Leisure Battery minus amp reading

[StevoC]

Hi All,
Apologies if this was asked before but i have searched for ages.
My 1year old ocean was in the garage with an Airbag error warning light, the garage had stripped out both front seats and dash to check the wiring, they ended up replacing the drivers seatbelt buckle which was the fault. However since getting my van back my leisure battery is only lasting a day or so.
When i am driving the panel is showing a minus amp i have turned o the max charge and it drains more from the amp. Surly this is not right?
Photo attached. Any thoughts before i go back to VW.
Thanks in advance.
Stephen.

 

[Stu@rt]

9A is quite a draw. I am sure others better qualified than me will be along soon to offer some proper advice, but my first question is what is happening when the vehicle is at rest, with the engine off?

 

[andyinluton]

9A is quite a large draw - check that the inverter by the handbrake isn't running. Other than the night heater & the fridge there's not a lot else that could draw that amperage.

 

[Stu@rt]

9A is quite a large draw - check that the inverter by the handbrake isn't running. Other than the night heater & the fridge there's not a lot else that could draw that amperage.

Good shout - The invertor isn't a million miles from the seatbelt buckle that has been changed eh?

 

[dspuk]

Wow - that's a draw - they for sure done something. There was a post here not long back where the inverter was stuck permanently on that had a similar issue. Pop the fuse. No idea which one it is though.

 

[StevoC]

9A is quite a draw. I am sure others better qualified than me will be along soon to offer some proper advice, but my first question is what is happening when the vehicle is at rest, with the engine off?

Hi Stu@rt
When the vehicle is at rest it is showing >60h 12.7V/-1A which from what i saw on here is normal -1A from the control panel use.

 

[StevoC]

9A is quite a large draw - check that the inverter by the handbrake isn't running. Other than the night heater & the fridge there's not a lot else that could draw that amperage.

Hi andyyinluton,
when you say check the inverter by the hand break, do you mean the 3pin socket? I looked at this and all looks ok, nothing plugged into it. There is nothing on in the van. VW must have done something when putting it back together :O

 

[dspuk]

Hi Stu@rt
When the vehicle is at rest it is showing >60h 12.7V/-1A which from what i saw on here is normal -1A from the control panel use.

Odd one indeed - so only pulling power from the batteries when driving. Stupid question but is everything connected the right way around?

 

[yossarian]

When i am driving the panel is showing a minus amp i have turned o the max charge and it drains more from the amp. Surly this is not right?

I have observed similar behaviour but infrequently. How many blue battery bars do you see and what voltage does the panel indicate? A brief discharge while the split charge relay is closed does not prove a fault.

 

[StevoC]

I have observed similar behaviour but infrequently. How many blue battery bars do you see and what voltage does the panel indicate? A brief discharge while the split charge relay is closed does not prove a fault.

Hi Yossarian,

For the last couple of weeks i was showing 6 blue bars and 4 greyed out bars. I plugged in to EHU and got all full blue bars. However when i drive i get minus amps.

 

[yossarian]

Hi Yossarian,

For the last couple of weeks i was showing 6 blue bars and 4 greyed out bars. I plugged in to EHU and got all full blue bars. However when i drive i get minus amps.

It sounds like you have a failure to charge through the split charge relay. As I recall there are two fuses on this circuit. A approx 100A or so one in the vicinity of the starter battery and an approx 80A one under the front left seat. They are good candidates.

On the diagram the 100A job looks like SJ2. The underseat one looks like SG3.

 

[yossarian]

You could measure voltages at the split charge relay. If you see the front battery voltage SJ2 is OK. If you see the leisure battery voltage SG3 is OK.

Split charge relay is at the front right corner under the front left seat.

 

[flying banana]

On the t6. When running the engine the leisure batteries often drain into the start battery showing a large -ve amps when the blue motion alternator offloads. Not sure on 6.1

 

[yossarian]

couple of weeks i was showing 6 blue bars and 4 greyed out bars

Based on this your discharge is not excessive. Check your split charge relay fuses or check the voltages on the split charge relay and report.

 

[calibusje]

Hi Stu@rt
When the vehicle is at rest it is showing >60h 12.7V/-1A which from what i saw on here is normal -1A from the control panel use.

If the starter battery is reasonably empty and less charged than the leisure batteries (was probably the case after your visit to the garage), it will use the charge of the leisure batteries and there is a high number in minus at the A even with nothing like refrigerator or anything switched on. This is also normal.
Some parts of the following I copied from a fb post: as you know, emission savings by switching off the alternator. When the battery is over 80%, it does this. And the consumption of 1 amp is not abnormal this you also know: several systems are running in the background when the car is still "active". (Ignition on, recently unlocked or recently opened door.). The ‘monitoring’ I call it. Turning the ignition on connects your leisure batteries to the car battery. If that is less charged than your leisure batteries (which is -as said- in most cases due to emission-optimized use), a current goes from leisure batteries to the vehicle battery to equalize it.
Of course you can't completely exclude that something else is really wrong, but I would first wait and see if everything works properly. The information on the screen is quite correct and instantaneous and therefore highly variable. Don't be to fixated on that. Success!

 

[StevoC]

Thank you for the recent replies, i am still having issues.
Called VW and they will relook at what they did.
Fingers crossed.

 

[StevoC]

Just to update.
I had the van back to VW and they have located a fuse that had a partial split, they will have a replacement today and will then test it, so all looks good.
The issue was driving me crazy.
Thanks for all your help.

 

[dspuk]

Just to update.
I had the van back to VW and they have located a fuse that had a partial split, they will have a replacement today and will then test it, so all looks good.
The issue was driving me crazy.
Thanks for all your help.

I think this is a perfect example of a lot of battery concerns on here - loads and loads of guesswork and supposition with some of the most complex explanations I have ever seen, and when it all gets boiled off it's usually a fuse.

 

[StevoC]

Further Update.
So 2 weeks later the battery is still not fully charging. I can only get full blue bars after hooking up.I got up this morning to drive to work and i had 6 blue bars had a look at the control panel while driving and it was pulling amps -12. Met a fellow ocean 6.1 owner on a campsite last week and his bars are fully blue while general driving.
I'm lost as to what is happening to mine
As Yossarian above mentioned to check the split charge relay fuse, i take it VW would have done this while they had it for the few days. VW said they found a fuse that was partially blown, they change it and said that was it, but im still getting very strange readings and low battery.

 

[yossarian]

If you take a multimeter set to volts, ground the black probe lead and probe the two terminals on the split charge relay for volts you'll be able to see if VW did what you expect. My expectations of them are lower than yours.

 

[Californication69]

I still don’t believe VW have sorted my Starter motor battery.
My MPPT is reading 12.1v on the starter battery.
I’m going out to check the voltage.
So what you say @yossarian holds some weight.