question

bas-peter-dijkema avatar image
bas-peter-dijkema asked

Shore Charge Current Dropping

Hello,

I have this small campervan in which I have built some electrical equipment, but lately after some (I thought) improvement I am having some issues.

I have built a Phoenix Multiplus Compact 12A 1600VA together with a Victron Energy 220AH AGM Deep cycle battery into my van. I have connected both a VE.Bus Control panel and a BMV 602s to the system. It looks something like this in a schematic:


1625849925795.jpeg


Where the ground === the chassis of the van and the leisure battery and the service battery (engine) of the van are separated by a separator/relay.

A few days ago I notices the leisure battery was not charged after a full day connected to shore, and the BMV showed only a voltage of 12V when disconnecting the system from shore... When connected to shore it shows a (expected?) voltage of around 14.5V, but only a charging current of 1A. It often starts out around 5A, but quickly drops to 1A, no wonder the battery is not charging.

After a few days of searching and trouble shooting I still havent figured out the problem, so my hope is on you! The gear is definitely not to newest anymore. But the battery was not heavily used since it was only used on the occasional trip.

Thanks a lot!

Bas Peter

MultiPlus Quattro Inverter ChargerwiringAGM Battery
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2 Answers
Mike Dorsett avatar image
Mike Dorsett answered ·

It's possible the agm battery is sulphated - if it is old - and won't hold a charge. Try removing it from the installation and charging it with a different charger?

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bas-peter-dijkema avatar image bas-peter-dijkema commented ·
Do you know of any reliable way to desulphate this AGM deep cycle battery? The internet is filled with pulse desulphators and what not, but I am not sure what might actually work.
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regman54 avatar image
regman54 answered ·

"But the battery was not heavily used since it was only used on the occasional trip."

I'm not going to comment on desulphating AGMs but it would be best practice while in storage to put the battery on a maintainer to keep it fully charged thus not allowing it to self-discharged over time which is quite possible what might have happened. Even a small .75 amp motorcycle battery tender will suffice. If you suspect there might be a parasitic draw disconnect the battery from the vehicle while in storage.

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