New charger fitted - display now showing 15.1v

SimonT4Westy · May 23, 2017

Hi - first post on here.
I've got a 1995 T4 Cali westfalia. Lefty.
The original battery charger burnt out on our first trip away when we hooked up!

I had a new intelligent charger fitted last week by an auto electrician at a camper van specialist.
We have 2 leisure batteries that are about 2 years old which he checked and said were holding good charge (on the trip away they powered the fridge for at least 2 days with no engine running)
Problem is now the display unit constantly flashes on 15.1v when driving. When engine not running it shows a normal charge showing, usually around 14.8v.
I took it back to the garage and he said it was probably because the display unit isn't configured to the new charger. He checked the car battery and said this was charging normally.
I've since tried the hook up and I don't get the hook up signal on display, but the internal socket works so know its charging - BUT also it flicks straight to flashing 15.1v on the display.
I left the fridge on for about day (justing running off leisure battery) and found it had run down
Does any of this sound right, or is the new charger potentially buggering up things?
thanks if you can help, before i go back to auto electrician.

sidepod · May 23, 2017

15+ volts is way too high. 14.2 max. I think from memory the flashing indicates over charging. Not good.

This doesn't make sense. You can't get a voltage that high from an alternator so you shouldn't see 15v whilst driving.

SimonT4Westy · May 23, 2017

yes - in my manual (for old charger) 15.1 flashing indicates an issue. but the auto electrician tested the alternator and it was charging normally.

SimonT4Westy · May 23, 2017

and thanks for such a quick reply!

SimonT4Westy · May 24, 2017

further to my last post. The charger i;ve had fitted is a Volta Leisure Battery Charger 3-stage.

The wiring looks all well done as i would expect. Anyone know if this charger is ok?

Today i drove it to work, a good hours drive - the display flashed 15.1v all the way. At work i turned off engine and turned on fridge. Volts on display showed 14.7 and held.
8 hours later i went back to van and found the fridge was off and the display was showing the volts moving between 11v - 12v.
Before all of this with original charger - our leisure batteries powered the fridge for at least 2 days.

It was really hot today - not sure how much difference that makes.

anyone know what might be the wrong? wrong charger?

Hotel California · May 24, 2017

May a welcome you on the forum on your first post... :thumb

And i leave the technical advise to others as it is way beyond my knowledge

sidepod · May 24, 2017

My guess is your batteries aren't fully charged.

Leisure batteries (gel) take a good two / three days to get up to full charge.

So, first you need to make sure the control panel is set for the correct number of batteries and the type.

If you pop out the control panel from the overhead housing you'll find some small DIP switches on the back.
There is a download doc on this forum that details how they should be set.

Once you are happy these are correct then plug the van into the mains and leave it for at least three days.

If you still have an issue then my guess is your batteries a knackered.