T6 Beach no longer has hookup

[zeratul]

Well, the option does make more. I am using the heater every day now in wintertime and it is remarkable how much it takes power from the leisure battery so I connect my Cali several times a week when it is parked at home.

Interesting .. I've not experienced that, though only max 24hours on one site.. The fridge (which has cut off when voltage goes low) keeps running even with heater on all night.
After what amount of time do you get an empty leisure battery?

 

[MrP]

One of the very important things with AGM leisure batteries is to plug them in to mains regularly to get 100% charge and life out of them. If you don't have a hookup then you are going to potentially shorten the life of your leisure battery.
As has been said previously, there are a number of options to retro fit a hookup and an AGM battery is not that expensive anymore, but it does seem ludicrous to me.

 

[kave]

Interesting .. I've not experienced that, though only max 24hours on one site.. The fridge (which has cut off when voltage goes low) keeps running even with heater on all night.
After what amount of time do you get an empty leisure battery?

I have attached a voltmeter to the 12V connector in the cabin so I can always have a look at the voltage. At arround 12.5 I connect the 230V to charge. Once a week usually. Car batteries dont like to drop below 12V, they can practically die on you if let down too much.

 

[El Greco]

If this is true, is it being downgraded to an option or is it to be deleted altogether?
If so I wonder if this has anything to do with the T6 battery management recall?

What recall? I don't recall (no pun intended) seeing anything about that.

 

[Borris]

What recall? I don't recall (no pun intended) seeing anything about that.

There is a thread entitled "T6 Recall". Something to do with battery management. I know nothing more than that at the moment.

 

[zeratul]

Beware.
It could be that the (European, don't know about UK) Beach, even with hookup, CANNOT charge any battery (not leisure, not mains). The hookup only brings 230v inside. Still awaiting confirmation from other T5/T6 beach owners about it, but it's a topic that came back so many times it must be true.
In that case this is a very expensive option for a waterproof 230v connection inside the Cali.
It explains a lot though.
Don't bother taking the option if this turns out to be true.. or install your own charger.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/beach-leisure-battery-charged-on-hookup.10635/page-2

I've been trying to get the batteries to charge on hookup all morning, and I've checked every fuse, it simply does not charge. And I cannot find a charger either.

 

[Amarillo]

Beware.
It could be that the (European, don't know about UK) Beach, even with hookup, CANNOT charge any battery (not leisure, not mains). The hookup only brings 230v inside. Still awaiting confirmation from other T5/T6 beach owners about it, but it's a topic that came back so many times it must be true.
In that case this is a very expensive option for a waterproof 230v connection inside the Cali.
It explains a lot though.
Don't bother taking the option if this turns out to be true.. or install your own charger.
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/beach-leisure-battery-charged-on-hookup.10635/page-2

I've been trying to get the batteries to charge on hookup all morning, and I've checked every fuse, it simply does not charge. And I cannot find a charger either.

Item 6 of the Beach standard features clearly says "batteries".

 

[zeratul]

But it also clearly says United Kingdom.
We've always had a completely different spec here in Belgium/Germany/Spain/Netherlands on one side and UK on the other.

Then again we've only had reports on T5 Beaches .. can't say for T6 for sure.

But regardless of that, even my dealer doesn't know, and I've seen many mistakes in the configurators.

 

[zeratul]

Just checked the T6 configurator for Belgium and it also specifies it should charge the batteries. On the T5 Beach brochure I found back here it simply says 'Connection 230V'. And it cost 770 euro at the time

So current theory.. Only relevant for T5 Beach? Or is the T6 beach configurator wrong?

Are there other T5/T6 Beach owners with hookup who can confirm with voltage measurement?

 

[Amarillo]

Just checked the T6 configurator for Belgium and it also specifies it should charge the batteries. On the T5 Beach brochure I found back here it simply says 'Connection 230V'. And it cost 770 euro at the time

I am a complete layman when it comes to anything electrical, but my understanding is that the engine battery has priority when charging, and only when fully charged does the leisure battery start charging.

But it also clearly says United Kingdom

I think that the UK refers to the type of internal socket, three oblong pins not two round pins.

 

[WelshGas]

I am a complete layman when it comes to anything electrical, but my understanding is that the engine battery has priority when charging, and only when fully charged does the leisure battery start charging.

