little switch with a meter above it which tells you via a needle going up how much charge is in the battery. No such thing in my Dads van, which is light years younger than mine (but still a crappy - oh sorry, I meant 'vintage'!)
Sadly because a battery takes a charge does not mean it's okay, it may not be anything like the charge it once could hold. The 'abuse' your dad's battery got could well have reduced the amount of energy it will now hold.
Testing how much it can hold is quite complex; a DIY way is to leave a few known wattage lights on and measure the voltage after a period of about 10 hours but this involves a bit of maths and knowledge of the battery size to talk specifics.
You are almost certain to find its not the battery it was but that's life, we all I suspect tolerate the inevitable decline of our batteries up to the point they just don't hold enough any more to live with.
Thanks for your input, JTQU. It will probably be ok for a week away I think - well I hope! He will be taking a charger with him and has EHU, so he can always charge it whilst away if needs be. We've left it on charge with a different charger overnight, so I reckon whatever is in there in the way of charge, it will have to do. I just wish he hadn't left it so late to start doing everything, he goes away next weekend and I still have to flush the pipes through and see to the leaky window seal!
I too had Leisure Battery problems last year and ran a series of tests on mine over a month long period.
In the end I reckoned it would do for the 2011 season and then I would have a rethink this year.
It did last the season and then over the winter but when I came to top up its charge a couple of weeks ago, while everything appeared to be okay on the Smart Charger, I was not 100% sure that everything was actually okay, so I switched onto my big charger and trickle charged it on that.
Within 30 minutes the battery started crackling and I honestly thought it was about to burst into flames. I knew it would not explode because all the caps were off, but apart from switching off the power and clearing the area until it settled down, there was no way I was going to go near the thing. I ust stood by with a fire extinguisher and waited.
It is now awaiting it last journey to the Cowp and I have now bought a new Tanya 120Ah battery.
On reflection, although I did get one further year out of the old battery, I should have just gone for the new one last year and not taken the chances that I did.
We had a problem with ours and took it into a caravan shop at East Runton Norfolk. They had a tester there, said that a cell was dead and needed a new battery, as it would not take the charge to fill it up. We had forgotten to turn the charger ON in the fc as at the time we were unsure of it. But after we learnt the lesson via this site how and what to do inc.that we would probably be getting a new battery.But to get it checked out. We are okay now.
But it was the caravan shop that could test it properly and find that out, sold us the the new battery, but not overcharged for one.Also advised on the charger we already had to winter charge it was perfectly alright to do the job, do not buy another one.
Not sure if people like Halfords would do such a job, but this caravan shop did.Did not charge for the testing either. Maybe not al caravan shops can do this. Worth asking sometime though in case it saves paying out for nothing. Stopped us buying another charger.
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Topic: Ring 4 Charger overheating? HELP QUICK!
I just wish he hadn't left it so late to start doing everything, he goes away next weekend and I still have to flush the pipes through and see to the leaky window seal!
