Lesuire battery

[Wondering Star]

Hi
As a new Beach owner can anyone tell me if there's any way of checking the lesuire battery charge level?

 

[Ciki62]

Rear sockets are powered from leisure battery. So you can measure voltage here. Extra “equipment” required.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dan Hollis]

Can be done with a multimeter.

Red prong goes to the center, black to the side.

As per pics, my leisure battery is currently 12.73v, the starter battery is 12.48v.

I tried all of the outlets and was able to determine that they are all fed from the leisure battery apart from the one in the middle of the drivers console.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi
As a new Beach owner can anyone tell me if there's any way of checking the lesuire battery charge level?

You need a cheap voltmeter to monitor.
Or this plugged into one of the rear 12v sockets. On-Off Switch, LED Voltage Screen and extra USB and 12v sockets.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XY27X2G/?tag=eliteelect-21

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Hi
As a new Beach owner can anyone tell me if there's any way of checking the lesuire battery charge level?

We have something very similar to this, fits nicely in a cup holder:

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/Phi...igarette-Lighter-Double-USB-Ports-396387.html

Fully charged batteries should measure at 12.6 volts or above. When the engine is running, this measurement should be 13.7 to 14.7 volts.

 

[Wondering Star]

Hi thanks for replys will order charger with digital display.

 

[TripleBee]

Fully charged batteries should measure at 12.6 volts or above. When the engine is running, this measurement should be 13.7 to 14.7 volts.

The T6 with BMT doesn't charge the batteries at full. So you won't read over 13V for a very long time unlike the T5 and T5.1 without BMT.

 

[BeagleMum]

Hi
As a new Beach owner can anyone tell me if there's any way of checking the lesuire battery charge level?

We picked up a Robson digital multimeter from Halfords for £8

 

[WelshGas]

The T6 with BMT doesn't charge the batteries at full. So you won't read over 13V for a very long time unlike the T5 and T5.1 without BMT.

Mine must be an exception then. 2014 T5.1 180 with BlueMotion.
Engine running Leisure Battery Voltage 14.4 to 14.6 max

 

[TripleBee]

Mine must be an exception then. 2014 T5.1 180 with BlueMotion.
Engine running Leisure Battery Voltage 14.4 to 14.6 max

Because I don't have BMT, I did not know how the 'old' ones charged their batteries. Good to know they charge them fully.

 

[Kris Emery]

You need a cheap voltmeter to monitor.
Or this plugged into one of the rear 12v sockets. On-Off Switch, LED Voltage Screen and extra USB and 12v sockets.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XY27X2G/?tag=eliteelect-21
View attachment 47131

Hmm, I have one of these - after a month or so phone charger cables were getting very hot - one started to melt - not sure if it was a defective cable - but now usb will not charge phones any more - other devices lamps etc work on the USB ok - cig. lighter ports work ok too. Now got a problem that the switch keeps going off randomly. Maybe I was just unlucky with my unit...

 

[WelshGas]

Hmm, I have one of these - after a month or so phone charger cables were getting very hot - one started to melt - not sure if it was a defective cable - but now usb will not charge phones any more - other devices lamps etc work on the USB ok - cig. lighter ports work ok too. Now got a problem that the switch keeps going off randomly. Maybe I was just unlucky with my unit...

The one I bought has a supposedly 5 yr guarantee. Anyway, still working fine after a year or so.
You do have to be aware of the 120w limit. So on a 12v circuit that is 10 amps total.
I like it for the convenience of leaving the leads etc: plugged in rather than swapping leads all the time.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Because I don't have BMT, I did not know how the 'old' ones charged their batteries. Good to know they charge them fully.

Hi, found this on another forum which explains why the volt reading from the main battery will be lower (as you said in your previous post) if the van has start / stop function, so would assume T6 onwards:

//
The following information may help you to understand why relay charging will not be any good on these vans.

