Warning - if you have 2 12v batteries on your horsebox

kerilli

kerilli

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(such as in Solitaire lorries etc) which are linked up in series to double the voltage, do NOT, if you find they are both flat for some unknown reason (box had stood for 1 week, nothing left on) try to charge/boost it with a 12v charger, because you will reverse the polarity of the rear battery (oops) and possibly wreck them both. didn't quite manage to wreck the ECU on the lorry but was warned by mechanic that i could have.
this is the third Cargo new build with living i have had, and i've never had this problem before.... not a total numpty usually!
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Solitaire never warned me about this (i took tons of notes when the box was demo'd to me last summer when i bought it new, and there's no mention of the batteries) and were v unhelpful about it on the phone yesterday. i asked the woman there to speak to my mechanic, the moment he mentioned the problem she said "and one of them has been charged in reverse" so this is obviously not the first report they've had of someone trying to boost the front battery and having major problems.
so, if you do need to charge or boost the battery, you have to totally disconnect the front battery from the one behind it first.
just trying to avoid someone else getting a bill of £200 for 2 new batteries, + labour, + tons of hassle!
 
Oh thank you - is that the same on all lorries with a pair of batteries or particular to Solitaire (i have 3 batteries, two for the lorry and one for the living)
 
Hmm...i always used to charge the front battery on my lorry (2 x 12v batteries connected) and it always worked. I just assumed the front battery was knackered, as once it was charged the lorry was always fine.

Did end up buying 2 new batteries and fitting them though cos i was fed up with having to charge the front battery every time i went out. Maybe i knackered them?!
 
Thanks Kerilli.
Think this is what happend to mine tbh, ended up having to buy two new batteries.
I have always found Solitaire unhelpful, even when we were going to purchase a brand new one from them. Obviously we decided against it on those grounds.
 
Thanks Kerilli.
Mine is not a solataire horsebox but does have 2 x 12v batteries in series. We always take them out of the truck and charge them separately to avoid this or have jump started it using a 24v charger, (and a very nice farmer who knows what he is doing!
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). Either way is a hassel.
Did not know you reversed the polarity of rear battery though.
 
CotswoldSJ, i think it depends on how they are connected, if they're in parallel it's alright but if they're in series it isn't i think. (i never could get my head around this in O level physics!) but i've never had the problem before, very very annoyed about it.
also annoyed that i was told when i bought it that it had 2 new batteries on it, but when i asked yesterday if it did she was vague and said 'it might have.'
BBs, they were wonderfully helpful before i paid, not at all helpful after. funny, that. i think you made the right decision.
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sare_bear, i couldn't get them out, just not strong enough to sit or lie under lorry and lift them up over lip of cradle, argh.
just checked on a physics page (amazing thing, t'internet) and what i should have done was attached positive to positive terminal on front battery, and negative to negative terminal on rear battery, treating them as a single cell, sort of thing. apparently if you do that, it's alright.
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Hum so I need to work out whether mine are in parallel or in series then!!

To be fair it was probably how the lorry was rather than anything Solitaire did per se
 
its a standing joke at DAF that my batteries are all faulty!! In actual fact I have a 24v system which will only start with a full 24v any less and it won't, so one damaged cell and i need a new battery!! I have had 4 on warranty now as the cells have not lasted 2 years!! I put numbers onn them so i know which one goes with whichm invoice to return them!!!

I managed to get mine in and out myself by being incredibly stubborn and using a series of stools at different height - oh yes and a hard hat as i managed to knock myself out on one occasion under there.....!!
 
Avenger...sounds similar to mine and i have a Daf!! Do you have isolator switches on both batteries? If you don't get them put on. I spent years trying to find out what was draining the batteries, but since having the switches put on it has been fine.
 
yep, isolator on both batteries!! But if I don't have the full 24v worth of battery cells available it don't work!! Apparently battery cells do die but most lorries would start at 22/23v ish, mine is just stubborn!! Its very easy to work out which one it is though so just go to DAF, buy a new one on credit card, fill in warranty form and then have money refunded to credit card so the warranty for that battery starts from scratch as it has been bouight to replace!!

It is the weirdest wiriong in the world though and took some working out, the isolator made things much easier!!
 
You can't blame this on Solitaire, modern lorries have 2 12v batteries. I guess if you buy a lorry you either have enough knowledge to service it yourself or you pay someone else to do it, or you mess it up.
 
Have always disconnected them first so charging only 12v at a time - also DO NOT try to jump it off a car
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a friend did and it killed her 2yo BMW
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K - just disconnet the link cable and charge on at a time - no need to lift out. The MAN is standard like this
 
I've jumped friends lorries off my car before, and its fine. However the issue with the beamer is sometimes due to them needing to be earthed which 'normal' cars don't need you to do. My OH's BMW was a bugger for it!!

