Breakaway Battery Issues

Thanks TomH
The house batteries are sitting on float when in storage at 13.6v when hooked up to the tug sits at 13.6v and increases more when needed. I would think that sort of voltage should be enough.
Food for thought thanks Tom for your input.

Hi Notso,
Yep the house batteries are charging when hooked up to the tug and breakaway battery is getting exactly the same amount. Did just go back out to check the breakaway battery and guess what still showing red when hitting the test button. Still getting 13.6v to the breakaway battery, considering the breakaway battery is only 7amph this should have charged by know. Suspecting the battery is faulty because the charge light is showing battery is being charged. There are 2 fuses in the breakaway box might check those.
Thanks for your input

Is the 13.6 volts right at the Break Away battery terminals. If so and the test is still showing faulty I'd say the battery is definitely shot.

That means that the new battery is also not up to scratch.

The "Monitoring System" installed in vans in NSW has a Test function that actually tests the breakaway unit battery every time you touch the brakes.

On rethinking there is actually a wire in the loom in the bottom of the unit that takes power to the internal charger and the exterior terminals are for a boost when in storage or similar.

Shouldnt need wires to those terminals for normal use.

And yes the service brakes wont affect it . The make or break switch on the A frame is the only thing that will cause it to activate and cause the battery to run down

Tom,
As per my post, if using the service brakes shouldn't call the breakaway circuit into operation, why without faulty wiring, is the operation of said service brakes flattening the battery?
As to why it isn't re-charging, maybe something along the same lines.

Pop That is the question What is the answer.

Pop, the breakaway unit has a connection to the trailer brake lights. When you activate the foot brakes there is a signal returns up that connection and triggers the battery test sequence. That test sequence places a significant load across the battery, there is a voltage monitor across the battery that senses if there is too much voltage drop and sends a signal to the monitor in the tug to alert the driver that the battery charge is not sufficient for proper operation. That is what is discharging the battery. If the battery is not fully charged when you start the journey and the battery charging circuitry is not operating properly then those test loads will be sufficient to produce a low battery condition.

Allan,

My caravan is wired similar (connected to battery bank that is always solar charged).
You will find that a battery is lucky to last 2 years regardless in the Breakaway unit.
Probably a bad charging regime, who knows

Cheers,
Jim

Tom and Peter,

Going by Tom's OP if I understand correctly, with 2 exceptions, my system is much the same.
When I first took delivery of my van I discovered by the failure of my breakaway battery that the charging circuit for that battery had in fact not been connected. I removed that battery and connected the 2 105 AH DC house batteries to the breakaway unit.
As said, I am not recommending anyone else do this, but to me I now have 2 much larger and well charged batteries always on line to make an emergency application of the caravan brakes in the instance of a breakaway event. I do of course test the system periodically with the test button and by pulling the activation device out of the breakaway unit.
The other difference is that here in WA there is currently no requirement for an in cab monitoring system although I do have a method of monitoring all my batteries which may or may not meet NSW requirements.
Tom, if I interpreted your OP correctly, you are charging your house batteries and the breakaway battery in parallel. Could it be that because of the vastly different capacities, and maybe battery types, the little 7AH job is not receiving it's appropriate share of charge? What I'm trying to say is if you have 2 fully charged house batteries are they telling the battery charger that no more charge is required and the charger is ignoring the 7AH breakaway battery's plee for a top up.
Peter, the test sequence that occurs when a service brake application is made, does this test, as well as testing the brake lights, make an actual van brake application, or just an internal test of the breakaway unit? I have only ever made sure that the brake lights operated with the test button and that there was a full brake application when the breakaway activation device is pulled out.

Cheers
Pop

Sorry, ignore " the test sequence that occurs when a service brake application is made"

Should read "the test sequence that occurs when the test button is pushed"

Maybe an edit function might not be a bad thing after all (:=((

Cheers
Pop