Leisure batteries failed early, possible parasitic draw?

[brooodie]

I've had various pieces of conflicting information from different sources and appreciate any help or input the wise heads here might have. Sorry for the long post. If you can't be bothered reading the whole thing I'm looking for anyone with a T6.1 to check what their leisure control panel reports for draw when everything is turned off compared to the photo attached please!

T6.1 Ocean Delivered Nov 2021. My leisure batteries died earlier this year (wouldn't hold a charge) and were replaced under warranty last week, so they lasted about 2 years. After they were replaced, the Van centre told me that they actually misdiagnosed the initial issue and are blaming it on a parasitic draw on the leisure batteries from my Autowatch Ghost II Immobiliser, but they replaced the batteries under warranty regardless (thankfully). This made sense to me as the immobiliser stopped working when the leisure batteries died.

The tech told me there was a 1amp draw on the leisure battery (very dubious of this) after replacing the leisure batteries. My suspicion is that this number came from the control panel and not a multimeter and this it was rounded up, but I can't be certain.

So I then took the van back to the autowatch installer and sat with him for a good few hours going over things. It turns out that, yes the autowatch was wired to the wrong plug in the dashboard. He previously made the incorrect assumption that everything in the fuse box ran from the starter battery, so he switched to a set of wires that were powered from the starter battery. We confirmed this by multimeter, by disconnecting the leisure batteries, starter batteries, and the immobiliser in various combinations. I'm pretty confident it's now running from the starter battery as intended. (I trust his work)

However despite this mistake he was pretty adamant that the draw from the immobiliser shouldn't have been enough to kill the leisure batteries. We measured it on the multimeter at drawing 0.2A (by disconnecting and reconnecting the immobiliser, both when it was connected to the leisure batteries and also to the starter battery). I tend to agree with him. This leads me to my issue.

I'm still concerned that something is drawing from the leisure batteries (a short?) or there is something else wrong. My control panel reports a -1A draw at all times (see screenshot). Is this normal (can anyone else confirm)? I wondered if this draw was the display _itself_ being powered up but I'm not so sure about that, it seems high. Even turning on all the lights in the cabin doesn't change this. When I put the fridge on it drops to -5A and says 14 hours of power (that seems worrying low, but i know that it uses much more power when initially cooling the box).

I'm worried now that if there _is_ another issue that the garage might start being difficult due to the third party work on the van. The installer said he'd completely remove the immobiliser if there are further issues and the van centre refused to look into them, but hoping it doesn't come to that. Everyone has been helpful so far so I've no complaints but I'm just trying to head off any potential issues in advance.

Unfortunately I don't really remember what the 'normal' figures were for this panel prior to these issues happening, so any input from those with a T6.1 (or other if relevant) on what they see on their panels would be appreciated.

Any other tests I can do other than just leaving the van sitting? I'm going away on holiday for a fortnight next week so it will be sitting unused for that period. If I max charge the leisure batteries before I go I'd expect them on my return to be pretty close to fully charged (assuming there is no constant draw happening) given they are brand new - is this a fair assumption?

Thanks in advance!

 

[pluc99]

Mine looks similar except it reads 12.9V/-1A.

 

[Cali Down Under]

I believe this is normal.

Mine has always shown this -1A draw and i have nothing draining the battery. My van is a Beach with nothing other than the factory set up. When i plug in anything eg my fridge it will draw -3A for the time the fridge compressor runs then switches back to -1A when the compressor stops.

 

[dspuk]

The -1 draw is normal. It’s essentially the draw to power the screen to tell you there is a draw. It may be less than -1 but -1 is the lowest number it shows.

Testing across the batteries direct is the best way to see actual A.

 

[yossarian]

You can obtain the current draw in mA via OBD when the display is off. Your numbers look normal to me.

I recall 400 to 600mA when I checked it a long time ago. That would give you 0 or -1 on the panel.

What is your battery care regime?

 

[brooodie]

You can obtain the current draw in mA via OBD when the display is off. Your numbers look normal to me.

