Leisure Battery

[Miles Porter]

Everything is fantastic although I am not sure the Leisure battery is performing as should. The battery seems to drain quickly when not on hookup and aux heater is running - this morning drained from 100% down to 70% in 20 mins.....surely than can’t be right? We want to go off grid for couple of days however at that rate (if we want to stay warm) battery won’t last more than 2 hrs. Vinny is just 5 weeks old and has been on hookup to charge couple of times - charges as expected when ignition switched on and when connected on hookup.....retaining charge seems to be an issue. When aux heater is on <2A being used and 12.5v charge on battery - after 20 mins running the battery shoots back up to 100%. There are no other usb/lights in use.
Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[AlanC]

Everything is fantastic although I am not sure the Leisure battery is performing as should. The battery seems to drain quickly when not on hookup and aux heater is running - this morning drained from 100% down to 70% in 20 mins.....surely than can’t be right? We want to go off grid for couple of days however at that rate (if we want to stay warm) battery won’t last more than 2 hrs. Vinny is just 5 weeks old and has been on hookup to charge couple of times - charges as expected when ignition switched on and when connected on hookup.....retaining charge seems to be an issue. When aux heater is on <2A being used and 12.5v charge on battery - after 20 mins running the battery shoots back up to 100%. There are no other usb/lights in use.
Any advice will be appreciated.

As your van is new, I wonder if there is a connection issue between the two leisure batteries.

Two new fully charged leisure batteries should run the fridge up to 3/4 days off grid easily. I am not certain what the current drain is for the heater alone, but as it is thermostat controlled suspect the running time would be similar.

Sounds to me like you are just running off one battery at the moment.

There is a pillar fuse on the rear battery, under the wardrobe, which may have blown thereby disconnecting the rear battery from the system.

I would book it into the dealer under warranty and ask for the Cali master tech to check it all out. Point them in this direction.

Alan

 

[MattBW]

Best thing to do is check if its only 70% under load, if you turn off the heater does it return to a higher value?

The capacity meters use an algorithm and the capacity if generally only accurate under rest. I dont know if this is the same on the Ocean but its normal on most battery monitors.

The heater will use a lot of amps when starting up and less once its warm, this drops the voltage which can give the impression the battery is drained more than it is. Once the load is gone away ten it may rise back up.

However if it stays at 70% after use then there may be a problem, and as above there is a fuse on the rear battery to link both leisure batteries together, if this fuse as gone you are running on one battery and reduced capacity.

Also worth connecting the van to hookup for 24 hours to make sure its totally full.

 

[kave]

As mattbw says, battery level is not measured under load or charge.

 

[bvddobb]

Don't worry too much on the %, that is only a very rough indication and nearly always not correct.

Pay attention to the Volts. As long as the system doesn't drop below about 11.5V your heater will continue to run!

 

[Miles Porter]

Thanks all for responses - very reassuring. Again, can’t stress enough what a great community site this is - great advice as always

 

[B J G]

My batteries used to only drop to about 70% after a month of no use then started to drop to as low as 20% or even 0% after 2 to 3 weeks. Mains charging seemed to be rather rapid.
Thought maybe one battery had failed but a battery fuse was the culprit. No idea why it was blown as no unusual useage.