Help diagnosing leisure battery drain

[ainsy]

Any ideas why my leisure battery is draining quickly on my new Cali Ocean? The battery drops from 100% to 50% in around 4 days with no usage and I can't work out what's causing it as nothing is on.

Today I did the following test:

- Charged off EHU for 24hrs
- Checked battery status on console and it was 12.7v & 100% with a 0.0a draw. I did a manual check of both leisure batteries with multimeter and both read 12.65.
- Checked battery status on console 5hrs later and it was 12.4v & 80% with a -0.2 draw. Manual check with multimeter confirmed reading.

Nothing is switched on or plugged in and the amp never goes above -0.2, which i believe is the draw from the console.

I did ring the VW garage and the advice was to drain the battery and charge fully in case the battery has a memory effect issue! I didn't think lead acid batteries had this issue.

 

[MattBW]

Did you have the control panel on for that time? It will draw 0.2a when turned on.

 

[ainsy]

Hiya, No the control panel was switched off.

Reading this morning was 12.3v and 70% capacity

 

[Jason wallace]

If its a new ocean.....these 2 do catch me out occasionally.

- Internal Kitchen cupboard lights sometime accidentally turned on and hard to notice unless in the van and dark
- Internal wardrobe light, hinge switch can be a bit iffy meaning the light stays on when the cupboard is closed. Easily fixed

Jason

 

[AlisonF]

I’m pretty sure you are not supposed to let the batteries go below around 60% so not sure why your dealer would say to drain them - surely that would ruin them?

 

[Loz]

Have you left anything plugged into the inverter on the passenger B pillar?
Have you left any USB charge adapters plugged in?

 

[ainsy]

Have you left anything plugged into the inverter on the passenger B pillar?
Have you left any USB charge adapters plugged in?

Nothing in any of the sockets including the inverter. The inverter socket light is not stuck on either.

When I switch the console on the max draw is -0.2, which I presume is just from having the console on.

The only two conclusions I can come to at the moment are:

1) 1 or both of my leisure batteries have an issue and they can't hold a charge.
2) I do short journeys during the week. Is it possible the starter battery is getting low and this is then being topped up from the leisure batteries resulting in the drain?

 

[WelshGas]

Nothing in any of the sockets including the inverter. The inverter socket light is not stuck on either.

When I switch the console on the max draw is -0.2, which I presume is just from having the console on.

The only two conclusions I can come to at the moment are:

1) 1 or both of my leisure batteries have an issue and they can't hold a charge.
2) I do short journeys during the week. Is it possible the starter battery is getting low and this is then being topped up from the leisure batteries resulting in the drain?

Just a question. Was your vehicle a new factory order to you, or a stock vehicle?
Dealers seem to have a Blank about charging the Leisure Batteries on their stock/demonstrator vehicles and this can lead to problems.

 

[ainsy]

Just a question. Was your vehicle a new factory order to you, or a stock vehicle?
Dealers seem to have a Blank about charging the Leisure Batteries on their stock/demonstrator vehicles and this can lead to problems.

It was a pre registered stock vehicle. It was kept at an off-site compound so probably wasn't charged.
You think the batteries could be toast?

 

[WelshGas]

It was a pre registered stock vehicle. It was kept at an off-site compound so probably wasn't charged.
You think the batteries could be toast?

Distinct possibility.
Many owners never wildcamp without Mains Hookup so would probably never know they had a problem.

 

[MartG]

The only sure way to check is to disconnect both batteries and monitor their discharge rate, preferably off the vehicle.
You are correct, lead acid batteries do not have a 'memory effect', this was only a symptom of under discharging / re-charging NiCd, and to a lesser extent, NiMh cells.
Discharging a lead acid battery down to 11.8V won't be a problem if it's immediately fully re-charged, it will shorten it's cycle life each time though. Going beyond 11V down to 0V will potentially cause loss of capacity, especially if left for long.
If you haven't had the van long, I'd tackle the dealer that your batteries are not up to scratch.

 

[Cali4nia-Dream]

It was a pre registered stock vehicle. It was kept at an off-site compound so probably wasn't charged.
You think the batteries could be toast?

I know that as a pre registered stock vehicle the batteries should be the originals, but based on past experience, our previous MH leisure battery turned out to be a standard one, not a proper leisure one. We bought that van new, and not pre-registered, from a large MH dealer in the North East. At the time we were unaware of the differences until we tried to get a replacement. It may be worth a check.

Another thought - could the problem be linked to your interior light issue that is causing the loss of charge, or has that been fixed

I am presuming its quite a new van so it should still be under warranty so I wouldn't hesitate to call your dealer. I know there have been some concerns expressed about a few dealers, but in my experience the West Yorks VW Van centre (where we bought our Cali) have been very good at diagnosing and fixing issues.

 

[ainsy]

I know that as a pre registered stock vehicle the batteries should be the originals, but based on past experience, our previous MH leisure battery turned out to be a standard one, not a proper leisure one. We bought that van new, and not pre-registered, from a large MH dealer in the North East. At the time we were unaware of the differences until we tried to get a replacement. It may be worth a check.

Another thought - could the problem be linked to your interior light issue that is causing the loss of charge, or has that been fixed

I am presuming its quite a new van so it should still be under warranty so I wouldn't hesitate to call your dealer. I know there have been some concerns expressed about a few dealers, but in my experience the West Yorks VW Van centre (where we bought our Cali) have been very good at diagnosing and fixing issues.

