Leisure battery failed?
- Thread starter PJ134
- Start date
They replied very quickly when I asked them a question. I’d just try dropping the SB voltage a bit and see if it kicks in. Pretty sure it’ll be fine.
With talk of this red light malarkey, I thought I should take a look at mine. It's always been set to default setting 4, no issues works perfectly. For some strange reason, what used to be an Amber light is closer to red than amber! The green light is very green though, but in the past 12 months the amber bulb colour has changed!
LB around 13.0v SB around 12.28v. Still love it!
LB around 13.0v SB around 12.28v. Still love it!
Honestly thought I’d be able to post back on here that the commissioning of the new battery went well. Sod’s Law always has the final say.
Good news first though, the Ablemail AMT 12-2 seems to be working okay. I had the headlights on for a few minutes and I got the green led come on and confirmed charging of the starter battery from my BMT.
All that was left to do was to change the profile of my Sterling BB1230 from whatever it was to the LiFePo4. I messaged the manufacturer and they said just press the two start/set up buttons together for 15 seconds and scroll through to get the LiFePo4 led illuminated and confirm. Great.
What I didn’t expect was the Sterling unit to be unresponsive. The manual suggests to wake it up, just press any button. Tried this with the key out, key in, ignition on, engine off and engine running. Nothing.
I’m getting the correct voltages at the corresponding terminals on the BB, also the starter battery is being charged with the engine running and the control panel in the back indicates the engine is running too.
The 15a fuse in the Sterling is okay so I’m not sure if the unit is working correctly or just the leds.
I’ve messaged Sterling but not surprisingly, no response due to the holidays.
Reading on here suggests Sterling are not the best option but it’s what I have right now and maybe an upgrade to a Victron or Renogy would be wise which is what I’d do if this is knackered too.
Advice as always is very much appreciated.
Good news first though, the Ablemail AMT 12-2 seems to be working okay. I had the headlights on for a few minutes and I got the green led come on and confirmed charging of the starter battery from my BMT.
All that was left to do was to change the profile of my Sterling BB1230 from whatever it was to the LiFePo4. I messaged the manufacturer and they said just press the two start/set up buttons together for 15 seconds and scroll through to get the LiFePo4 led illuminated and confirm. Great.
What I didn’t expect was the Sterling unit to be unresponsive. The manual suggests to wake it up, just press any button. Tried this with the key out, key in, ignition on, engine off and engine running. Nothing.
I’m getting the correct voltages at the corresponding terminals on the BB, also the starter battery is being charged with the engine running and the control panel in the back indicates the engine is running too.
The 15a fuse in the Sterling is okay so I’m not sure if the unit is working correctly or just the leds.
I’ve messaged Sterling but not surprisingly, no response due to the holidays.
Reading on here suggests Sterling are not the best option but it’s what I have right now and maybe an upgrade to a Victron or Renogy would be wise which is what I’d do if this is knackered too.
Advice as always is very much appreciated.
IIRC, when I had the Sterling unit, you had to be pretty smart to press both buttons at the same time, it took a couple of goes to press them both simultaneously.
So I’ve been messaging to and fro with Ben@Sterling and he’s been very helpful but as of this morning, we are still not able to find the problem.
He asked me for the voltage at the vehicle and leisure battery terminals of the Sterling which at the time was 12.2 for the starter battery and 13.3 at the leisure battery. All good. Also checked the continuity of the 15a fuse which shows all is fine.
Still no signs of life.
He then asked to verify that the earth was going to the batteries rather than chassis, as that can pose threats to the unit if so.
I questioned this earlier in this thread as I’d swapped the earth from the battery to chassis as many of you said was better, and was still advised to leave the earth to chassis. However, this morning I did swap them back to the starter battery negative post but the same result at the Sterling, nothing.
I did check the voltage at the Sterling when I’d removed the chassis earth but before connecting it to the battery and both of the batteries were showing 4.2v which I thought was odd.
Anyway, Ben said to remove all of the wires from the Sterling and leave for a few minutes, then connect just the starter battery to the in terminal and the earth to the central terminal to see if that wakes it up.
Still nothing.
I’ll await Bens response to this hopefully on Monday. In the meantime I’d appreciate any constructive advice from the T6 community, thanks.
I’m thinking that the Sterling seemingly packing up probably goosed the original leisure battery because we were using the fridge thinking all was well, but unbeknownst to us it wasn’t getting charged so fully drained it.
Can’t help but think that me swapping the earths from the battery to chassis had a negative (no pun) effect which upset the Sterling causing the problems.
Cheers guys.
He asked me for the voltage at the vehicle and leisure battery terminals of the Sterling which at the time was 12.2 for the starter battery and 13.3 at the leisure battery. All good. Also checked the continuity of the 15a fuse which shows all is fine.
Still no signs of life.
He then asked to verify that the earth was going to the batteries rather than chassis, as that can pose threats to the unit if so.
I questioned this earlier in this thread as I’d swapped the earth from the battery to chassis as many of you said was better, and was still advised to leave the earth to chassis. However, this morning I did swap them back to the starter battery negative post but the same result at the Sterling, nothing.
I did check the voltage at the Sterling when I’d removed the chassis earth but before connecting it to the battery and both of the batteries were showing 4.2v which I thought was odd.
Anyway, Ben said to remove all of the wires from the Sterling and leave for a few minutes, then connect just the starter battery to the in terminal and the earth to the central terminal to see if that wakes it up.
Still nothing.
I’ll await Bens response to this hopefully on Monday. In the meantime I’d appreciate any constructive advice from the T6 community, thanks.
I’m thinking that the Sterling seemingly packing up probably goosed the original leisure battery because we were using the fridge thinking all was well, but unbeknownst to us it wasn’t getting charged so fully drained it.
Can’t help but think that me swapping the earths from the battery to chassis had a negative (no pun) effect which upset the Sterling causing the problems.
Cheers guys.
Sterling reckons that the unit is cooked. They suggest that I send it to them for diagnostic and possible repair if they can. Now I’m not too keen to chuck money at a unit that is only 3 years old with infrequent light use which has failed. Reading on here leads me to think the best course is to buy a Victron Orion XS which could fit under the seat as others have done, this would make more room in the small cupboard.
However, Ben@Sterling said that they offer repair as a service rather than a revenue stream and I should look at their reviews online.
Many recommend them and often say the cost is low and service good, so the cheapest and quickest option would be to have it repaired, that is if it can be repaired, and ask why they think it failed.
Oh, and apparently the 4v reading is likely to be residual energy in the capacitors, so nothing to worry about there.
So I’ll send it off later this week and post back here any updates.
Have a good evening
However, Ben@Sterling said that they offer repair as a service rather than a revenue stream and I should look at their reviews online.
Many recommend them and often say the cost is low and service good, so the cheapest and quickest option would be to have it repaired, that is if it can be repaired, and ask why they think it failed.
Oh, and apparently the 4v reading is likely to be residual energy in the capacitors, so nothing to worry about there.
So I’ll send it off later this week and post back here any updates.
Have a good evening
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