Battery Maintaince Charge

[TwoDogs]

sorry...slight hijack...and a dumb newbie question:
have just plugged my new Cali in to do a charge prior to our first weekend away...all charging fine...but do I have to leave the Control Panel switched on while it's on charge or does it charge regardless?

 

[Hotel California]

The roofdisplay takes power from the battery so , switching it off does not change anything to charging on hook - up
Btw , i got my Cali nearly three years , never actualy switcht that control panel off can't see the plusside on turning it off.

 

[TwoDogs]

Cheers..makes sense.
The manual says to turn the panel off to save battery charge if leaving the vehicle for a long time.....can't see it would take much juice tho!

 

[Neilgbj]

What is the preferred weapon of choice to charge at home ? Thanks

 

[Hotel California]

What is the preferred weapon of choice to charge at home ? Thanks

What do you mean....by this
What kind of Cali do you have...?

 

[GrannyJen]

What is the preferred weapon of choice to charge at home ? Thanks

A plug and hook up lead, just as one uses on a campsite,

 

[WelshGas]

Sorry, I do not understand your question. If you have a California SE then you have mains electricity input and a built in 12v charger that will charge both the leisure and engine batteries.
If you do not have a mains/built in charger system then I would suggest the Ctek family of battery chargers/conditioners.

 

[Neilgbj]

I'll start again last post written in haste.....(yes we do have an SE) we have the normal hook up lead but is there some form of adaptor to enable it to plug into the mains....

 

[rich-s]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001AVLPF2/?tag=vwcalifornia-21
This is what you need.

 

[GrannyJen]

You need a three pin household type plug to male caravan plug connector, which then allows your standard EHU cable to plug into the mains,

Around £10 from all good caravan shops

 

[calikev]

You need one of these.

 

[Neilgbj]

Ah, just the job, many thanks.......as new owners maybe more silly questions to come ....

 

[GrannyJen]

Ah, just the job, many thanks.......as new owners maybe more silly questions to come ....

No such thing as silly questions...

The silly thing is not asking and messing your camping trip up,

Ask away,

 

[jts46]

Cheers..makes sense.
The manual says to turn the panel off to save battery charge if leaving the vehicle for a long time.....can't see it would take much juice tho!

Don't think i have ever switched off the central panel, apart from when i repaired the earth shunt.
Why do you need to switch it off ?????

John

 

[GrannyJen]

Don't think i have ever switched off the central panel, apart from when i repaired the earth shunt.
Why do you need to switch it off ?????

John

It sets all settings to zero. Saves turning everything off individually, especially useful if you have loads of programmed pre-sets on the heater.

 

[Ricotansky]

It sets all settings to zero. Saves turning everything off individually, especially useful if you have loads of programmed pre-sets on the heater.

I did not know that. That'll save me laboriously deleting the heater timer settings after each trip!

 

[Maurice]

I am the 3rd owner of an 06.08.2009 registered Cali and I have been following my leisure batteries discharge rate after a 24 hour period on mains charge. At start it was 13.2V and 0.2 Amp and 100%. From Day 2 to Day 7 it was 12.7V, 90% and 0.2Amp and on Day 8 it was 12.6V 70/80% (fluctuating) and 0.2Amp. I then tried to start the auxiliary heater and it would not fire-up (heater was working fine after the 24h charge) Does this look as if the leisure batteries require changing or is this "the earthing problem" or perhaps both? In the paper work for the vehicle there is no indication that the batteries have been changed. Any views on this position would be gratefully received. Many thanks.

 

[jeff]

I have a 08 Cali leisure batteries where 60% heater still worked ok after starting up they went down to 40% for a while then back up to 50% after heater fired up and blowing warm air. Worked ok for about 30mins no problem until I switched it off.

 

[Maurice]

Thanks Jeff, hope my heater isn't now playing up!

 

[v-tec]

I am the 3rd owner of an 06.08.2009 registered Cali and I have been following my leisure batteries discharge rate after a 24 hour period on mains charge. At start it was 13.2V and 0.2 Amp and 100%. From Day 2 to Day 7 it was 12.7V, 90% and 0.2Amp and on Day 8 it was 12.6V 70/80% (fluctuating) and 0.2Amp. I then tried to start the auxiliary heater and it would not fire-up (heater was working fine after the 24h charge) Does this look as if the leisure batteries require changing or is this "the earthing problem" or perhaps both? In the paper work for the vehicle there is no indication that the batteries have been changed. Any views on this position would be gratefully received. Many thanks.

On the original varta batterys they are date stamped on top of the battery post,
For example, 25 that would mean week 25 Year 2009.
09

If that's the case I would say there past there best, as the batterys are wired in parallel the voltage will only be as good as the worst battery,

I have 2 new batterys in my Cali and after 2 weeks standing they still show 100%, But if I was to fire up the heater they would drop to 80% quite quickly and then remain there for sometime,
The firing up of the heater does initially pull 13-15 amps then as things get up to temp they draw considerably less,
Don't forget just because a battery shows 12.9 volts, it doesn't meen its a healthy battery, it's not until you start to load it that it will show its true colours,

I think even with new batterys, You should still give a good mains hook up charge at least once a month, and most certainly just befor you go wild camping,

I went for genuine VW/Varta batterys because where the under seat one fits, it is very tight and I also wanted to keep/refit the rubber insulation cover,Because AGM batterys are very temperature sensitive , also the smart charger is designed to work with 75AH. 420 Amp batterys, x2.

V-tec

 

[Maurice]

On the original varta batterys they are date stamped on top of the battery post,
For example, 25 that would mean week 25 Year 2009.
09

If that's the case I would say there past there best, as the batterys are wired in parallel the voltage will only be as good as the worst battery,

I have 2 new batterys in my Cali and after 2 weeks standing they still show 100%, But if I was to fire up the heater they would drop to 80% quite quickly and then remain there for sometime,
The firing up of the heater does initially pull 13-15 amps then as things get up to temp they draw considerably less,
Don't forget just because a battery shows 12.9 volts, it doesn't meen its a healthy battery, it's not until you start to load it that it will show its true colours,

I think even with new batterys, You should still give a good mains hook up charge at least once a month, and most certainly just befor you go wild camping,

I went for genuine VW/Varta batterys because where the under seat one fits, it is very tight and I also wanted to keep/refit the rubber insulation cover,Because AGM batterys are very temperature sensitive , also the smart charger is designed to work with 75AH. 420 Amp batterys, x2.

V-tec

Many thanks for that V-tec. I will check the dates and act accordingly. Also thanks for the reminder of the need to load batteries to get a true indication of their health. I now remember when I tried to fire-up the heater that the voltage dropped substantially and rapidly.Methinks I am about to spend some money.