Horsebox Battery HELP

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dancer01

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Can Anyone Please Help

I Have today discovered that my battery on my converted horsebox is dead, Tried turning it over tonight and nothing, I have brought it home to put on charge.

Can anyone tell how long it will take to charge, I am fuming going to a show on Saturday as well, Tut Please Help
 
Pearlsasinger said:
It shouldn't take anywhere near as long as that, if it's not usable by the morning, you will most likely need a new battery.
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Thank you for your reply

I hope so i got this horsebox last year new converstion, and have regulary been turning it over when not in use, though have not done this month, and just when your hoping to take it out battery is flat, sigh, it is a new battery which came with the van so hopefully wont take more than a couple of days, fingers crossed
 
If you don’t use it much then get an isolator fitter. Also just turning it over is about the worst thing you can do for a battery , you are draining it without recharging it ... take it for a drive round the block at least.

I hope it works out ok for Saturday x
 
Agree with the post above, just starting it will drain the battery, you need to drive it (I generally do a bit more than just round the block, generally try to get a few miles of bypass or faster road). Driving it is what puts charge back into the battery.
Your battery should be charged well before Saturday. If it’s not you need a new battery.
 
If it's parked near a power source, you can get a plug in trickle charger, which will monitor and top up as required. Very handy and quite cheap
 
dancer01 said:
Thank you for your reply

I hope so i got this horsebox last year new converstion, and have regulary been turning it over when not in use, though have not done this month, and just when your hoping to take it out battery is flat, sigh, it is a new battery which came with the van so hopefully wont take more than a couple of days, fingers crossed
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That is probably your problem. Turning the battery over just drains your battery, make sure that it has enough water in each cell, charge it up and take it out for a run, with as little draining the battery as possible, so no lights/heater/radio etc. If it takes a couple of days to charge, the battery is knackered, I'm afraid.
You probably need an isolator so that nothing is draining the battery while the box is standing still, although I would have expected a new conversion to come with one. My advice is to take the box for a run out before you need to use it and take some jump leads with you, so that you can ask for help if the battery is flat when you want to leave the venue. Sometimes when a battery has been as flat as yours, your only alternative is to replace it. You might be lucky though.
 
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As above, if it takes a long time to charge it's dead. If possible have an isolator and/or a solar-panel fitted. An isolator stops power being taken from the battery and acts as an anti-theft device. The solar-panel sits on the roof trickle charging the battery and only needs a clean once or twice a year.
 
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I don't want to be a prophet of doom but even though it has now done it's job it might not hold it's charge for very long so I would check it on a regular basis. A cheap multi-meter will let you do this. The voltage should be at least 12.6 volts without the engine running and around 14 volts with it running.
 
I presume that your horsebox has a 12v system? Basically you have only one battery, the horsebox being a converted van? If that's right then depending on the power of your charger your battery should charge up over night. Once charged then keep an eye on it because it may be on tyhe way out & may need replacing. Fitting a battery isolator would be a good idea as this will kill all electrics so you won't lose any charge by leaving anything on. If you have a 7.5 ton lorry it will have a 24v system & you will need to disconnect batteries & charge them individually.

You can buy a cheap trickle charger off ebay & that can be left hooked up to your battery & turned on & it will keep your battery permanently charghed, assuming you are parked near a plug socket.
 
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