NEW T6.1 Ocean: Leisure Battery discharging with nothing (obvious) on.

lr67 · Sunday at 1:00 PM

Hi, first of all thanks to everyone who posts here, I have learned a lot without even using my van!

I have trawled through the various forum posts and cannot find a relevant post, so hopefully someone may either know, or be able to point me in the right direction.

I took delivery in mid-Jan of a new T6.1 Ocean and I charged up fully when I got it home from the mains, but the leisure batteries were fully discharged the following morning. The 'Battery Discharged' error was displayed on the screen as soon as I sat in the cab. I checked there was nothing plugged in anywhere, and the fridge was off, the took relevant photos of the battery status screen over 12 hrs and sent it back to the dealer. They replaced the leisure battery under the passenger seat and said they had solved the problem.

I did the same, charged fully as soon as I got home and waited. Not as bad as previously but display changes from >60h (13.1v/-1A; doors are open, thus the -1A) to 40h 40min (12.2V/-1A) after 26hrs, and then 43h 50min (12.2v/-1A) 2mins later, then 48hrs later it is at 22h 40min (12.1V/-1A).

I noted the details of the leisure batteries before the initial 'fix', both were AGM 105A 75AH 800A (420A DIN). The replacement is an AGM VRLA 75AH 800A, which is the same as the main engine battery. While the spec appears the same, are they really?

Questions:
Do the leisure batteries need to be identical?
Is the main engine battery spec suitable for use as a leisure battery?

This is a warranty / dealer issue, but as has been pointed out elsewhere some dealers are great with the base van, but not necessarily the California variant. I want to be as helpful as I can so that my van on the road as quickly as possible. I had intended posting the fix, but will definitely post when resolved!

Thanks in advance,
Liam.

WelshGas · Sunday at 3:42 PM

lr67 said:
Hi, first of all thanks to everyone who posts here, I have learned a lot without even using my van!

I have trawled through the various forum posts and cannot find a relevant post, so hopefully someone may either know, or be able to point me in the right direction.

I took delivery in mid-Jan of a new T6.1 Ocean and I charged up fully when I got it home from the mains, but the leisure batteries were fully discharged the following morning. The 'Battery Discharged' error was displayed on the screen as soon as I sat in the cab. I checked there was nothing plugged in anywhere, and the fridge was off, the took relevant photos of the battery status screen over 12 hrs and sent it back to the dealer. They replaced the leisure battery under the passenger seat and said they had solved the problem.

I did the same, charged fully as soon as I got home and waited. Not as bad as previously but display changes from >60h (13.1v/-1A; doors are open, thus the -1A) to 40h 40min (12.2V/-1A) after 26hrs, and then 43h 50min (12.2v/-1A) 2mins later, then 48hrs later it is at 22h 40min (12.1V/-1A).

I noted the details of the leisure batteries before the initial 'fix', both were AGM 105A 75AH 800A (420A DIN). The replacement is an AGM VRLA 75AH 800A, which is the same as the main engine battery. While the spec appears the same, are they really?

Questions:
Do the leisure batteries need to be identical?
Is the main engine battery spec suitable for use as a leisure battery?

This is a warranty / dealer issue, but as has been pointed out elsewhere some dealers are great with the base van, but not necessarily the California variant. I want to be as helpful as I can so that my van on the road as quickly as possible. I had intended posting the fix, but will definitely post when resolved!

Thanks in advance,
Liam.

Both leisure SHOULD be the same in chemistry and electrical output.
Question - Does the Dealership actually realise there are 2 x Leisure Batteries wired in parallel. Did they test both?
The Calculation of “ Hours left “ is not very accurate as it depends on spot readings of current usage and power left and can vary considerably.
Better to use Resting Voltage - 30 mins after charging/switching off usage , as an indicator.

lr67 · Sunday at 4:33 PM

Thanks for replying, the detail is good to know.
Yes, the dealer knows there are two batteries, and they determined only one was faulty. The fact that they are not necessarily chemically the same may be an issue, but I will raise that with him tomorrow.