16' Series Battery Help Needed

[iwasrlc]

Hi
I have a Dec 2015 16 49 3 with 2x100AH Ritar gel batteries with 2x150 watt panels and a setec st35 111.
Both batteries have failed after 3 years. They have been progressively getting worse for the last year. At the moment i can run a few lights but if i put on TV low voltage alarm sounds after about 15 min.
The van has been used for approx 6 months a year with an equal mix of powered and unpowered sites. When not in use the van is uncovered and battery switch on so is charging, sometimes plugged into 240.
I have had both batteries tested today and both have failed 100amp load test and cold cranking test? So be it. New batteries coming up. After reading the st35 111 manual it appears i can use either gel or agm but am limited to 100ah per battery.
So the questions are
Is it unusual for the batteries to last this short time.
Are agm better than gel.
Most batteries seem to have moved to 110ah to 120ah price points. Will this upset the setec or will it just charge to 100ah. As i understand it solar panels connect directly to batteries through a solar controller so is the 100ah restriction of the setec only applicable to 240v charging or am i missing something.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a preferred brand of battery.
Thanks in advance

 

[Drover]

Without gong too techo, firstly check that everything has been wired up correctly especially that the batteries are connected properly, quite often they aren't....read this https://caravanchronicles.com/guides/how-to-connect-two-batteries-in-parallel/

Now if your solar panels are on the roof they should be connected to your batteries directly thru a regulator with nothing to do with the Setek when parked they should be charging your battery, so a 100ah limit to the battery wouldn't apply unless its a cheapo regulator.
Your batteries certainly should last 3 times as long but GEL and AGM will fall over and die if not maintained correctly quicker than the old wet job, as for preference I would go AGM mainly for price and availability compared the GEL, I run GEL at the moment and bought from an ebay shop, an electrical shop in Perth, work well and didn't pay for a big name......................

If you post some pics of your battery hook up, your solar regulator we might be able to give better advice especially if you have a multi meter, it could be as simple as bad connectors or just bad wiring better to find out why before forking out money on a guess........

The Setek is a very basic unit, even the latest isn't much chop.

Have you tried charging each battery individually on a quality charger which is capable of charging GEL/AGM batteries ? Normal old shed chargers will just cook them.

 

[iwasrlc]

Hi Drover
Thanks for the reply. Looks like i will have a busy weekend chasing wires.
The regulator should be standard Jayco. I know the van has had an anderson plug for moveable panel and a couple of cig outlets installed by a jayco agent in Sydney. otherwise its pretty standard.
I haven't tried charging the batteries individually. Will try and track down a decent charger.
Good news about the battery size though.
Thanks again

 

[Boots in Action]

Hi
I have a Dec 2015 16 49 3 with 2x100AH Ritar gel batteries with 2x150 watt panels and a setec st35 111.
Both batteries have failed after 3 years. They have been progressively getting worse for the last year. At the moment i can run a few lights but if i put on TV low voltage alarm sounds after about 15 min.
The van has been used for approx 6 months a year with an equal mix of powered and unpowered sites. When not in use the van is uncovered and battery switch on so is charging, sometimes plugged into 240.
I have had both batteries tested today and both have failed 100amp load test and cold cranking test? So be it. New batteries coming up. After reading the st35 111 manual it appears i can use either gel or agm but am limited to 100ah per battery.
So the questions are
Is it unusual for the batteries to last this short time.
Are agm better than gel.
Most batteries seem to have moved to 110ah to 120ah price points. Will this upset the setec or will it just charge to 100ah. As i understand it solar panels connect directly to batteries through a solar controller so is the 100ah restriction of the setec only applicable to 240v charging or am i missing something.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a preferred brand of battery.
Thanks in advance

Hi @iwasrlc , all that @Drover said is on the money. Do not be worried that a lot of the new AGM batteries have increased capacity (storage) in AMP Hours (ah) . In most cases, they are the same size in measurements, just better internals to hold more capacity. As @Drover said, the Setec is not the best charging device although it will look after your battery pretty well. As it only charges to 14.0 volts, it is more suitable to Gel batteries which like a charge voltage of somewhere between 14.1 and 14.4 volts. Look at the side of your Ritar batteries for the CYCLIC rate..An AGM is a better battery on your wallet and more robust for charging. It also needs a higher voltage than a Gel battery - somewhere between 14.4 and 14.7 volts which the Setec cannot properly attain at 14.0 volts. I have an AGM in my van and always charge it up with a "Smart charger" which reaches 14.7 volts, much better than the Setec!! If you get AGMs, consider purchasing a "smart charger" and putting your van on charge at least once per month with smart charger to get maximum capacity into your batteries. The Setec can look after the float system without any problems. The smart charger - up to 7 stages - should be considered. The batteries should last up to 10 years if not discharged below 50% capacity and are immediately recharged - solar or 240 volts.
A couple of links to help you understand the basics are below:

https://www.batterystuff.com/kb/articles/battery-articles/gel-vs-agm.html

 

[Boots in Action]

Hi Drover
Thanks for the reply. Looks like i will have a busy weekend chasing wires.
The regulator should be standard Jayco. I know the van has had an anderson plug for moveable panel and a couple of cig outlets installed by a jayco agent in Sydney. otherwise its pretty standard.
I haven't tried charging the batteries individually. Will try and track down a decent charger.
Good news about the battery size though.
Thanks again

I nearly forgot @iwasrlc, your Setec ST 35 has a charging output of up to 15 amps. Should you get 2 X 130 ah AGM batteries (connected in parallel), then the only difference you would notice is that the charging time would be slightly longer than if you had 2 X 100 ah Gel batteries. It is not that the Setec cannot handle the greater capacity. With 2 X 130 ah batteries, you would have 30% more capacity than with 2 X 100 ah Gel. Note also that AGM batteries can handle a lot more charging current without damage than Gel batteries. Also note higher charging voltage recommended. See info on side of both types of batteries. Incidentally, the battery shown in attachments above was bought on Ebay for $248.00 delivered and has a 2 year warranty - 12 months more than the Ritar Gel which is more than twice the price. This one replaced the Ritar Gel battery in my Daughter's van. I had confidence in purchasing the battery shown as I do not like paying for the name, although I must admit that a lot of members have had very good service from Full River Gel batteries at a much higher cost. My own AGM (120 ah) is now over 6 years' old and still handling everything I can throw at it.
But make sure that there is nothing wrong with your set up first. Even if abused, they should last longer than only 3 years. And what brand of solar regulator do you have?? Their only limit is amps in, and with 2 X 150 w panels, it should be rated at 20 amps minimum, but preferably 30 amps and 12 volts. I hope this is not too technical for you.

 

[Drover]

My mate reckoned he would save wiring by buying a 240ah AGM, I upset him when I asked how he was gong to lift it into his boot.....lol,lol,lol.......

 

[iwasrlc]

Hi Bootsinaction and Drover. Thanks for the help from both of you. I may be a little slow in checking some things as i seem to have been set a few jobs over the weekend.
to Bootsinaction I have looked at the solar regulator and it is a Coast to Coast TPS555 solar charge regulator with 30A max solar input current 12v dc so that seems OK.
to Drover thanks for the link to wiring for 2 batteries in parallel. Mine appear to be the wrong way as in diag 1. Batteries are out at the moment as i was having them tested so a photo may be a bit unclear at the moment. I will investigate this week what it will take to change wiring to Diag 2 as batteries are not together but are one under each seat.