The initiative behind the introduction of smart alternators / regenerative braking is to lower CO2 emissions and to improve miles per gallon / KM per litre for EU regulations. These smart alternators are installed on modern European Vehicles (Euro 5, Euro 6 + and newer engine models). The object of this new system is to utilise a vehicles wasted kinetic energy during braking / deceleration cycles experienced in every day motoring and rapidly convert as much of that energy (which is usually wasted as braking heat) into useful electricity and store this energy in the starter battery. Then, during acceleration and cruising release this energy back into the vehicles running system as “free electrical energy“ thus reducing the time where an alternator loads the main engine. This increases MPG/KPLand lowers CO2 emissions. However, in order for this system to be effective, the starter battery must have ‘free space’ to boost the energy into the battery, this requires the battery to be about 20% depleted (low enough to allow more power to be boosted into it but not too low as to prevent the engine from restarting when switched off). To replenish this ‘free space’, during deceleration or braking events, the voltage on the alternator shoots up to approximately 15V+. This higher voltage fast charges the starter battery to replenish its capacity. As you are using the inertia of the vehicle to charge the battery, rather than fuel, it is seen as ‘free energy’. Then the voltage drops to about 12.4V to allow the free energy to be consumed by the vehicle allowing the battery to deplete itself by about 20% ready for the next speed reduction and so on and so forth. Albeit an improvement in terms of emissions, there are knock on effects regarding the auxiliary charging systems on board commercial vehicles, read on: Problems with Smart Alternator / Regenerative Braking The system requires a 20% empty starter battery for the system to work. It needs the space to “dump” the fast energy build up during braking. This is in direct conflict with the auxiliary charging system requirements, why? 1) No charge going into the batteries during the 12.2-12.4V phase (which is totally by primary system design). Therefore, if a simple relay charging system was used to charge the auxiliary system it would not be charged during this time frame. This will be a problem if you require a charged auxiliary battery during travel or at location to location. 2) Very high battery charge rate during vehicle deceleration / braking due to alternator high voltage. This is relatively problem free for the starter battery as its relatively full. However, a large empty auxiliary bank could experience high currents at high voltages (much higher than their recommended level) which would be detrimental to the battery leading to premature destruction. Problem with using voltage sensitive/controlled relays? 1) Most VSR / VCRs have time delays before activating. 2) Even when the relay engages then at low voltages the batteries do not charge but at high voltage the aux batteries will get damaged due to massive current in rushes. Also remember that the inherent software control system prevents the battery from being over 80% charged, so even when the battery is charging it will prematurely stop charging due to the software limitations which must leave that 20% space for the unit to be able to dump the braking power, so you can never fully charge a battery using a relay or fet controller you must use an active power product.
//

 

[MattBW]

A cheap plug in volt meter will do the job, a few quid on ebay.

Alternatively you can install something like a Victron battery monitor or a NASA BM-1 where you can check it via bluetooth on a device. Personally I like a visible display like the ones Victron (BMV-700) do better but I was never sure exactly where it would fit (and if it would fit under the seat because of the limited space between battery and plate. It may be possible on the drivers side of a beach however.

NASA BM-1 Bluetooth review

I will add to this as I use it more. Obviously with the beach having no control panel there is no easy means to view the battery capacity or charge/discharge status. You can use a volt meter for a rough idea but for effective battery management I want to understand amps too. I looked at the...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

That thread has the bluetooth ones and a simple cheap one shown in the post.

 

[MarkVw2017]

But im still confused, at what point would you say, "damn, i best start charging". If 12.4v is nearly full, at what point is it "Arrrggghh, its nearly dead?"

 

[MattBW]

11.8v is usually when I start to consider it needs a charge. 10.6v is the absolutely floor you shouldnt go under or damage can be caused to the battery (AGM batteries).

Of course the challenge is its resting value you need to go by generally not the value under load.

 

[kp64zl]

Hi @MarkVw2017 -- I think the general advice is that it's not possible to overcharge your leisure battery if you just plug into the electric hook -- and ideally should be charged (by electric hook up) for 24hrs every month (if you don't have solar).

That's because driving only gets it to 80% charge, but the battery life is much longer if it's at 100% for at least a certain amount of time each month.

 

[MarkVw2017]

Hi @MarkVw2017 -- I think the general advice is that it's not possible to overcharge your leisure battery if you just plug into the electric hook -- and ideally should be charged (by electric hook up) for 24hrs every month (if you don't have solar).

That's because driving only gets it to 80% charge, but the battery life is much longer if it's at 100% for at least a certain amount of time each month.

Thanks for that

 

[Sp0_0k]

When the engine is running, this measurement should be 13.7 to 14.7 volts.

Which isn't the battery voltage but alternator feeding the sockets.

 

[Sp0_0k]

Keep in mind those cheap voltmeters can have pretty bad readings with even 0,3-0,5 volts off. Best to check them comparing on the same voltage source with a decent one.

 

[Daisy Dreamer]

Hello,Can i ask ,as a lead on from this ,where the fuses are for the 3 pin plug in the back? Mine wont work,i am assuming the fuse has 'tripped'??.The cigarette lighter above works fine. thanks