Leisure Battery

[Padraic]

Hi everyone, so I'v had the cali a year now and so far we have only used it on two 10 day trips and lots of weekend trips.
I've always noticed the leisure battery only shows no more than halve way on the readout and recently has only been on two to three bars.
I've given it a good week long charge on hookup but it seem to not have held the charge.
The battery is GEM 627 AGM that installed. Ive read so far that its probably safe enough for campervan use, but that they may require slightly higher voltage to charge properly compared to lead acid or gel type batteries.

Anyway, in advance of some longer trips planned, I'm planning to buy a new leisure battery and looking for advice or suggestions on a replacement leisure battery.
So far I have looked at these two, Exide & Varta
The original battery details are found here.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome
Regards Padraic.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

Hi everyone, so I'v had the cali a year now and so far we have only used it on two 10 day trips and lots of weekend trips.
I've always noticed the leisure battery only shows no more than halve way on the readout and recently has only been on two to three bars.
I've given it a good week long charge on hookup but it seem to not have held the charge.
The battery is GEM 627 AGM that installed. Ive read so far that its probably safe enough for campervan use, but that they may require slightly higher voltage to charge properly compared to lead acid or gel type batteries.

Anyway, in advance of some longer trips planned, I'm planning to buy a new leisure battery and looking for advice or suggestions on a replacement leisure battery.
So far I have looked at these two, Exide & Varta
The original battery details are found here.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome
Regards Padraic.

Which has the longest warranty? Given the performance of both appears to be similar I’d be prepared to pay a little more money if the warranty was longer. Or if the cheaper one has the longer warranty you’ll get a good few nights on a campsite with the change. Winner.


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[Padraic]

Okay, so after a bit of research I’m still not much the wiser!!!
I’ve read that NCC have a verification process for different types of leisure battery’s, class A,B &C.
Their classification states that Class A is suited more to people who don’t use hookup very often and rely on their battery for extended periods. So this sounds like what I want.
So I am planning to stick with the original spec of 140ah battery or can I got for a larger ah rating without any problems??
Was the T4 supplied from new with gel batteries?
I’ve read that different batteries such as AGM/Gel/lead acid need different charging profiles or the battery may deteriorate prematurely. So I want to get a battery type that suits the charger in the cali.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards Padraic.

 

[Padraic]

So this evening I've noticed the battery symbol is flashing and the voltage is reading 12.2 V
I'm gonna have to speed up my search.
I'm gonna give the battery a week charge on mains hookup next week, then test it the following weekend before I decide to buy.
The mains charger in the Cail, does anyone know what type of charger it is and does it do multi stage charging, bulk, absorption, float & pulse?
I'm struggling to find out what type of battery was originally fitted to the Cali, gel or what type.

Regards Padraic.

 

[WelshGas]

So this evening I've noticed the battery symbol is flashing and the voltage is reading 12.2 V
I'm gonna have to speed up my search.
I'm gonna give the battery a week charge on mains hookup next week, then test it the following weekend before I decide to buy.
The mains charger in the Cail, does anyone know what type of charger it is and does it do multi stage charging, bulk, absorption, float & pulse?
I'm struggling to find out what type of battery was originally fitted to the Cali, gel or what type.

Regards Padraic.

Does this help?

http://www.oemepc.com/vw/part_singl...070/subcategory/420000/part_id/3707145/lang/e

 

[sidepod]

http://www.westfaliat4.info/WestfaliaT4BatteryChargerInfoWM.pdf

How’s your German?

 

[Padraic]

Does this help?

http://www.oemepc.com/vw/part_singl...070/subcategory/420000/part_id/3707145/lang/e

I have looked at that already, it is a little help.

 

[Padraic]

http://www.westfaliat4.info/WestfaliaT4BatteryChargerInfoWM.pdf

How’s your German?

