Starter battery not charging on hook-up T6.1 Ocean

[Califan61]

Hi all,

I have been experimenting while the Cali is plugged into the mains and the leisure batteries are fully charged when does the starter battery start getting charged as I have read this in the manual.

I have left items plugged in to accelerate the drain and down to around 11.9v the Cali does not request the starter is charged and starts up as normal. Today I checked again, it's now down at 11.4v, it's saying low starter voltage and requesting charging by starting the engine. At no point has any charge gone into the battery so either T6.1 don't have this function or I have a fault. I did raise this the last time I went to the dealer and they said the system is working correctly. Is anyone able to confirm either way whether the mains does or doesn't charge the starter battery please? I'm not bothered if it now doesn't charge the starter battery I can then find a way to keep it charged.

I have added a graph from the starter battery monitor which shows a passege of use, then a steady decline but no top up. The van was then plugged in and within 24hrs the leisure batteries where fully charged. The increased discharge in the middle was me sitting in the van doing some work. It remains plugged in currently.

 

[dspuk]

Depending on who you ask they will say it depends on your 6.1.

I believe before the 6.1 it depended on your MY, but pretty sure for all 6.1 they act the same. I could be wrong. I think @WelshGas had a poll once.

Either way, you do get a trickle charge (a piddly 1A) and only when the leisures are “fully” charged.

I can’t define fully charged though. Is it 80 or 100%? No idea.

Having drained my main battery overnight accidentally and charged it via the cable over a few hours to get it turning again, it does work. The van and VW engineers work out the math and when - exactly what those conditions are though is not something I have seen written down.

As I also have Solar that trickles under more defined rules via my MPPT, it’s not really a problem I have anymore though.

 

[Califan61]

Depending on who you ask they will say it depends on your 6.1.

I believe before the 6.1 it depended on your MY, but pretty sure for all 6.1 they act the same. I could be wrong. I think @WelshGas had a poll once.

Either way, you do get a trickle charge (a piddly 1A) and only when the leisures are “fully” charged.

I can’t define fully charged though. Is it 80 or 100%? No idea.

Having drained my main battery overnight accidentally and charged it via the cable over a few hours to get it turning again, it does work. The van and VW engineers work out the math and when - exactly what those conditions are though is not something I have seen written down.

As I also have Solar that trickles under more defined rules via my MPPT, it’s not really a problem I have anymore though.

Thanks, my understanding is even if you put a separate charger on to 100%, somehow it will drop to 80% quickly (dump into leisure batteries?) I'm not seeing any charge going into the battery. I will unplug all the other items that are draining the battery (dashcam, rodent scarer and 4g router) but reckon these are pretty small so would still expect an uplift or at least an arrest of the drain.

 

[Califan61]

Thanks, my understanding is even if you put a separate charger on to 100%, somehow it will drop to 80% quickly (dump into leisure batteries?) I'm not seeing any charge going into the battery. I will unplug all the other items that are draining the battery (dashcam, rodent scarer and 4g router) but reckon these are pretty small so would still expect an uplift or at least an arrest of the drain.

BTW I will go down the solar route