How long should the leisure battery last when not in use?

[Davidspringett]

My leisure battery is loosing its charge whilst the van is not being used. How long should it last before needing charging?

 

[Jester]

My leisure battery is loosing its charge whilst the van is not being used. How long should it last before needing charging?

Do you have a solar panel or can you plug in if your using it ie lights fridge etc 4/5 days. You could also turn off the isolator switch.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

My leisure battery is loosing its charge whilst the van is not being used. How long should it last before needing charging?

Are you sure you are switching everything off? Make sure you shut the overhead display unit off. Anything else like dash cams or Sat nave will drain the batteries. Mine lasts about a month before I recharge the batteries which is what VW recommend.
My first batteries lasted exactly 3 years and just got them replaced under warranty as they were discharging at 10% a day.

 

[Mr T]

Are you sure you are switching everything off? Make sure you shut the overhead display unit off. Anything else like dash cams or Sat nave will drain the batteries. Mine lasts about a month before I recharge the batteries which is what VW recommend.
My first batteries lasted exactly 3 years and just got them replaced under warranty as they were discharging at 10% a day.

The OP has a Grand California so slightly different beast to a Ocean/SE.
Important thing is to turn the big red isolator off if you’re not using it for a while, this shuts down most things and reduces draw from the leisure battery to an absolute minimum.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

The OP has a Grand California so slightly different beast to a Ocean/SE.
Important thing is to turn the big red isolator off if you’re not using it for a while, this shuts down most things and reduces draw from the leisure battery to an absolute minimum.

Yes I realised that after I posted. But I imagine the battery drain would be pretty much the same if everything wasn’t turned off.

 

[Eber123]

Hello,

That is difficult to say because there are different ways to use the camper and different hardware configurations.

In general I use the camper every second or third day. During the winter (solar) after three days the Camper Unit showed 60% left.
If the weather is ok the solar panel looks after the battery rather well. Most of the time the camper unit shows 100%.

All this is if the camper is parked and main switch is still on.

We got our GC in July 2021 and until now I only had it once connected to EHU. Even when we are out over night there was no need to hook up to the EHU. Have I said that when we are on tour we use the camper every day.

Leaving the main switch on, it feels to me that the camper battery does lose about 10% per day (just parking, no use). Where the power is going I don't know.

Because I use the camper rather often I have no experience what happens if the main switch is off, how much electricity is gone per day?

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[andyinluton]

I've fitted a bluetooth battery monitor so I can check the voltage from indoors when at home.
I've not had it fitted long enough to get a proper picture as to how fast it discharges.
The most important thing is that turning off the central control panel does not turn off the fridge, that needs to be done separately.
The recommendations appear to be to turn off the 12v at the isolator in the cupboard, I'm just monitoring now to see how long I can go without doing that.

 

[lennox]

We’ve got a 2020 680 and the battery has just been replaced under warranty due to not holding a charge

 

[andyinluton]

This is the last weeks readout from my van, the peaks are where the engine has been running, its not been plugged in & the isolator switch is still in the on position.

 

[Damien Lynch]

My leisure battery is loosing its charge whilst the van is not being used. How long should it last before needing charging?

On a similar point Just wanted to pick people’s brains
Put our VW California in our garage in Dec. Went to open it but had to use manual key as battery completely flat. Roadside Assistance (who were superb) stated battery needed replacing (covered by warranty). Any advice how to avoid this in the future? Many thanks

 

[KGCali]

On a similar point Just wanted to pick people’s brains
Put our VW California in our garage in Dec. Went to open it but had to use manual key as battery completely flat. Roadside Assistance (who were superb) stated battery needed replacing (covered by warranty). Any advice how to avoid this in the future? Many thanks

Charge the van battery once a month for 24 hours or leave a trickle charger permanently connected to the battery otherwise it'll die if not driving the van.
The leisure batteries must also be charged once a month for 24 hours via the EHU cable plugged into the mains.

 

[Kemper-van]

The OP has a Grand California so slightly different beast to a Ocean/SE.
Important thing is to turn the big red isolator off if you’re not using it for a while, this shuts down most things and reduces draw from the leisure battery to an absolute minimum.

