Replacing leisure batteries

[Freeley]

Spoke to Alpha batteries, very helpful guy, ended up buying this one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Xplor...ar-Warranty-/171662256345?hash=item27f7de28d9

Looks the same as the pair I bought.
Do you have a beach if you only bought one?

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[hubert72]

Looks the same as the pair I bought.
Do you have a beach if you only bought one?

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Yes, just the one under the passenger seat.

 

[Freeley]

Alpha Batteries customer service was excellent, I spoke to a friendly knowledgeable chap on the phone who left me to order via their eBay site after I'd asked him a couple of questions, and they were dispatched next day.
However the carrier they used were hopeless and I didn't receive them until a week later, and that was only after I rang them to find out where the hell they were.
You could track the progress of the delivery on the carrier's website and I could see two failed attempted deliveries at about 0630 in the morning?!?!
Good job I wasn't in a rush.

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[Fatb10ke]

Alpha Batteries customer service was excellent, I spoke to a friendly knowledgeable chap on the phone who left me to order via their eBay site after I'd asked him a couple of questions, and they were dispatched next day.
However the carrier they used were hopeless and I didn't receive them until a week later, and that was only after I rang them to find out where the hell they were.
You could track the progress of the delivery on the carrier's website and I could see two failed attempted deliveries at about 0630 in the morning?!?!
Good job I wasn't in a rush.

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Have you now fitted the batteries and how are they performing? I need to replace two in the next three weeks.

The last time we went out the fridge/lights drained my leisure batteries and my main battery so my van needed jump starting. Not great.

 

[Freeley]

Yes I fitted them a couple of weeks ago, this weekend will be our first time away in the van since so we'll see how they perform.
They've charged up fine though - I was having an issue with the old batteries whereby after being on charge for a few hours Thu would stop charging, so I would have to unplug and plug back in again. I thought my charger might've been playing up but touch wood so far no problem with the new batteries.

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[Freeley]

*they.
Anybody else got a galaxy S8 with a really dumb autocorrect?!

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[Fatb10ke]

Yes I fitted them a couple of weeks ago, this weekend will be our first time away in the van since so we'll see how they perform.
They've charged up fine though - I was having an issue with the old batteries whereby after being on charge for a few hours Thu would stop charging, so I would have to unplug and plug back in again. I thought my charger might've been playing up but touch wood so far no problem with the new batteries.

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How did you get on?

 

[Freeley]

Yeah everything good batteries worked as they should.
Was only one night might get a longer run on them when we have our 2 weeks off in September to properly test them out.

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[2into1]

The last time we went out the fridge/lights drained my leisure batteries and my main battery so my van needed jump starting. Not great.

If your engine battery went flat, you have a different problem. It may or may not need new leisure batteries, but their status shouldn't cause your engine battery to flatten, and changing them won't stop that happening.

 

[Fatb10ke]

If your engine battery went flat, you have a different problem. It may or may not need new leisure batteries, but their status shouldn't cause your engine battery to flatten, and changing them won't stop that happening.

Agreed. But the leisure batteries are gone 6.5 years in. I think the main battery may also be on the way too.

 

[RodCouncil]

Just to confirm both batteries are the same? the quote I got for two new batteries and fitting from VW in Stockholm was a joke so I'll source elsewhere and install Solar at the same time, this for me in the crux of it, hookups and campsite are not for me and I want my batteries well conditioned all of the time.

 

[Hannick]

Having changed my leisure batteries I hope this series of photos is a help. I followed the instructions given in this discussion but would add the following.

Both batteries have a plastic breather pipe on the side presumably to vent any fumes from the battery outside the vehicle. I made sure I put these back on the new batteries (which came with the vent holes on the opposite side on my replacements).

Secondly I would be more careful with the +ve leads once detached by making sure they did not touch any metal part of the vehicle while loose. As you’ll see from my photos I left them hanging and in future I think I’d protect them somehow from any chance of touching any metal part of the chassis.

I put these photos without further comment as these are not intended to be instructions, but I hope it opens a window on what to expect. Feel free to comment on how I should have done it better to assist others.

Firstly I did the one under the front seat and then the rear compartment one.

I undid the four bolts at each corner of the front seat and gently lifted it forwards making sure the cables underneath did not detach.

Sorry if you think I have put too many photos!

 

[Hannick]

and now the rear one.

and yes I did fix the connections properly before I put it away!

The rear battery did have enough slack on the cables to be able to lift it out and disconnect once out, but not knowing this I disconnected them in situ but was then able to connect them to the new battery whilst out and then pop it back in.

It makes me cringe seeing how I left the +ve lying on the floor.

 

[Hannick]

by the way does anyone know what the brown and yellow cable with the white plug is for under the seat? It was already loose before I shuffled the seat forwards.

 

[Ian Robinson]

Great photos Hannick, very helpful. I may need to change my batteries within the next year and this has helped me to visualise how to go about it.

The photos seem to show that you have replaced the original AGM batteries with wet cell batteries? I thought you had to replace with AGM as these batteries gas less when charged so are less of a risk when sleeping in the van (breather hose helps keeps risk low, but I thought AGM reduces the risk further). I also thought that the alternator and charger on the California are set about 0.2-0.3 V higher than normal to suit AGM batteries, and that this higher voltage will cause even more gassing of a wet cell battery. Maybe this higher voltage is only for the Bluemotion variants as the engine battery is also AGM? Not sure what year the Bluemotion started?

Maybe someone more experienced can let me know if what I have said above is correct, and if so can the voltage be reduced for using wet cell batteries?

 

[Hannick]

I bought these as recommended on the earlier posts in this discussion so I hope they are correct. I did ring Alpha to check before I clicked the “buy” button so if they are wrong I’ll change them.

 

[Ian Robinson]

Hi Hannick,

Looking at the photos again I can see that the new batteries have AGM in their code - so apologies if I jumped the gun there. The exposed screw cell cap covers made the batteries look like wet cells - sorry!!

 

[Hannick]

Don’t worry, as I had exactly the same thought as I unboxed them initially!

 

[WelshGas]

by the way does anyone know what the brown and yellow cable with the white plug is for under the seat? It was already loose before I shuffled the seat forwards.

View attachment 30202

Excellent write up. Thank you.

The unattached plug - Do you have heated seats?

 

[Hannick]

Yes we do, and they are working.

 

[MattBW]

Air bag light on by any chance?

 

[Hannick]

No warning lights.

I'm sadly familiar with the airbag warning light as it lights up occasionally after I've rotated the drivers seat and the wire catches on all the stuff I keep under that seat! A quick re-set of the plug and a re-set of the diagnostics and away we go.

Note to self: keep less stuff under that seat!

 

[jts46]

As people have said great write up and photos

 

[Hannick]

Loz says: you should remove both negative leads before you start.

I’m sure this makes sense so can others confirm this is good practice so we can add this to this thread.

 

[Loz]

Loz says: you should remove both negative leads before you start.

I’m sure this makes sense so can others confirm this is good practice so we can add this to this thread.

I was only an electrical engineer in my youf so don’t take my word for it, instead why not read the manual