Thanks for all the information everyone.

Regarding the light issue. That was a weird one and hasn't happened again. I eliminated it from the issue by pulling the fuse anyway and the battery continued to drain.

I've got the van booked into Preston Van centre now. Does anyone know if this is a well rated Cali specialist? The sales chap (Guy) seemed to be very knowledgeable.
My first experience with the service center when I called wasn't very good though. I asked if it was possible to speak to a technical person to talk through the issue and I was advised 'NO', the technical people don't speak to customers. The only option is to book the van in.

 

[ainsy]

I forgot to mention. I noticed the batteries got fairly hot when on EHU. Is this normal during EHU charging?

The front battery was hotter, which I presumed was because it had the cover on.

I've just been out to check and it's now at 50% (12.1v). that's a 50% drop in 48hrs.

 

[MartG]

I forgot to mention. I noticed the batteries got fairly hot when on EHU. Is this normal during EHU charging?

The front battery was hotter, which I presumed was because it had the cover on.

I've just been out to check and it's now at 50% (12.1v). that's a 50% drop in 48hrs.

They shouldn't get hot - I think they may have sulfate build up on the plates, this causes heat, low capacity and poor performance.
There's lots of info / advice on the net about recovering sulfated batteries but IMO they are not recoverable, not permanently anyway. The sulfate crystals grow on the plates (reducing the surface area which allows the chemical reaction to produce current) and eventually shorts out the plates rendering the battery u/s.

edit - Don't keep trying to charge them if they are hot, they can boil or explode

 

[AlanC]

Another thought is that I believe VW used a substandard battery on some T6 vans for a while recently. They have now changed back to using Varta batteries. VW Guru mentioned this a while back.

If your batteries are not Varta ones then a trip to the dealer to request replacements is necessary.

Alan

 

[ainsy]

Another thought is that I believe VW used a substandard battery on some T6 vans for a while recently. They have now changed back to using Varta batteries. VW Guru mentioned this a while back.

If your batteries are not Varta ones then a trip to the dealer to request replacements is necessary.

Alan

thanks. Spoke to the service chap at VW Preston and was advised to ring VW assist if the batteries are getting hot while charging. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[WelshGas]

Another thought is that I believe VW used a substandard battery on some T6 vans for a while recently. They have now changed back to using Varta batteries. VW Guru mentioned this a while back.

If your batteries are not Varta ones then a trip to the dealer to request replacements is necessary.

Alan

That was only the Engine/Starter battery.

 

[WelshGas]

thanks. Spoke to the service chap at VW Preston and was advised to ring VW assist if the batteries are getting hot while charging. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what happens.

You get Priority Service via VW Assistance. If something needs doing that the VW Assistance Guy cannot sort then immediate / priority appointment at Dealership.

 

[Brianandjoy]

We had this problem with an 18 month old California,a lot of arguing resulted in them changing both leisure batteries,the van must have been left standing for months without charging and the leisure batteries sulphate up.The longest Ive left ours without changing is 5 weeks,normally 4

 

[Bob Petttitt]

Hi, this happened to mine a couple of months ago (my California is now 12 months old). It drained at about 10% per day until completely flat. The dealership couldn't find the problem and replaced the battery with a new one. It's fine now btw.

Best of luck,
Bob

 

[Jolberg]

I bought a pre-registered Ocean at Easter this year with a similar battery drain problem. The dealer changed one battery straight away despite me pleading for them to change both. Problem didn’t go away. They ended up having the van for over 2 weeks before they changed the 2nd one and all gas been five ever since. The dealer needs to fix this obvious problem. With healthy batteries you get vertically no drain at all over a month which is when you should charge on EHU anyway.

 

[Geesvw]

Any ideas why my leisure battery is draining quickly on my new Cali Ocean? The battery drops from 100% to 50% in around 4 days with no usage and I can't work out what's causing it as nothing is on.

Today I did the following test:

- Charged off EHU for 24hrs
- Checked battery status on console and it was 12.7v & 100% with a 0.0a draw. I did a manual check of both leisure batteries with multimeter and both read 12.65.
- Checked battery status on console 5hrs later and it was 12.4v & 80% with a -0.2 draw. Manual check with multimeter confirmed reading.

Nothing is switched on or plugged in and the amp never goes above -0.2, which i believe is the draw from the console.

I did ring the VW garage and the advice was to drain the battery and charge fully in case the battery has a memory effect issue! I didn't think lead acid batteries had this issue.

Just a word of caution. If you remove any of your leisure batteries, make sure the unattached live terminal isn’t earthing on a chassis part (if you’ve left on in place) as it will fry your leisure wiring loom - both batteries are linked in parallel
If I remove a leisure battery, I always put say a rubber glove over the live terminal as a precaution

 

[Bob Petttitt]

Hi again All ! Can I just clear something up ? How many leisure batteries are there ? My Cali is a '68 plate 150 hp petrol bought preregistered in Feb this year. I had an issue with the leisure battery this summer (drained quickly etc.) An excellent VW tech sorted it for me on the the M5 and lead me to believe it was just one battery under the passenger seat ! Having now had it replaced no further worries ! Where's the other battery ?

Happy Days
Bob

 

[MartG]

The should be another under the rear wardrobe, behind a small removable panel accessed under rear shelf.

It is wired in parallel with the one under the front seat, with a 'cube' fuse fitted to the positive terminal connector.