We don't have a lorry, but regularly charge 20plus lorry batteries for the clay club Dad runs - they are bloody heavy, so disconnect them then charge in situ if you can - you might need to do some clever manuvering of the lorry, or get some long cables.
 
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You can't blame this on Solitaire, modern lorries have 2 12v batteries. I guess if you buy a lorry you either have enough knowledge to service it yourself or you pay someone else to do it, or you mess it up.

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i wasn't trying to service it, Dieseldog, i was trying to charge it up enough to start. no idea why it was flat, had stood for a week and nothing had been left on. having just paid a £900 bill because it needed a new clutch and to fix a problem with the rear brakes locking on (really welcome on an 04 plate new build last year) i thought that i could boost it enough to give it a run, and save garage bills, as i have done many times before without a problem.
even my mechanic said that it had been wired up a really odd way, he took ages to get his head around it and said it didn't make any sense to do it that way.
 
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and to fix a problem with the rear brakes locking on .

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Can I ask what this turned out to be please as mine did this a little while back but mechanic couldn't find the source of the problem
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OliveOyl, it's back in again (3rd time) to try to get to the bottom of it, it only does it when stationary and only lasts for a moment usually but sometimes when it has only been parked for a day. the mechanic warned me to get it sorted in case it locks on completely one day and i'm stranded. will report back when they trace it hopefully, they've already stripped, cleaned, lubricated and refitted the brake caliper on one side but it didn't cure it.
i need to win the lottery at this rate!
 
Not easy to find then! Thanks for the info though. Mine locked on the way to an event and then released when we got Rescue out to look at it - just late enough so we could no longer go then declares itself fit as a fiddle when mechanic comes to see it. I was thrilled with it.
 
I did exactly the same thing as you, but thankfully I also got away with it
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Kerilli... have you looked into it being the tacho? That was what someone I know had an issue because of, and they ended up having to change the type of tacho! Mine was leaving my radio on...
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_Jetset_, i don't use the tacho, but i guess it could be if it's not disconnected... thanks, will look into it.
OliveOyl, that's exactly why i'm chucking money at it until they get to the bottom of it, it only does it here, never when they test it, which is infuriating. i bet you were livid.
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The only thing my mechanic could suggest was that it if it did it again (please no, touching wood frantically!) he would change the master cylinder?
And yes I was livid! I got up at 4.45am on a Sunday morning just to sit on the side of the road with the lorry (although called it a few different things whilst we were waiting!!) a few miles from home.
 
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_Jetset_, i don't use the tacho, but i guess it could be if it's not disconnected... thanks, will look into it.
OliveOyl, that's exactly why i'm chucking money at it until they get to the bottom of it, it only does it here, never when they test it, which is infuriating. i bet you were livid.
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No, the person I know did not use hers either... but because it is always on, that was what was draining the battery! Took them ages to find out what it was but when it was sorted, hey presto, no more dead lorry
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Poor you Kerilli, anyone would think an 04 would not cost alot in repairs, we have just had our W reg (so not old old in my eyes) MOT serviced etc and it cost £1600, and its only done about 700miles since last test. The bulk of the expense was problems with back brakes, we had no idea about this till took it in to man to start work on MOT prep and service and he rang to say a brake pipe had melted and somthing was catching on somthing, and had a master cylinder on brakes too. I did believe he did all this cos he took me and my sister under the pit to see all the new pipes, cylinder etc, and showed us the old melted pipe. But Iam gobsmacked about your clutch, on such a new chassis.
Back to your batteries we have a Euro cargo with 2 batteries when we turn the isolator on when we leave it parked, it completley deadens all power so no ticking or red light on the tacho, which will drain battieries in a week, or if you leave cab door a jar, interior light wont come on. Sounds to me like your isolator isnt wired up right.
All I know is with our old old old Ford Cargo 0811 it only had one batterey so we could jump it off the car. But Iam told with the Euro cargo which has 2 batteries it cant be jumped off car, only a 24v booster. But Iam not technical at all!
 
thanks Steeleydan, i wasn't expecting to have such a huge bill on such a new lorry either... never had to replace a clutch before, and both my previous Cargos i had for a long time (one for about 11 years).
will get the garage to check the wiring on the isolator. no way should it have been totally dead.
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hope it's not going to be a dog.
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The biggest cause of charging problems on a 24 volt system,other than a component failure,is caused by trying to draw 12 volts off one battery,for a radio Charging a leisure battery,(or tacho sometimes).Basicly what happens is that the one from which the 12 V is being drawn never fully recharges. The alternator is regulated by the voltage it detects.With a pair of good batterys used equaly,it should be shut back at about 27 volts,but if one has fallen say to11.5 volts,and the other is fully charged then the fully charged one will have its voltage driven temporarily up to about 15 volts and very little charging will occur.
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What make and model lorrys have the sticking brakes?
 
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