Hi, Help needed. My mover is working the problem i have is when i use it the amp/volt meter reading in the caravan drops from green into red then the mover stops. is this an indication the leisure battery is on its way out, going away in two weeks so have to get it sorted, everything is working on 12v it seems to be the load that the motor mover uses is to great.
Thanks
Sounds like the battery is going. Have to tried to run the motormover without engaging it to the caravan wheels? This would lessen the load and in theory the battery should take longer to die. If that happens probably is the battery. Don't forget you get a 10% discount with Tayna if a member of CAMC
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Pretty much a damning sign on the state of your battery I'm afraid! Leisure batteries can trundle along for some time into a leisurely demise with light loads such as lights and occasional water pump use, but motor movers are about the heaviest demand they ever see (unless you have an inverter!) and that shows up the weaknesses.
Worth doing a few checks before splashing the cash, just to make sure it's not simply a flat battery or bad connection. Make sure battery terminal connections are clean and sound, and if you have a voltmeter (multi-meter) make sure the charger is working when on EHU, the inbuilt van volt meter is a poor substitute but should still show an increase in voltage when the charger is switched on. If the voltmeter/terminal check shows all is in order, then I'm afraid it's a new battery. Expected life of a standard lead acid leisure battery is anything between 2 or 3 years up to over 10 years, depends on how well you look after battery, quality of battery and small element of luck.
Some may urge you to only buy a 110/120 Ah battery as that is 'essential' for a motor mover, it's not (unless you move your van hundreds of yards on the MM and/or spend a long time off grid), IIRC Powrtouch advise 85Ah as a minimum, but 95/100Ah is wise for peace of mind. There is every possibility that you can't even physically fit anything larger than 100Ah in your battery locker, worth measuring locker dimensions before buying anything larger capacity than you already have.
Beware 'cheap' leisure batteries, often only falsely re-labelled car starter batteries that fail relatively quickly when used as a leisure battery, false economy as you'll likely be buying another one in a couple of years or so! Look for a 'NCC Verified Leisure Battery' with the rating sticker on it https://www.thencc.org.uk/Our_Schemes/ncc_verified_leisure_battery_scheme.aspx
Thank you very much for your reply's, my van is parked at the side of the house and has had ehu connected since March last year when i bought it. Its a swift challenger 480se 2002 so not new. when i purchased it the guy said the battery was good and it probably was at the time. i have had slight heat on over winter but with lockdown i haven't been able to get out with it.
with all other vans i have had i usually take the battery off and periodically charged it in the garage however the guy i bought the van from said he used to work for some battery firm and said what i was doing was not necessary. Any thought on this please.
Thank for your reply yes have tried it without it connected to the wheels and the volt meter drops to between green and yellow section then very slowly drops further the longer it runs.
If connections are fine - sounds like you need a new battery.
Before 2010'ish - caravan inbuilt chargers deliver enough voltage to re-charge standard lead acid batteries. Newer technology batteries like AGM or EFB need a slightly higher voltage to fully charge. I would connect the battery to a modern smart charger every couple of months.
This looks like an old van so not a smart charger in the van. These simply put 13.8 volts on the battery which will charge it but not fully. Also it might cause the battery to gas and sulphate if left connected for a long time. This will shorten the batteries life meaning it probably is shot.
13.8 volts is chosen because it is aa compromise between the higher voltage to fully charge the battery and a low enough voltage to not shorten the life of the 12 volt electrical equipment in the van such as pump and lights etc.
A smart charger will considerably lengthen the life of the new battery you probably end up buying.
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Topic: Powrtouch classic mover
