Leisure battery query

[Tom Downie]

We have collected our 600 this month and are very happy with it (the bed is way more comfortable than it was in the T6 Ocean). It is much more complicated than a Cali but we got there in the end. ( you would not believe how many water valves there are and where they are hidden.
After a few days in Wales we are back home now but whist we were away we noticed that the leisure battery appears to discharge very quickly. Nothing is plugged in and the fridge is off but the battery discharged to 20% in a week. This does not seem right to me. Our previous Ocean would go several weeks before we needed to plug it in. I know the Ocean has 2 leisure batteries and the Grand only has one but this does seem to be a big difference. Is this usual? Am I missing something?
I am concerned that the battery may have not been maintained during the long wait for delivery. Any advice please would be very much appreciated as i don't want to contact the dealer only to find that i have missed something silly.

 

[TripleBee]

What happens if you charge it completely and then disconnect from the van?
Does it hold it's charge then? If so, there is something drawing current somewhere. If not, it's the battery.

 

[Hotel California]

it's a bigger verhicle with more electric powerd stuff and only ony lesure battery so comparing to a Cali is not ideal.

 

[Tom Downie]

it's a bigger verhicle with more electric powerd stuff and only ony lesure battery so comparing to a Cali is not ideal.

The reason it only needs on battery is I assume because it does not have an electric roof. Th roof on a Cali draws a lot of current, but I am concerned that if we had opted for the living compartment AC whether it would cope.

 

[Hotel California]

Imo the reason a GC has only one les.bat is becose solarpanel is on the option list.
A elevating roof does not draw that much current in the Cali , you open it once (and you should with the engine running) the next time you open it you should have moved (been driving and charging batterys)
You need other GC owners expirience as i'm just assuming things here....

 

[Tom Downie]

What happens if you charge it completely and then disconnect from the van?
Does it hold it's charge then? If so, there is something drawing current somewhere. If not, it's the battery.

On return from Wales it was fully charged but with everything off it only lasted about a week so like you at the moment I feel that either something is drawing current that shouldn't or the battery is shot. My intention is now to carry out a proper documented test. Charge overnight tonight, then monitor the decay. then charge again an isolate all the electrics at the consumer unit in the rear left cupboard and again monitor the discharge.
At the moment both Sue and I are in isolation again as she is due a hip replacement in less than a week so I cannot take it to the dealer or get anyone to visit.

 

[dwilk]

Hi,

Mine 600 went from 100% to 85% in over a week. A friend of mine who has 600 as well got his battery replaced - battery showed fully charged but dropped to zero in a day. Vw took care of it under warranty.
On a separate note, mine was delivered to me and did not want to charge the battery when plugged into 230. A looked into the fuses but didn't find anything wrong. A day later, when trying to make the 230v socket under the drivers seat work, I discovered that the black cable going into the inverter/charger was not plugged in. I reattach the plug and voila, battery charger worked.
BTW: i miss the 230v socket from my old cali - the inverter in GC only works a couple of minutes after turning the engine off and only if the the device was plugged in when the engine was on. That's about it when it comes to staying off the campsites. Very frustrating. Or maybe I am missing something and I can somehow get 230v when not plugged into the main?

 

[GSX1300R]

Does the GC have a central control panel that’s shows current draw? My California will lose 20% in a week or more if the panel is left on and front and rear dash cams connected..

 

[Tom Downie]

Hi,

Mine 600 went from 100% to 85% in over a week. A friend of mine who has 600 as well got his battery replaced - battery showed fully charged but dropped to zero in a day. Vw took care of it under warranty.
On a separate note, mine was delivered to me and did not want to charge the battery when plugged into 230. A looked into the fuses but didn't find anything wrong. A day later, when trying to make the 230v socket under the drivers seat work, I discovered that the black cable going into the inverter/charger was not plugged in. I reattach the plug and voila, battery charger worked.
BTW: i miss the 230v socket from my old cali - the inverter in GC only works a couple of minutes after turning the engine off and only if the the device was plugged in when the engine was on. That's about it when it comes to staying off the campsites. Very frustrating. Or maybe I am missing something and I can somehow get 230v when not plugged into the main?

Thank you for reply it is helpful. I now know what it should do.
On the subject of inverter, could you not purchase one that plugs into one of the 12v sockets?

 

[Tom Downie]

Does the GC have a central control panel that’s shows current draw? My California will lose 20% in a week or more if the panel is left on and front and rear dash cams connected..

It does have a central control panel but in the battery section iyt only shows whether you are plugged in or if not the charge level of the battery.

 

[GrandCali600]

Hi,

Mine 600 went from 100% to 85% in over a week. A friend of mine who has 600 as well got his battery replaced - battery showed fully charged but dropped to zero in a day. Vw took care of it under warranty.
On a separate note, mine was delivered to me and did not want to charge the battery when plugged into 230. A looked into the fuses but didn't find anything wrong. A day later, when trying to make the 230v socket under the drivers seat work, I discovered that the black cable going into the inverter/charger was not plugged in. I reattach the plug and voila, battery charger worked.
BTW: i miss the 230v socket from my old cali - the inverter in GC only works a couple of minutes after turning the engine off and only if the the device was plugged in when the engine was on. That's about it when it comes to staying off the campsites. Very frustrating. Or maybe I am missing something and I can somehow get 230v when not plugged into the main?

I have installed an inverter 12VDC > 230VAC from Car Best (REIMO) See post from yesterday for details. 10/10/2020

 

[Tom Downie]

After a proper scientific trial mine took about 10 days to drop to 85% so am not particularly concerned now. The fridge/freezer appears to be a bit power hungry though. 24 hours of supply should be enough for the way we use it. It is unusual for us to stop more than one night when "wild camping" /Aires so it will get charged each day by running the engine, other than that if on a campsite we have the hook up. The only thing we used 230V for in our Ocean was the laptop, so not a problem with 230v supply.