I recall 400 to 600mA when I checked it a long time ago. That would give you 0 or -1 on the panel.

What is your battery care regime?

I'll admit that previously it' not been ideal. Rarely connect to mains and rely on driving to charge the batteries. but my cali is my daily driver so I am surprised they died as early as they did.

Good to hear from everyone that the -1A is normal so it gives me some push back when and if I need to take it back to VW if they claim that it's anomalous.

My van was a covid special with the 18 month wait for delivery and all the rest of it. I'm blaming that for the wonky batteries and hoping that's at the root of everything.

 

[yossarian]

Yeah, sounds like your batteries should do fine. You may consider using max charge from time to time.

 

[Californication69]

Yes, my control panel display shows -1 all the time with nothing plugged in.
My Autowatch ghost2 also only draws 0.2amp.

 

[Roger Boeken]

I've had various pieces of conflicting information from different sources and appreciate any help or input the wise heads here might have. Sorry for the long post. If you can't be bothered reading the whole thing I'm looking for anyone with a T6.1 to check what their leisure control panel reports for draw when everything is turned off compared to the photo attached please!

T6.1 Ocean Delivered Nov 2021. My leisure batteries died earlier this year (wouldn't hold a charge) and were replaced under warranty last week, so they lasted about 2 years. After they were replaced, the Van centre told me that they actually misdiagnosed the initial issue and are blaming it on a parasitic draw on the leisure batteries from my Autowatch Ghost II Immobiliser, but they replaced the batteries under warranty regardless (thankfully). This made sense to me as the immobiliser stopped working when the leisure batteries died.

The tech told me there was a 1amp draw on the leisure battery (very dubious of this) after replacing the leisure batteries. My suspicion is that this number came from the control panel and not a multimeter and this it was rounded up, but I can't be certain.

So I then took the van back to the autowatch installer and sat with him for a good few hours going over things. It turns out that, yes the autowatch was wired to the wrong plug in the dashboard. He previously made the incorrect assumption that everything in the fuse box ran from the starter battery, so he switched to a set of wires that were powered from the starter battery. We confirmed this by multimeter, by disconnecting the leisure batteries, starter batteries, and the immobiliser in various combinations. I'm pretty confident it's now running from the starter battery as intended. (I trust his work)

However despite this mistake he was pretty adamant that the draw from the immobiliser shouldn't have been enough to kill the leisure batteries. We measured it on the multimeter at drawing 0.2A (by disconnecting and reconnecting the immobiliser, both when it was connected to the leisure batteries and also to the starter battery). I tend to agree with him. This leads me to my issue.

I'm still concerned that something is drawing from the leisure batteries (a short?) or there is something else wrong. My control panel reports a -1A draw at all times (see screenshot). Is this normal (can anyone else confirm)? I wondered if this draw was the display _itself_ being powered up but I'm not so sure about that, it seems high. Even turning on all the lights in the cabin doesn't change this. When I put the fridge on it drops to -5A and says 14 hours of power (that seems worrying low, but i know that it uses much more power when initially cooling the box).

I'm worried now that if there _is_ another issue that the garage might start being difficult due to the third party work on the van. The installer said he'd completely remove the immobiliser if there are further issues and the van centre refused to look into them, but hoping it doesn't come to that. Everyone has been helpful so far so I've no complaints but I'm just trying to head off any potential issues in advance.

Unfortunately I don't really remember what the 'normal' figures were for this panel prior to these issues happening, so any input from those with a T6.1 (or other if relevant) on what they see on their panels would be appreciated.

Any other tests I can do other than just leaving the van sitting? I'm going away on holiday for a fortnight next week so it will be sitting unused for that period. If I max charge the leisure batteries before I go I'd expect them on my return to be pretty close to fully charged (assuming there is no constant draw happening) given they are brand new - is this a fair assumption?

Thanks in advance!

View attachment 121450

This is normal display.

 

[Roger Boeken]

I've had various pieces of conflicting information from different sources and appreciate any help or input the wise heads here might have. Sorry for the long post. If you can't be bothered reading the whole thing I'm looking for anyone with a T6.1 to check what their leisure control panel reports for draw when everything is turned off compared to the photo attached please!

