Hi! Can anyone give me some help on this?..... I have a leisure battery that has always run ok & charged up fine (albeit that its 6yrs old) however I think the main switch has accidentally been left on last time we put our van storage & it's been left stored a while so I'm guessing it's completely flat as I have now battery power now... I took the battery home to charge it however the charging unit is telling me it's fully charged/ready for use & won't charge it up?! Surely that's wrong so does anyone know if a faulty battery would show a false reading on the battery charger please?....
The issue maybe the charger. Quite a few will not charge a totally dead battery.
You need to get some voltage into the battery before attempting to use a charger.
Older dum chargers will work, or connect it to your car battery for a while to get the voltage up. but dont drain the car battery too much.
Before attempting to charge it check the fluid levels in the battery. Low fluid will cause the plates to overheat and buckle, this will ruin the battery completely.
If its been dead for a while then the battery maybe gone anyway. A dead battery sulphates which coats the plates in a furry coating and reduces its capacity.
A leisure battery needs a bit of TLC and has to be maintained on a regular basis, ie. re-charged at least once a month or better still keep it charged constantly via a float charge with a smart charger at home. If the voltage drops to below 12.4 volts then you will find it difficult to re-start any leisure battery as the battery sulphates whereby the lead plates crumble, turn to sediment creating a short circuit when the sediment finally make contact. Take no notice of the caravan voltmeter as that's installed just a guide to indicate the state of the battery when in use on the campsite etc. You need an independent multi-meter so you can check the battery directly at the terminals which will provide an accurate reading of the battery voltage. You probably need a new battery anyway but if you don't maintain it on a regular basis then expect to replace it every 12 months to 2 years.
You need to check the voltage of the battery using a proper voltmeter. A cheap multi-meter would do the trick. If the battery has been left completely discharged for a long period, it has probably sulphated and will be useless. Some chargers will not charge a completely flat battery, and some will.
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Topic: Battery charging problem
