It is likely that the battery has been sitting for some period while the caravan was not in use causing the acid in the battery electrolyte to separate from the solution (stratification) leading to battery damage that causes overheating when next charged, a new battery is required as the damage is not generally reversible.  Another cause is that the battery is being charged when the ambient temperature in the caravan boot is too high, too high means over 50 degrees Celsius which may occur easily when a caravan is in full sun on a 30 degree plus day. The CC-1223-FST charger with optional temperature probe overcomes these problems.

There is a common misconception that the fuse in an appliance is there to protect the appliance from some outside problem hence many people replace the fuse hoping for a quick fix.  The fuse is in fact there to protect the user from a faulty appliance where the fault may cause overheating and possibly fire etc. Replacing a blown fuse rarely restores an appliance to proper operation as fuses are themselves rarely faulty and have simply done their job of protecting you.  Repeated fuse replacement usually causes more damage to a device making it more and more difficult/costly to repair.  Putting in a replacement fuse with a higher rating is inviting trouble such as fire and more damage than is repairable and could lead to voiding of insurance cover.  A charger with a blown fuse should be sent to us for repair or exchange.

This is a very commonly reported problem with some brands of caravan, it seems that somewhere in the wiring the connection to the battery (from the charger) has been broken.  This could be in the form of a blown fuse or open circuit breaker or more commonly a diode fitted in the wiring has blown. The diode in question usually took the form of an alternator type diode press fitted into a small block of aluminium. We are not certain why this was fitted though it appears in some cases to be connected with a fridge installation. We do know that this and other things conspire to keep the charger from connecting to the battery. In most cases the diode can be bypassed successfully. The flickering LED and twitchy fan indicate that the charger is working but not connected as it will not start up properly without connecting to either a battery or a load or both. There is always some possibility of as fault in the charger though this is quite rare, in this case the charger will either need to be repaired or exchanged.

A battery that has been discharged past 60% is likely to show signs of damage unless recharged immediately after being discharged.  A battery that has been allowed to discharge as low as 7 volts has probably been at this level for some time, unnoticed.  This will almost certainly have resulted in a large percentage of sulphation to the battery plates most of which may have hardened to the point that reversal is unlikely.  If the low voltage state is only recent then recharge may well be mostly successful with only slight loss of capacity evident.

While there is some possibility that the charger needs checking it is quite normal to have to add water to this type of battery.  As opposed to sealed batteries that we are all familiar with (because they are installed in our vehicles) these ones are maintainable types and as such are not maintenance free.  A vented battery that is on a 24/7 trickle or float charge will require a water top up quite frequently, possibly as often as daily, this is quite normal.  Vented batteries used in commercial standby situations typically have automatic water level maintaining equipment and are kept topped up all the time.  In short, if you buy a vented battery, it will require to be maintained frequently, this is the trade off against the advantages of this battery type.  If a battery is seen to be “bone dry” meaning that the electrolyte is well below the observable level then some damage to the battery will have occurred with some loss of capacity evident, continued lack of maintaining levels will lead to early battery failure.

The earlier Wialki chargers were fitted with a relay for reverse polarity protection.  This also reacts to the higher voltage put out by most solar controllers and this causes the relay to chatter.  There are two solutions, the best of which is to have your installer fit a changeover switch to isolate the charger during the day when the solar is working and enable it to be used as needed during the night or in the shade.  There is little point in having two charging devices fighting over the battery after all.  The other solution is to have us remove the relay which stops the noise but also removes the reverse polarity protection.  This obviously requires the charger to visit out workshops.

Chargers with fan cooling maybe subjected to noisy fan bearings as the bearing lubricant becomes ineffective over time. The remedy for this is to fit a new fan, which can be done in our workshops for a modest fee. On request we will supply you with a replacement fan which you may fit or have fitted at your convenience.

Sometimes this noise is from the battery disconnect relay opening and closing in the CC-1223. This usually occurs when unmanaged multiple battery charging systems are deployed in the RV. These can be one or more of the following: back emf charging from refrigerator motors, Solar Power Systems, added non-standard 240vac~12vdc Battery Chargers, Towing vehicle powered battery charging systems. Multiple charging systems must be managed correctly to ensure only one method of charging is applied at a given time.

The CC-1214 charger is a single rate unit as specified by the caravan manufacturers who used it.  As such it is set to 13.7 to 13.8V output and is suitable for use on flooded lead acid batteries as well as sealed and AGM types.  In the case of a deeply discharged battery it will take somewhat longer to recharge than with a boost type charger but will still do the job.  Note that these units will operate as a power supply without a battery present hence the original specification.

Ideally a charger will have a current capability of around 10% (in Amps)  of the rated A/H capacity of the battery.  Less than 10% will mean longer charge times and within reason this may be quite OK depending on actual usage.  In your case a total of 480A/H is OK for this charger if the longer charge time does not cause any issues.  Larger capacity battery setups (more than 480A/H) will perform better with a more closely matched charging unit.  Smaller capacity batteries can usually be safely charged with a larger charger within a 30% to 40% of capacity limit.

No, when there is no mains power attached to your caravan the charger is inactive and doesn’t take any part in the process.  The only thing you should be sure of is that the connection is set up so the caravan and car batteries/systems cannot drain each other in any way.

The short answer is no but with some cautions.  If you were to run the inverter at or near full load on this battery setup this results in a current of 166 Amps so a total of 240A/H battery capacity at that rate will likely give you a theoretical usage of just about an hour (based on a markedly less A/H rating for a battery at higher currents). Given that it would be undesirable to discharge even the best batteries past 50 to 60% then it can be seen that the practical use will be certainly less than ½ hour.  This assumes batteries in 100% condition and all other things correct.  The charge time using a 25Amp charger is likely to be in the region of 7 to 8 hours and the charger will be putting out high current for a good few hours of this time.  This dictates that the charger needs to be in a well ventilated area in moderate ambient conditions.

Most brands of chargers and other electronic goods can be repaired where the fault is obvious or easy to find.  When a fault becomes more in depth it is often uneconomic to repair such things due to the amount of time required.  We also will sometimes need access to circuit information that is not obtainable thus making repairs too in depth to be economic as well.  So we will accept faulty items on the basis that we will have a look it but with no guarantee that we can proceed to a repair.  Very often a replacement item is priced well enough to simply replace the faulty one anyway and if so we will advise accordingly.

Goods under warranty will be repaired or replaced (at our discretion) free of charge. However, freight/postage costs may be paid by the purchaser.

General repairs will be quoted based on merit and may incur an inspection fee if not proceeded with. Inspection fee will be $20 to $30 dependant on time taken to identify fault. Repairs/exchanges that are proceeded with will not incur an inspection fee.

Contact us below for assistance.

All our new products come with a 2, 3 or 5 Year Warranty.

Exchange chargers come with a 12 month warranty.

The warranty covers our products against faulty materials or workmanship. For the complete warranty conditions, please contact us.

Our warranties do not exclude rights and remedies conferred by statutory law.

Goods will be dispatched as quickly as possible. Usually same day or next day depending on availability. Any delays will be advised.

Goods are normally dispatched by Australia Post with a signature required on delivery.

Parcel Post - Normally 2+ business days delivery. Delivery may take longer for country areas.

Express Post - Normally next day delivery within the Express Post network, longer for country areas.