Not great but I’ll translate it.
I read through a good few German forums last night. The original battery is a 135 AH Gel, can be replaced with a 140AH gel. Might get an Exide es1600.
From what I’ve read so far, it’s important to charge what ever battery type correctly, so the cali charger must be setup for gel batteries.

 

[sidepod]

There are the DIP switches on the rear of the control panel to select battery type and number.

 

[Padraic]

There are the DIP switches on the rear of the control panel to select battery type and number.

I’ve seen those switches mentioned before, but I’ve never taken a look at them. Might be worth a look to check if they are set correctly. At this stage, if they are set incorrectly the battery may be ruined.
As I’m planning to make more use of the cali, I want to ensure that I’ve a good battery.
So the plan is the double check the split charge relay is working as it should, check the dip switches, charge the battery on hookup for a few days and then monitor it when I’m use next weekend.
Depending on results, I may have to replace the leisure battery.

 

[Padraic]

I've had a quick look at the prices so that I know what to expect when buying. I've decided it will be an Exide ES 1600 140Ah Gel Battery I'll get, as its the correct one for the T4 Cali & its recommended as a Class A on the NCC verified leisure battery scheme.
However, there seem to be big differences in price.
Tayna.co.uk £279.99
The Battery Shop.co.uk £379.99
All Batteries.co.uk £458.99
Battery2u.co.uk £373.98
Eurobatt.co.uk £372.28

Has anyone experience with Tayna.co.uk? They are the cheapest, but they want £83 to ship it to me here in Ireland?
I'm gonna be at the Goodwood festival of speed in July and hoping to perhaps pick it up then, but they are located in,Tayna Ltd, Central Warehouse, High Street, Abergele, LL22 7AR, United Kingdom.
They wont ship it to a collection point, just to a business or residential address, so its not going to be easy to pick it up.

Regards Padraic.

 

[Padraic]

Okay, so I checked the dip switches today, all in the down position, which I believe is correct,

First switch off, one battery.
Second switch off, its an AGM battery not lead acid, so its closer to gel than lead acid for the charging profile.
Third switch off, not sure what this setting does, as its related to the fridge??
Fourth switch off, Celsius.

I also had fitted a dual sensing, voltage sensing split charge relay. However I was a little suspicious of it not working correctly, so I reverted to the original split charge relay.
I had it fitted to try to enable charging of the engine battery when on hookup, but after researching Gel/AGM/Lead Acid batteries and charging them over the weekend, I've learnt that the different batteries have different charging profiles, so the voltage sensing relay may not be the best idea. I might consider the Ctek charger setup that Sidepod fitted for charging the engine battery.

So I have it on hookup for a few days to check the state of play with the battery over next weekend.

 

[sidepod]

It’ll be interesting to see how your new bats perform. I think mine may be sub-prime. That said I’ve yet to see them below 12v.

Prob fit new ones next year.

 

[Padraic]

It’ll be interesting to see how your new bats perform. I think mine may be sub-prime. That said I’ve yet to see them below 12v.

Prob fit new ones next year.

I’m gonna wait and see how it performs over the next weekend or two after a good charge this week.
The type of battery I want to get is the Exide ES1600 140Ah, but I cannot source one here in Ireland, and shipping is very expensive. So I’ll try to pick one up when I’m in the UK in July.
To be honest, I’m pissed off with how poor the voltage sensing relay performed.!!

 

[Rascal1]

https://www.batteriesdirect.ie/mage...-12v/sonnenschein-gel-gf12110v-12v-120ah.html

This was as close as I could get to the original Sonnenschien gel that was in the van (99 coach) when I got it.
At least the poles were in the same place.. And the price is in euro...

 

[Rascal1]

I have used voltage sensing relays on 2 vans over the last 6 years. They seemed to work fine.
What are the symptons of it not working.. Just being curious...

 

[Padraic]

https://www.batteriesdirect.ie/mage...-12v/sonnenschein-gel-gf12110v-12v-120ah.html

This was as close as I could get to the original Sonnenschien gel that was in the van (99 coach) when I got it.
At least the poles were in the same place.. And the price is in euro...

