Leisure batteries lasted only one year?

soundsk · May 23, 2019

MattBW said:
I have recovered batteries in the past with a very old optimate, they can certainly improve the performance but it will never be like new.

I was researching these chargers like the one I was looking at. I found a caravaning forum where someone states that while there may be some benefit, this is mostly marketing. They explain that the desulphating procedure is based on overcharging the batteries, as I understand it, and although that might help with desulphation, it may harm the battery in other ways.
So since I already own two battery chargers, I'll hold out on spending 80 quid on yet another one, at least until I have a definitive answer on the battery supplier.

Does anyone have a link to the battery tester Andy mentioned? Or clues as to the exact procedure he spoke of when he said to test under load? All the battery testers I've found so far seem like little trinkets that just measure voltage.
The link on the first topic of the electrical section ("kevshop") isn't working for me.

tweeky · May 23, 2019

Well it seems some how or other I have resolved the issue of my leisure batteries discharging very quickly when not being used. Can’t say that I have found the fault but it has miraculously disappeared. What I did find out is when I disconnected the brown wire off the negative terminal and place an Amp meter in line the current being drawn was 0.306 amps after about a minute the current dropped down to 0.211 amps, a short while latter it drop to 0.065 amps and there it stayed. I then briefly disconnected the Amp Meter, on reconnection I witnessed the same drop off in current, I repeated this a few times with the same results. It’s almost like whatever is connected to the brown wire, under the kitchen unit is going through some sort of sequence, what that might be, I have no idea. After reinstating the brown wire I took regular voltage readings of the battery and it remained pretty much static at 12.78 volts. The main control panel is now reading 0.0 Amps even when illuminated which it wasn’t doing before, it always read 0.2 amps.
Unfortunately I can’t make a diagnosis of what the fault may have been, can only assume that by me powering the electronics up and down has performed some sort of reset, but not convinced, maybe I have disturbed the other end of the brown wire, which in turn has improved the contact at that end, but once again not convinced. Ah well learnt a little bit more about the California.

soundsk · May 23, 2019

tweeky said:
Well it seems some how or other I have resolved the issue of my leisure batteries discharging very quickly when not being used. Can’t say that I have found the fault but it has miraculously disappeared. What I did find out is when I disconnected the brown wire off the negative terminal and place an Amp meter in line the current being drawn was 0.306 amps after about a minute the current dropped down to 0.211 amps, a short while latter it drop to 0.065 amps and there it stayed. I then briefly disconnected the Amp Meter, on reconnection I witnessed the same drop off in current, I repeated this a few times with the same results. It’s almost like whatever is connected to the brown wire, under the kitchen unit is going through some sort of sequence, what that might be, I have no idea. After reinstating the brown wire I took regular voltage readings of the battery and it remained pretty much static at 12.78 volts. The main control panel is now reading 0.0 Amps even when illuminated which it wasn’t doing before, it always read 0.2 amps.
Unfortunately I can’t make a diagnosis of what the fault may have been, can only assume that by me powering the electronics up and down has performed some sort of reset, but not convinced, maybe I have disturbed the other end of the brown wire, which in turn has improved the contact at that end, but once again not convinced. Ah well learnt a little bit more about the California.

As far as I know, that is the ground cable that effectively closes the leisure circuit. When you disconnect it, you disconnect every camping load from the batteries, at the other end of that cable is a shunt that is how the camping controller measures the current it displays.
As for the mysterious resolution, glad it worked out, keep it under observation. The small current you measure is supposedly just the camping controller on standby.

soundsk · May 30, 2019

Hi there,

Just an update, I have returned the batteries to the supplier, and am now awaiting a refund for the 400eur I paid one and a half years ago. Since I had already bought another pair for 60eur less, I come out "winning".

I also researched the battery testers, and ended up ordering the Foxwell BT100 PRO from Amazon UK.
I was amazed at all the tests this thing can do, actually provides some seemingly accurate and reliable readings. I tested my original leisure batteries, the ones that sat abandoned in the van for 6 years, and turns out they still have some life in them, one being at 81% and the other at 73%.