Beach Leisure Battery - Charged on Hookup?

[WelshGas]

Bizarrely when you look at the switches up and red is on, down and green is off!
Which to my old brain is the wrong way round.

Possibly or On - Red - Danger and Green - Off - Safe

 

[AlanC]

On an SE there is a twin circuit breaker. I thought one did the 240 socket the other the battery charger and inverter.

No, the RCB breaks both the +ve and -ve legs of the mains for safety. The 240v feed is split to the various bits that need a mains feed elsewhere. I know not where.

Alan

 

[snowy55]

No, the RCB breaks both the +ve and -ve legs of the mains for safety. The 240v feed is split to the various bits that need a mains feed elsewhere. I know not where.

Alan

Ok, thanks for the info.

 

[estresao]

My Cali Beach (2015 Spanish) has a RCB into the compartiment where is the jack and so on, in the left side of the trunck. Never used (my Cali is 2 month old) but it is there.

Also have, for sure, a charger which only works when the hookup is connected, and which only charge the leisure battery, but not the main one (I'm 100% sure about that).

If, when connected the hookup, you get current in the 240 outlet, but there is not more than 13v in any 12v outlet but the lighter one, your charger is not working. I would have a look to the fuses.

 

[Sun Chaser]

My Cali Beach (2015 Spanish) has a RCB into the compartiment where is the jack and so on, in the left side of the trunck. Never used (my Cali is 2 month old) but it is there.

Also have, for sure, a charger which only works when the hookup is connected, and which only charge the leisure battery, but not the main one (I'm 100% sure about that).

If, when connected the hookup, you get current in the 240 outlet, but there is not more than 13v in any 12v outlet but the lighter one, your charger is not working. I would have a look to the fuses.

Hi Estresao
Thanx for that, I was also thinking that is how it should work. I have just recently bought my California Beach 2.0 Bitdi 4 Motion, it was assembled in Germany and was imported to SA. So I am also still trying to figure out all the systems. the manual gives different options, but I am not sure which one is fitted to my Cali.
I would also like to find the position of the 220v - 12v charger and how to access it.
Do you know if there is a 12v - 220v inverter fitted to any of the Cali's.
Cheers
Ian

 

[estresao]

All the Calis are assembled in Germany. Mine one is Spanish specifications and there are some differences to the ones sold here in UK, for example, mine one is a 2015 Beach 140cv BMT 4Motion, which is not sold here, but I think there are things are common.

In the Beach edition, the hookup option doesn´t includes inverter.

I cannot tell you about the RCB position because I've never seen (my Cali is 2 months old) and I'm traveling at the moment

 

[helmguy]

The RCD is defintely in the back with the tools.

Something still isn't working for me so next is to confirm 12v sockets are coming off the leisure battery and the are if I can find the charger. Oh and the fuse for the charger.

 

[estresao]

You've got the California Beach fuse layer in the VIP area, search for "VW California Beach Fuse Layout". There you can see which fuses are involved in the charging

 

[AlanC]

In the UK the SE version does have an inverter fitted as standard. It supplies a 2 pin socket behind our front passenger seat on the B pillar. It is limited in power to 150Watts, I think, at 230volts AC.

I would guess the equivalent van on the continent also has an inverter, others can confirm this, but not the UK Beach range as standard.

Alan

 

[estresao]

I think the SE (Confortline in Spain) also have inverter, but not the Beach

 

[AlanC]

I think the SE (Confortline in Spain) also have inverter, but not the Beach

That would make sense

Alan

 

[MattBW]

I asked yesterday when I picked mine up, the dealer told me the battery trickle charges on hookup but it is only a trickle. I have a good charger in my T25 I may use that when away. No inverter as standard apparently.

 

[shudycamps]

Hi,

We have a 2014 Beach with Hookup. We spent a week on a campsite recently on hookup and with the fridge/coolbox running from an internal 12v socket. The fridge ran for about a day or so before turning off, I assume because of the leisure battery voltage dropping. Running the car's engine would bring it back to life so that's obviously topping up the leisure battery.

I had thought that the leisure battery was also charged when on hookup but that wasn't happening for us.

Does anyone know for sure if it should charge on hookup? Is so we may have duff charging system.

Or does it just not charge at all form hookup. If so that would mean using the fridge if you're on a campsite for more than a night pretty useless. I guess I could get something like CTEK charger to plug into the 240 socket in the van and charge the leisure battery. I'd just assumed this function was built in!

Any help appreciated.

Hi Mark, we have a new Cali too and if you look in the rear compartment where the gas bottle lives, there is a flip switch that turns on the electrics when hooked up. On our first test night out we hooked up but never swtiched on. It was only until the following morning that the husband discovered the switch. Hey, we are newbies a week away from the BIG test drive through La Belle France to Spain! Can't wait for the Cali adventure to start.

 

[zeratul]

I know this is an old thread. But I seem to be experiencing the same issue on my T5 beach 2015: on hookup, nothing charges, not even the leisure battery, but the 230v socket inside the cali works when on hookup.
Are we 100% sure that the hookup is supposed to charge the leisure battery (On a continental europe t5 Beach) Should it charge at all times when plugged in or only when leisure is not full? I see 12.7volt on leisure battery, and it doesn't change when plugging or removing the hookup.
What's more worrying is the main battery, which is only 12.1v and doesn't charge at all.
When the engine runs, both are 14.0v +

 

[Romke]

I know this is an old thread. But I seem to be experiencing the same issue on my T5 beach 2015: on hookup, nothing charges, not even the leisure battery, but the 230v socket inside the cali works when on hookup.

