Leisure batteries in the winter

[knighty]

Hi all,

We picked up our new Cali in Oct, and have only used it for a bit of commuting / running around until now. We probably won't get round to camping in her for another couple of months now (just had a new baby!!), so wondering what people do to make sure the leisure batteries stay topped up during the winter months?

I've heard you can plug into the mains, but not 100% sure how you do that, or what you need to buy so you can do that?

Any suggestions and any other hints and tips would be really appreciated?!

Cheers

 

[SimplyDubs]

A couple of things are probably good practice.

Firstly, put the Cali on hook up as often as possible and at least every months for a few days. (Personally mines on pretty much permanent hooked up when not in use) The leisure batteries are charging when the van is on hook up. (I suspect this is what people mean when they say "plugged into the mains")

Secondly, I run a charger (I use a CTEK MSX7.0) every now and then for a week (more than enough) on it's recondition setting. This ensures the cells are kept healthy.

Key thing with leisure batteries is to try to prevent them from becoming extremely discharged which does the cells no good at all and can infact permanently damage them and reduce the holding capacity.

It's good to remember that most chargers (including the one built into the Cali, I believe) actually have a "back current" drain on the cells when they are not plugged into the mains. This is very small but can have a material effect and drain the battery if the van is left standing.

Anyway, they above works for me and I've never had problems with the heater not starting or rapid drain of the batteries.

Lots around the internet on leisure battery maintenance and i'm sure other people on here know much more than I do.

Simple rule... get them on charge as often as possible.

Rgds

Mark

 

[Hubert]

Hi Knighty
Congrats on the new arrival (the baby not the Cali !)

Agree with everything Mark has posted above

If you are only doing shortish runs in the Cali, then it is advisable to charge the leisure batteries once a month especially during winter. Cold is a killer to low charge batteries.

To do this easily, you will need a mains hook up lead, which you would need for camping use on sites. I would buy a 25m cable available from most caravan accesssory/camping shops approx £25. You will also need a UK main hook-up adaptor to 13 amp plug. This is a short length approx 9" with a 13amp plug on one end and a female socket on the other approx £5. Check Amazon.co.uk to see what they look like.

Then simply connect your hook up lead to the van (always first) and connect the adaptor to the other end of the hook-up and plug into your mains. Make sure the trip switches are in the on position in the rear locker. Try to leave plugged in at least overnight. You won't cause any damage, safety circuits will prevent.

Cheers
Hubert

 

[knighty]

Thanks for that guys - really appreciate it! The Cali is now "plugged in", so will keep it on charge for the rest of the day and then keep it topped up going forward!

Cheers
Steve

 

[Markm]

Question , when plugged into the mains does it charge the engine battery also?

 

[Martin]

Question , when plugged into the mains does it charge the engine battery also?

Yes, but only on the facelift though as far as I can remember

 

[Freeley]

And later pre facelifts like mine!

 

[Martin]

And later pre facelifts like mine!

What is the month and year of manufacture on yours Jason?

 

[Freeley]

And later pre facelifts like mine!

What is the month and year of manufacture on yours Jason?

June 2009 is when it was registered Martin.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Argo&Liebe]

:?: the dealer told me that when hooked up the engine battery is not charged

My Cali is just few days old.

 

[calikev]

My dealer also told me the same but I did the multimeter test and tested the voltage of all three
Batteries whilst on hook up both leisure batteries and the van battery increased in voltage
I told the dealer who then said oh it must do then :laugh2 :laugh2

 

[Surforswim]

Mines a march 2010 reg and last week i drained the battery and couldn't start her when i left the ignition and thus the driving lights on for most of the day . Searched the forum and as recommended plugged the van into the mains overnight and the next morning she started up fine. cheers keith.

 

[sebking]

Mine is currently plugged in!

