Grand Cali 600 - Battery not holding charge

[asilcox1]

Hey Everyone,

New to all this so please bear with me. I have a grand Cali 600 and there seems to be an issue with the battery. Its not holding charge for very long within 17hrs (not used at all) it went from 60% 60hrs to 20% battery 23hrs. I turned the fridge off as i though that might be draining it. Not sure what else would drain it? or is it the case that i have a faulty battery.

Its under warranty but nearest VW garage is around 2 hrs away. We have it booked in as when we had it the truma boiler panel wasn't connecting to the touch screen, after looking at the back of the truma panel we discovered that the wires had completely come out of the connector!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[soppelsa]

Glass lids shattering, faulty locker catches,flat batteries,no way to overcome the dump valve problem without using a clothes peg,having to re -boot the electrics every time a fault pops up.
I'm waiting for the GC680.1

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Glass lids shattering, faulty locker catches,flat batteries,no way to overcome the dump valve problem without using a clothes peg,having to re -boot the electrics every time a fault pops up.
I'm waiting for the GC680.1

Look at Hymer Camping Cars instead.

 

[therandman]

Hey Everyone,

New to all this so please bear with me. I have a grand Cali 600 and there seems to be an issue with the battery. Its not holding charge for very long within 17hrs (not used at all) it went from 60% 60hrs to 20% battery 23hrs. I turned the fridge off as i though that might be draining it. Not sure what else would drain it? or is it the case that i have a faulty battery.

Its under warranty but nearest VW garage is around 2 hrs away. We have it booked in as when we had it the truma boiler panel wasn't connecting to the touch screen, after looking at the back of the truma panel we discovered that the wires had completely come out of the connector!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm having the same problem. I bought my 2020 GC 600 from a dealer who put 4,000 km on it and I believe did not maintain the batteries in the 6 months they had it before I bought it. I also get the impression that my solar panel is not doing much, if anything, in terms of helping to charge. I'm taking it to another dealer next week and if I get any wisdom on the battery I'll let you know.

 

[asilcox1]

I'm having the same problem. I bought my 2020 GC 600 from a dealer who put 4,000 km on it and I believe did not maintain the batteries in the 6 months they had it before I bought it. I also get the impression that my solar panel is not doing much, if anything, in terms of helping to charge. I'm taking it to another dealer next week and if I get any wisdom on the battery I'll let you know.

That would be great thank you!

 

[markicp]

I have the same problem I know my battery is fine it’s brand new, I know the solar panel & controller are working fine tested with multimeter ,I believe the trouble lies somewhere else in wiring or another charge controller maybe the main charger under the passenger seat.

 

[SteveGC]

I had exact the same problem with GC680 earlier in the year, after several return visits to the dealer they eventually replaced the whole consumer unit under warranty and touch wood, I’ve had no further issues….I’ve since spent over 40 nights in the GC and it’s performed flawlessly !

 

[ChrisGC]

I’m having a similar but perhaps unrelated issue. I’ve had my GC 680 attached to mains on my drive just to ensure heater comes on when it gets cold. As of a few days ago the leisure battery is no longer charging - it’s losing 10% every day or so. Yet the heatings still working so it’s getting power. Any one had similar experience?

 

[Mr T]

I’m having a similar but perhaps unrelated issue. I’ve had my GC 680 attached to mains on my drive just to ensure heater comes on when it gets cold. As of a few days ago the leisure battery is no longer charging - it’s losing 10% every day or so. Yet the heatings still working so it’s getting power. Any one had similar experience?

Check the charger under the passenger seat, there is a kettle style plug lead which has a habit of coming out.

 

[ChrisGC]

Thank you very much. That’s exactly what it was!

 

[Markyp]

Hey Everyone,

New to all this so please bear with me. I have a grand Cali 600 and there seems to be an issue with the battery. Its not holding charge for very long within 17hrs (not used at all) it went from 60% 60hrs to 20% battery 23hrs. I turned the fridge off as i though that might be draining it. Not sure what else would drain it? or is it the case that i have a faulty battery.

Its under warranty but nearest VW garage is around 2 hrs away. We have it booked in as when we had it the truma boiler panel wasn't connecting to the touch screen, after looking at the back of the truma panel we discovered that the wires had completely come out of the connector!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I had both batteries replaced under warranty. Normally a motorhome would have a deep cycle leisure battery with sustained flow for the habitation bits and a high powered starter battery for the engine. VW dont do that on the grand cali 600 they have two starter batteries (the habitation one under the hood and the van one under the passenger floor) and they have them in parallel. These are less than ideal for being off grid for days or leaving something on power in the van..i would say totally wrong. Within a few years both were fried and needed replacing. What you have to do is keep them permanently topped up all the time by being on power as much as possible and on trickle charge when not in use ( double check that the DC charger under the passenger seat is properly plugged in...the kettle plug gets pulled out easily when you swivel the seats sometimes!). VW technical did admit to me they were using the wrong batteries for the job but in typical VW style - they really did not care. One of the many design mistakes in the grand cali.

 

[Markyp]

I'm having the same problem. I bought my 2020 GC 600 from a dealer who put 4,000 km on it and I believe did not maintain the batteries in the 6 months they had it before I bought it. I also get the impression that my solar panel is not doing much, if anything, in terms of helping to charge. I'm taking it to another dealer next week and if I get any wisdom on the battery I'll let you know.

see my reply to asilcox1