I think that the UK refers to the type of internal socket, three oblong pins not two round pins.

Your previous post clearly states 230 v Supply with charging feature for vehicle batteries. Totally independent of the Engine Alternator charging system.

 

[Gerhardt]

I am meeting with my agent tomorrow. So hopefully I can get some answers. I am getting a UK spec Beach even though I live in Germany. As I am British and only in Germany due to work.

 

[Gerhardt]

Also I ordered my Beach September 16. So any changes future or current specs should not effect my order. Must be another reason why they have apparently stopped fitting the external hookup.

 

[Amarillo]

Your previous post clearly states 230 v Supply with charging feature for vehicle batteries. Totally independent of the Engine Alternator charging system.

Excuse my ignorance on this matter - but are you saying that the engine battery only has priority charging when being recharged from the engine; on hookup neither battery will have priority over the other?

 

[BigJohno]

Bit confused by this thread! I picked up my new T6 Beach yesterday and it has electric hookup.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Just to confirm..... My UK spec "MY17" Beach, build week 48, does have an exterior EHU connection

 

[Jabberwocky]

Bit confused by this thread! I picked up my new T6 Beach yesterday and it has electric hookup.

Just as it should have. Other countries other specs.......

 

[WelshGas]

Excuse my ignorance on this matter - but are you saying that the engine battery only has priority charging when being recharged from the engine; on hookup neither battery will have priority over the other?

No, the Fact that with Electrical Hook Up you get a Battery Charger, to charge the Leisure Battery, separate to the Alternator. Nothing whatsoever was mentioned about which has priority when charging as it varies depending on which charging system you are using.
I thought we were discussing whether the Option of Mains Electrical Hook up included a Charger or not. It does on the UK Options list according to your post.

 

[Amarillo]

No, the Fact that with Electrical Hook Up you get a Battery Charger, to charge the Leisure Battery, separate to the Alternator. Nothing whatsoever was mentioned about which has priority when charging as it varies depending on which charging system you are using.
I thought we were discussing whether the Option of Mains Electrical Hook up included a Charger or not. It does on the UK Options list according to your post.

OK - this thread is getting really confusing with lots of sub queries coming in.

Here's a summary of how I see it for UK buyers of the Beach.

1. The Beach comes with an electric hook-up as standard.
2. The hook-up will charge the leisure battery and deliver power to one UK socket.
3. Some people find that the hook up charges or trickle charges their engine battery.
4. In other countries the Beach might not come with a hook-up as standard.

Thus summary was edited 12 February 2017 at 11.30 GMT.

 

[snowy55]

The May 2016 UK Beach we owned briefly had the external mains input socket that powered the internal 230v UK type 3 pin socket and only charged the leisure battery not the engine battery.

I checked this with a 3 pin socket tester (for correct polarity) and a plug in 12 volt meter in all the 12v power sockets.

 

[Amarillo]

The May 2016 UK Beach we owned briefly had the external mains input socket that powered the internal 230v UK type 3 pin socket and only charged the leisure battery not the engine battery.

So this line, "230-V supply with charging feature for vehicle batteries" listed in the standard features of the online configurator should be, "230-V supply with charging feature for vehicle leisure battery". If so, it is very sloppy of VW to make this mistake.

 

[snowy55]

So this line, "230-V supply with charging feature for vehicle batteries" listed in the standard features of the online configurator should be, "230-V supply with charging feature for vehicle leisure battery". If so, it is very sloppy of VW to make this mistake.

The configurator is full of rubbish translations like the auxiliary heaters, rear glass etc etc.
You can't trust the configurator nor the uninformed dealers!

 

[Stuart]

Bit confused by this thread! I picked up my new T6 Beach yesterday and it has electric hookup.

I would just ignore this thread. It's full of confusion. Enjoy your Beach and its electric hookup.

Also to answer some of the confusion above, on my T6 Beach the leisure battery is charged while on hook up.

 

[Bramco]

leisure battery is charged while on hook up.

Ours is too on a T5. Afaik this was the standard from the start of them including the hookup on the Beach.

 

[Bigted]

My t5 charges the leisure battery and trickles the engine battery.