Anyone know if the Beach Camper also has such red isolator switch? Haven’t found it yet, but would be good to know and be able to shut most things down.
Thanks in advance

 

[Damien Lynch]

Charge the van battery once a month for 24 hours or leave a trickle charger permanently connected to the battery otherwise it'll die if not driving the van.
The leisure batteries must also be charged once a month for 24 hours via the EHU cable plugged into the mains.

Many thanks - appreciate it

 

[WelshGas]

On a similar point Just wanted to pick people’s brains
Put our VW California in our garage in Dec. Went to open it but had to use manual key as battery completely flat. Roadside Assistance (who were superb) stated battery needed replacing (covered by warranty). Any advice how to avoid this in the future? Many thanks

Remember, the vehicle alarm is active all that time and cold weather will degrade the performance as well. Not surprised the engine battery failed.

 

[California_Ocean]

Been fighting battery drain problems over winter for years in my boat, motor-bike and now my camper.

For the boat I solved the problem with solar panels which were enough to keep it permanently topped up for the 6 months over winter. (300W solar and 400Ah Lead Acid batteries) ... obviously no use on a van if it sits in a garage - no sun.

The bike has a trickle charger attached in the shed where it lives over the winter - best solution if you have no CEE power connection. Make up a suitable connector so the trickle charger can be simply plugged in.

On my Cali I fitted a tracker which the VW detected as a parasitic drain and logged as a fault code internally - so it now has this ....



Which cost me €85 delivered. There is a counter in it which counts kWh so I can also see how much the thing uses (I leave the fridge on permanently stocked with beer and other essentials ready for spontaneous adventures.) ... I can definitely recommend your own personal hookup at home.

 

[Stubbie]

If you do need to get new batteries don’t buy from VW but instead buy from Tanya batteries online. The saving is truly significant and the Varta equivalent battery is far better than the factory installed

 

[andrew bazeley]

Mine's a much older Cali. But can anyone confirm the theories about briefly running the car out on the roads every few days to keep the leisure batteries charged? And does the cold weather in winter make this even more necessary? Is this enough, or would you still need to mains charge it now and again over the winter?

 

[G3WRT]

My leisure battery is loosing its charge whilst the van is not being used. How long should it last before needing charging?

I assume this battery is a deep discharge type? in which case its not like a normal starter battery. In other words it should be able to recover from being deeply discharged? by design.
If so i would not worry. Just top it up when you can. Thats what I am doing. (Famous last words, of course!).

 

[M&Jsblucal]

My leisure battery is loosing its charge whilst the van is not being used. How long should it last before needing charging?

I would advise using the battery manufacturers website, eg Yuasa.co.uk for the most reliable information.

 

[andyinluton]

I would advise using the battery manufacturers website, eg Yuasa.co.uk for the most reliable information.

The battery manufacturer won't have a clue, its the van using it rather than the battery loosing charge. The GC does seem to consume battery power at quite a rate even when everything is switched off.
Ive fitted a bluetooth monitor to the leisure battery & it looks like mine drops from fully charged at 12.9 v down to 12.2v in only 3 days.

 

[Vagophile]

The GC does seem to consume battery power at quite a rate even when everything is switched off.

One of my motorhomes had a battery isolator switch, which allowed it to stand for about14 weeks before the battery began to loose charge. Would something like that work on a modern vehicle or does it have fittings that need to draw continuous current?

 

[andyinluton]

One of my motorhomes had a battery isolator switch, which allowed it to stand for about14 weeks before the battery began to loose charge. Would something like that work on a modern vehicle or does it have fittings that need to draw continuous current?

It does have an isolator which should help but even with the isolator not used there shouldn't be the level of consumption that I'm seeing.

I will be pulling fuses when I get a chance to see what is still operating even with everything switched off.

Only thing I can currently think of is the SOG fan on the toilet, am not sure if it only works when the hatch is open or does it run full time but thats the only time you can hear it.

Other than that its got to be something on the lighting circuit or the numerous USB outlets.