Breakaway battery charging?

Sunny

Sunny

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Aug 19, 2013
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I'm sure this topic has been covered somewhere on this forum but I can't find it?

Why does the breakaway battery only show it's charging whilst connected to my vehicle, can it not be trickle charged from the onboard unit providing charge to my vans battery whilst disconnected from my vehicle but plugged into 240V?

Secondly, Is there any current draw on the breakaway battery whilst the van is parked up? I noticed there is a glow from the 'on charge' indicator light on the breakaway unit whilst it's parked and assume its sourcing power from the battery...

Surely there is something obvious I have overlooked??
 
Bank of Dad

Bank of Dad

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Jul 20, 2011
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I've always understood that it charged from your car or when hooked up to a 240v power source. We run our fridge at home for 24 hours before we go away. We hook up to 240v via an AmpFibian. Just remember to turn the battery switch on I guess. I check the breakaway each time and it's always been good.

There shouldn't be a current draw from the breakaway battery unless it was applying the brakes. It will only do this for 15 minutes and then the battery will be run down.

Maybe someone else knows differently, I'd be happy to know?
 
Paul75

Paul75

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Jul 28, 2013
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The breakaway battery can be charged by your vehicle (if vehicle has been wired for it) or a battery charger (4 amp max). The SETEC can charge at greater than this amount so I'm guessing this is why it's not connected and hence when connected to 240V the break safe will not get charged. Check your unit to see if there is anything connected to the +ve and -ve terminals on the front. If not, no charger is connected (although it is impossible to connected directly to the internal battery).

The on charge light is only meant to illuminate when connected to tow vehicle or a battery charger. That being said I haven't checked mine when it's parked.
 
Sunny

Sunny

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Aug 19, 2013
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Lake Macquarie
Thanks for the feedback,

This query came about as my vehicles break safe monitor was installed but the van didn't have the wire (purple colour) run from the break safe unit to the 12 pin plug.
I have now fixed this issue and when vehicle and van are connected I now see the vans monitor is charging the break safe battery and my vehicles unit confirms the battery condition as good.
Whilst doing that wiring I found the battery failed when the test button was applied, this made me curious as to how it may have been run down. Maybe it's my eyes but I thought I saw a glow from the 'on charge' light, I figured this was the reason it had depleted.
Currently I leave the van parked up 'off' 240v power at a friends and collect it 24hr prior to a trip. I also connect via Amphibian to bring fridge down to temp and allow Setec to top up the vans battery before we go.
It worries me, that when I collect the van after it's been parked for awhile the break safe battery could be run down and require charging or replacing before I move it??

I mite call past the van over the weekend and recheck the vans monitor to see if that indicator light is still glowing, better still I will disconnect the battery and see if the glow changes...
 
Burnsy

Burnsy

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Mar 26, 2012
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Seems stupid that the breakaway battery doesn't get charged from 240v.....I didn't know this either. For a safety item shouldn't it be fool proof!
 
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Paul75

Paul75

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Jul 28, 2013
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Do you know when the breaksafe internal battery was last replaced, if at all. The manufacturer recommends replacing it every 2 years regardless of its state when tested. It's possible that your battery is not holding its charge when disconnected from the vehicle. May be worth replacing battery.
 
Sunny

Sunny

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Aug 19, 2013
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Lake Macquarie
Ok, appointment now booked for me at specsavers ;)

Definitely no glow or current draw from break safe battery whilst parked up unplugged (not sure what I was seeing before) Double checked with batt connected/disconnected and also put a meter on to confirm no current draw...

Van is approx 2 years old and i would guess its the original battery so I've purchased and fitted a new one.

Battery retailer did mention that any battery regardless of age will start to lose voltage after 2-3 months of no use. Something worth noting for anyone who uses there van irregularly.

Given this info I would recommend applying a suitable charger to your break safe battery prior to leaving if it has been parked up for > 2 months even if you have your van connected to 240V whilst parked.

Why a compatible charger could not be attached or incorporated into the Setec seems strange to me?

Anyway, I've learnt something new and hope it raises awareness for fellow forum readers.

Cheers
 
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relgate

relgate

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Feb 2, 2012
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Interesting reading.
My van was out of action for a couple of months.
We took it away last weekend and the breakaway monitor showed a flat battery and was driving us nuts with it's little alarm. I pulled over 5 minutes into the trip and disconected the wire in the trailer plug
We drove 2.5 hours to our destination and the battery was still flat. I thouigh it would have charged in this time?

In reading this thread today I have now hooked up the tug and checked the charge status on the breakaway unit. It is reading as 'charging'. I'll leave it on for a while and see if it gets off the red light. the battery is only 1 year old so it should be OK
 
Burnsy

Burnsy

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Mar 26, 2012
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I am thinking of connecting a small charger to the breakaway battery, powered from mains and wired through an isolation switch.....just give it a days charge before we leave home!
 
bigman0510

bigman0510

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Apr 9, 2011
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Just a side note... on my last van I noticed that when I pushed the test button nothing would happen. I took it into Jayco for a service and asked them to take a look, they checked all the tail lights etc :doh: and said they couldn't find any problems. SO.... I thought I would take a closer look, 5 minutes later I found that the fuse on the actual battery was blown. This is how it came out of the factory! So it was never getting a charge and would never have worked in an emergency!!

Oh.. and both vans I've had charge that battery on 240v
 
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