 

[calikev]

Mine too. School closed tomorrow so it is staying put for a few days

 

[devon california]

A question related to thé above. I leave the cali in the garage hooked up permently as not been used as car. Do you need to have the 'camper control unit' turned on to charge the leisure batts? May be stupid question. I dont leave thé panel on but be interested in correct way.

 

[calikev]

Pretty sure you don't need your control panel on what I do is plug in turn on the control panel
Make sure the plug icon is there then switch off. Had no problems so far

 

[devon california]

Thanks for confirmation, i havent had any issues either but this thread just got me thinking. Thanks again.

 

[Graham]

Do the leisure batteries charge when driving if the control panel is off or do I need to turn the panel on if I want them charged?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Martin]

When I checked mine the control panel was switched off and all batteries were had jumped up to over 13v so I can only assume they were being charged

 

[Andresz]

No doubt the batteries do charge when the central panel is off.
Also, I do not see a point in switching the central panel off. It uses less than 0.2 ampers, which is the threshold of current flow readout on it (when it is on, readout consumption is 0.0 Ampers, and it is powered from the leisure batteries), so no battery comsumption issue, unless the van is unused for many months. And more importantly: like in case of any other complex electronic device the highest risk of failure is when it is powered off and on, and this is expensive to replace...

 

[philcod]

I've read all the above about liesure batteries with interest and some concern that our batteries might need some charging as the van doesn't get used a lot during the winter. I have a motorbike which also suffers from the same issues - batteries lasting only 2 or 3 years! So I checked ours on the central control panel which says they are at 100% charge. So do I need to do anything?
Phil

 

[SimplyDubs]

I've read all the above about liesure batteries with interest and some concern that our batteries might need some charging as the van doesn't get used a lot during the winter. I have a motorbike which also suffers from the same issues - batteries lasting only 2 or 3 years! So I checked ours on the central control panel which says they are at 100% charge. So do I need to do anything?
Phil

They always show 100% charge after a short drive but in effect are not actually fully charged... for leisure batteries this take a few hours to get to this stage and will not get there from the alternator.

suspect if you put any drain on them they may drop from 100% quite quickly.

Suggest putting on hook up for a period... in fact the manual says as much.

Always worth doing... ours is pretty much permanently on hook up when parked up.

Rgds
Mark

 

[calikev]

I agree with mark the control panel can be quite misleading as it can drop down very quickly
And I think a hook up charge puts far more into the battery than just relying on the alternator
I put my van on charge about once a month and leave it plugged in for a couple of days

 

[Hannick]

Good Morning.

We have just bought a 2010 facelift California SE. I've been following this thread and have left the Cali plugged into the mains hook up for the last four days as I don't think the previous owners kept the batteries charging when the van was unused.

I used a CTEK intelligent charger on our previous van leisure battery (a Mazda Bongo).

Does anyone know how intelligent the battery charger built in to the Cali is?

If I was to plug in the CTEK charger presumably I would not want the van connected to mains hookup at the same time as then there would be two chargers charging the batteries at the same time?

Am I better using the CTEK charger when I am doing a four day charge or does it not make any difference?

A poster above mentions using the recondition setting on his CTEK charger occasionally. I assume the VW fitted charger cannot do this and I would be interested if it is felt this setting is necessary occasionally.

Sorry for all the questions but I don't want to make a mistake as these batteries are expensive!

I have one of these

http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/ctek-mxs5.0.php

Many thanks

We're off to St Ives today on our first trip - ice cold!

 

[brother10]

Hi Battery Lovers,
Someone a million years ago told me that the `float charge` at the end of a charging cycle was the most important event of the charging process. Knowing no better, I simply left charging (present van especially) a goodly amount of time (at least 12 hours) and have had no problems.

For techno wizards the link might help descibe what I cannot but confuse none techies. Anyway it is there to read and make of it what you will.

Roll on the warmer weather and I am seriously looking forward to COTF when I can put faces to names.

http://www.discover-energy.com/gel-battery-charging-0

Bob