Cheers for the link, but it’s very expensive, for the ideal battery that is 140Ah, it’s costing €320 in the uk.

 

[Padraic]

I have used voltage sensing relays on 2 vans over the last 6 years. They seemed to work fine.
What are the symptons of it not working.. Just being curious...

Well I reverted to the standard relay today, in order to get a handle on the state of the leisure battery, and wondering if the relay had anything to do with their low level.
Anyway, I wired one pole of the relay to a permanent 12v supply, and an earth. started the engine and checked the relay with a meter, 14v on the side of the feed, 0v on the other side. When the earth wire is disconnected and connected to the emergency start pole on the relay it does work, but a drop of one volt between the two poles.
So I cannot be dealing with wondering if it’s working or not, gonna stick with the standard relay and do a similar Ctek charger setup like what sidepod did.

 

[Rascal1]

What make of relay was it..

 

[Padraic]

Victron cyrix voltage sensing

 

[B6POB]

I've had a quick look at the prices so that I know what to expect when buying. I've decided it will be an Exide ES 1600 140Ah Gel Battery I'll get, as its the correct one for the T4 Cali & its recommended as a Class A on the NCC verified leisure battery scheme.
However, there seem to be big differences in price.
Tayna.co.uk £279.99
The Battery Shop.co.uk £379.99
All Batteries.co.uk £458.99
Battery2u.co.uk £373.98
Eurobatt.co.uk £372.28

Has anyone experience with Tayna.co.uk? They are the cheapest, but they want £83 to ship it to me here in Ireland?
I'm gonna be at the Goodwood festival of speed in July and hoping to perhaps pick it up then, but they are located in,Tayna Ltd, Central Warehouse, High Street, Abergele, LL22 7AR, United Kingdom.
They wont ship it to a collection point, just to a business or residential address, so its not going to be easy to pick it up.

Regards Padraic.

Hi Padraic, do not hesitate to use Tayna they are a brilliant company to deal with, I have used them for years and the level of service is second to none, next day delivery too. I replaced my original battery in the cali last weekend and you can see in the pics what I found. The original is 140ah gel and when turned around is actually made by Exide meaning the Exide Es1600 I fitted was the perfect oe replacement.

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[Padraic]

Hi Padraic, do not hesitate to use Tayna they are a brilliant company to deal with, I have used them for years and the level of service is second to none, next day delivery too. I replaced my original battery in the cali last weekend and you can see in the pics what I found. The original is 140ah gel and when turned around is actually made by Exide meaning the Exide Es1600 I fitted was the perfect oe replacement.

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Cheers, yea it’s good to know they are a good company to deal with and that the EXide ES1600 is the correct battery.
It’s a shame that their shipping cost to Ireland is so expensive!!!
I’m gonna be in the uk for the Goodwood festival of speed in July, but Tanya are not located close by and won’t deliver to a collection point, so I may have to pay for the shipping.

 

[Padraic]

Was your original battery gone very poor after so many years?

 

[B6POB]

Cheers, yea it’s good to know they are a good company to deal with and that the EXide ES1600 is the correct battery.
It’s a shame that their shipping cost to Ireland is so expensive!!!
I’m gonna be in the uk for the Goodwood festival of speed in July, but Tanya are not located close by and won’t deliver to a collection point, so I may have to pay for the shipping.

Yeah that's naff, I paid £37 postage, it was delivered on a pallet. 80 is steep. My battery started not holding charge for very long last year and now had got to the point of 10v and the display panel flashing. I didn't mind as it's lasted since 2003 so not bad at all.

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[Padraic]

Yeah that's naff, I paid £37 postage, it was delivered on a pallet. 80 is steep. My battery started not holding charge for very long last year and now had got to the point of 10v and the display panel flashing. I didn't mind as it's lasted since 2003 so not bad at all.

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Does the packaging seem excessive??