Same with my Beach. I installed a charger myself, on the base of the LH seat, connected directly to the leasure battery and fed via the 230V wall socket.

IMG_0186

• Romke
• Feb 17, 2016
• 3

CTek charger on LH seat console

 

[zeratul]

Good to know. Guess I will do the same. I've paid > EUR 700 for this option .. which only brings the 230v socket inside. What a waste of money. Can any other (European) T5 beach owner confirm?

This would also mean that 'plugging the Cali in from time to time' when not in use (the so called good practice) is completely useless on a T5 Beach.

 

[Borris]

This post had muddied the waters for me. I had previously thought that when on hook up both of the Beach batteries where being charged like the three are on the SE/Ocean. Now I am not sure what happens. Our Beach has currently been having it's monthly charge on hook up for about nineteen hours so far and I am now wondering what's actually been happening out there?

The one thing that I would say about the Beach is (as this thread has testified), the utterly apalling position of RCD switch. Some who posted earlier didn't even know that it existed. Even when you have found out, there is often confusion as to which direction will put switch in to effect the on position. Our Beach has the bed extension so accessing the little hatch where the tools, jack and the aforementioned RCD switch are located with this extension in place is an absolute bl*$y nightmare. Once you have removed the trim cover you cannot see the RCD because VW in their infinite wisdom have stuck the damn thing up above the opening where you cannot see it. You therefore need a mirror and a torch to see what position it's in and an arm the size of a four year old to be able to get to it before you can even begin think about operating it. IMO this is by far the worst feature of the Beach and looks very much to me like a very half hearted last minute bodge up made in order to allow Beach owners to have an EHU. Surely with about a minute's more thought they could have positioned this switch so that it protrudes through a trimmed aperture high up in the N/S trim panel (above bed level) possibly with a hinged flap to prevent accidental actuation.

 

[calikev]

The only real way to tell is put a multimeter on the van battery and check voltage then plug the van into the mains then check the van's battery again it should rise
From about 12.7 v to over 13v. But I suspect it won't if the beach is not fitted with a battery charger

 

[zeratul]

Yes it's hard to find. But with a phone you can take a picture and see the up means RED and says ON and down is green and OFF. And I've tested what happens - on hookup and ON there is 230v in the socket in the cali near the B-pillar, on OFF there is not. So it's just a breaker for the 230v connection to inside. I don't think it has anything to do with charging batteries (which the Beach doesn't seem to do.)

 

[zeratul]

The only real way to tell is put a multimeter on the van battery and check voltage then plug the van into the mains then check the van's battery again it should rise
From about 12.7 v to over 13v. But I suspect it won't if the beach is not fitted with a battery charger

Yes this is what I did. I had 12.6 on leisure both plugged in and not plugged in and 12.0 on main battery.
When the engine runs, both are 14+. But of course since it's a trickle charger from the hookup, perhaps it's lower then...

 

[calikev]

With the engine running the van battery will charge from the alternator so will go up to 14v You should of had more than 12v on the van battery as that's not enough to start the van it should be above 12.6 v

 

[Borris]

The only real way to tell is put a multimeter on the van battery and check voltage then plug the van into the mains then check the van's battery again it should rise
From about 12.7 v to over 13v. But I suspect it won't if the beach is not fitted with a battery charger

Thanks Kev,
I'll give that a try once the snow has melted!

 

[zeratul]

I've done it and it doesn't rise, not on the mains battery (there it's clear 12.3v and not rising), and not on the leisure battery (where it's 12.7v which is full, so hard to say).

 

[WelshGas]

I know this is an old thread. But I seem to be experiencing the same issue on my T5 beach 2015: on hookup, nothing charges, not even the leisure battery, but the 230v socket inside the cali works when on hookup.
Are we 100% sure that the hookup is supposed to charge the leisure battery (On a continental europe t5 Beach) Should it charge at all times when plugged in or only when leisure is not full? I see 12.7volt on leisure battery, and it doesn't change when plugging or removing the hookup.
What's more worrying is the main battery, which is only 12.1v and doesn't charge at all.
When the engine runs, both are 14.0v +

I had the same on my SE when I picked it up. On Mains Hookup I had 230v to the Kitchen socket but NO charging of the Leisure Batteries. The fault - the Charger was NOT plugged into the Mains supply.
The Mains supply entering the vehicle goes through the Safety switch ( RCD ) and then splits to the Mains Socket in the vehicle and the Charger via a push in Kettle type plug. Mine wasn't pushed in to make contact.

Now I believe the Beach, if ordered with factory fit Mains Hookup has both the RCD switch and Charger.
These are located behind the trim panel by the External socket. So first check that the RCD is ON and then check the Charger is plugged in properly.

Others have had this problem as the Mains circuit/Charger circuit is NOT part of the PDI check on new vehicles.

 

[zeratul]

Here's the best picture I've been able to take from the circuit breaker in the T5 beach. Which is very very hard to reach or photograph. It's up in the plastic in the side compartment where the jack is. It has one pair of wires in (blue, brown) from the 230V plug, and one pair of wires out (blue, brown) that go to the 230v socket near the B-pillar. Haven't stripped my car completely but I cannot find any battery charger in that compartment and I've taken pictures in all directions. There's also nothing under the front seats.

Does the SE circuit breaker look similar? Do you have 2x2 wires out from the breaker (one pair to 230v socket, one to charger?)