T6.1 Ocean Delivered Nov 2021. My leisure batteries died earlier this year (wouldn't hold a charge) and were replaced under warranty last week, so they lasted about 2 years. After they were replaced, the Van centre told me that they actually misdiagnosed the initial issue and are blaming it on a parasitic draw on the leisure batteries from my Autowatch Ghost II Immobiliser, but they replaced the batteries under warranty regardless (thankfully). This made sense to me as the immobiliser stopped working when the leisure batteries died.

The tech told me there was a 1amp draw on the leisure battery (very dubious of this) after replacing the leisure batteries. My suspicion is that this number came from the control panel and not a multimeter and this it was rounded up, but I can't be certain.

So I then took the van back to the autowatch installer and sat with him for a good few hours going over things. It turns out that, yes the autowatch was wired to the wrong plug in the dashboard. He previously made the incorrect assumption that everything in the fuse box ran from the starter battery, so he switched to a set of wires that were powered from the starter battery. We confirmed this by multimeter, by disconnecting the leisure batteries, starter batteries, and the immobiliser in various combinations. I'm pretty confident it's now running from the starter battery as intended. (I trust his work)

However despite this mistake he was pretty adamant that the draw from the immobiliser shouldn't have been enough to kill the leisure batteries. We measured it on the multimeter at drawing 0.2A (by disconnecting and reconnecting the immobiliser, both when it was connected to the leisure batteries and also to the starter battery). I tend to agree with him. This leads me to my issue.

I'm still concerned that something is drawing from the leisure batteries (a short?) or there is something else wrong. My control panel reports a -1A draw at all times (see screenshot). Is this normal (can anyone else confirm)? I wondered if this draw was the display _itself_ being powered up but I'm not so sure about that, it seems high. Even turning on all the lights in the cabin doesn't change this. When I put the fridge on it drops to -5A and says 14 hours of power (that seems worrying low, but i know that it uses much more power when initially cooling the box).

I'm worried now that if there _is_ another issue that the garage might start being difficult due to the third party work on the van. The installer said he'd completely remove the immobiliser if there are further issues and the van centre refused to look into them, but hoping it doesn't come to that. Everyone has been helpful so far so I've no complaints but I'm just trying to head off any potential issues in advance.

Unfortunately I don't really remember what the 'normal' figures were for this panel prior to these issues happening, so any input from those with a T6.1 (or other if relevant) on what they see on their panels would be appreciated.

Any other tests I can do other than just leaving the van sitting? I'm going away on holiday for a fortnight next week so it will be sitting unused for that period. If I max charge the leisure batteries before I go I'd expect them on my return to be pretty close to fully charged (assuming there is no constant draw happening) given they are brand new - is this a fair assumption?

Thanks in advance!

View attachment 121450

-5A 14h means you have 14*5=70Ah left before you reach the 50% capacity that safely can be used of 2*75Ah leisure batteries. My fridge takes -4A when cooling but the amps on the control panel are not very accurate and rounded numbers.
There are several ways to find parasitic current use. If you have sensitive mV multimeter you can measure mV on contacts at the top of every fuse. On internet you will find tables giving relation between mV measured and current going through fuse for each type of fuse ( 5A, 10A, Etc). Also you can use a current clamp on ground wire of leisure battery and remove any fuse to see it it makes difference. But honestly I believe your cali is ok now, if you drive it regularly batteries will stay charged.
Check if light in boot is off and light in cupboards is not on, these are the ones that may be overlooked sometimes.

 

[camper albert]

Hi,
-1A is same her. But you should charge on mains regularly or modify the charging circuitry because of the battery chemistry and the different charge status of the engine and leisure batteries. Here is the explanation for that https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/fluctuating-voltage-when-in-max-charge.52026/post-673398

 

[brooodie]

Thanks for the input to all posters, it's really helpful. Gives me something to push back on if they indicate the panel is anomalous. Fingers crossed no further issues.