Water pump sucking electricity

[travelingdan]

I accidentally left my water pump on for a few hours (with no water running). Now, when I turn it on and run water it draws down my power from around 11.4 to under 9. Any suggestions on how I can fix the situation?

 

[Vic Harder]

I accidentally left my water pump on for a few hours (with no water running). Now, when I turn it on and run water it draws down my power from around 11.4 to under 9. Any suggestions on how I can fix the situation?

I hope the pump still works... it could have overheated. Aside from that, it sounds like leaving it on for that long has drained your battery. 11.4 at rest is likely already way below 50% charged.

Is it cold out? Did the batteries spend much time at this charge level at below freezing temps? If so, the battery could have frozen. If that's the case, it could be too late. Try warming it up to room temp, and putting a battery charger on it, if you don't already have shore power.

 

[travelingdan]

I have two batteries and they are both brand new. The low temperature on this 10-day trip has only been down to 45 degrees.

The water pump still works.

I have an 85-watt solar panel that charges the batteries.

Since I’m out I won’t be able to do much to the batteries until I return home mid next week.

 

[Vic Harder]

Even brand new batteries can be discharged fully. 45* is good news... not frozen then, likely just really low. Does everything else electrical in the camper still work? Does your solar charge controller tell you SOC or just the voltage?

It's been said before here: we really need to have good battery monitoring built into our campers to be able to tell what's going on.

 

[travelingdan]

Everything electrical in the camper works fine, except when I turn on the water pump and then the lights dim/go out. I have a battery monitor in the camper. (I saw it on this forum quite a few years ago and installed one.) It's reading 10.9 right now which is the lowest it has read in years.

 

[travelingdan]

Do you know if the solar will eventually fully charge the batteries or will I need to charge them with a battery charger?

 

[Vic Harder]

with no draw of any kind, then yes, the solar will eventually recharge the batteries. 10.5 is considered dead flat... 0% charged.
But since you are using the camper, it's hard to say how much power you will have left over to go into the batteries.

Is your monitor a Trimetric by any chance?

 

[Beach]

You might need to replace the pump. We use the same type on boats and do see some overheated to the point where the plastic housing warps or the windings break down. Either way it causes the pump to load up and pull high amps. Check it again with batteries fully charged

 

[Timothy McGowen]

Sounds to me like it is just a low battery. The voltage drop when the pump is running is normal. It just reads so low because the batteries are too low. It should recover but will take some time with an 80 watt panel. One night in an RV park where you could plug in for one night should fix things up.

 

[travelingdan]

Thanks everyone. I’m heading home to San Diego so I will charge the batteries there and see what’s up.