Using hook and leisure batteries

[DavidandBernie]

Hi
Sorry if this is a daft question I’m going away in the van very soon and I think my leisure batteries are about to give up the ghost. While I can charge them, they won’t hold a charge. They are over 5 years which I believe is expected life.
So down to the question, if I’m on hook up and my batteries do pack up will the fridge etc still work.
Thank in advance for your comment.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi
Sorry if this is a daft question I’m going away in the van very soon and I think my leisure batteries are about to give up the ghost. While I can charge them, they won’t hold a charge. They are over 5 years which I believe is expected life.
So down to the question, if I’m on hook up and my batteries do pack up will the fridge etc still work.
Thank in advance for your comment.

Everything runs from the leisure batteries. On EHU the batteries will be constantly charged. So no problem.

 

[Azteccamper]

Hi
Sorry if this is a daft question I’m going away in the van very soon and I think my leisure batteries are about to give up the ghost. While I can charge them, they won’t hold a charge. They are over 5 years which I believe is expected life.
So down to the question, if I’m on hook up and my batteries do pack up will the fridge etc still work.
Thank in advance for your comment.

Not sure who told 5 yrs was expected life? I changed mine at 11 yrs but they were still working fine - I found out after I’d fitted new ones!

 

[Steve1]

Hi
Sorry if this is a daft question I’m going away in the van very soon and I think my leisure batteries are about to give up the ghost. While I can charge them, they won’t hold a charge. They are over 5 years which I believe is expected life.
So down to the question, if I’m on hook up and my batteries do pack up will the fridge etc still work.
Thank in advance for your comment.

This depends on how bad they are. If they are just a bit old or tired, then the hookup will keep them topped and everything will work fine. But, if the battery is bad enough that it has had a proper cell failure then it is possible that it will get hot and gas up, this can cause a bad acidy smell inside. If that did happen I would probably disconnect it from hookup at that point.
I had one fail in that way. The tell tale sign is that if you put the voltage on the display it continues to try and charge it at full power forever. So on hookup it will say 14V ish continuously rather than deciding that battery is full and shifting down to 13.3V ish. This was accompanied by feeling the top of the battery and it was very hot. With my one it never got as far as properly gassing up you could just get a minor whiff occasionally.

 

[yossarian]

What @Steve1 said. Another check you can perform is feel the battery -- if it's hot stop charging it somehow.

If your batteries are sulphated long term hookup might recover them to some extent.

 

[DavidandBernie]

Not sure who told 5 yrs was expected life? I changed mine at 11 yrs but they were still working fine - I found out after I’d fitted new ones!

The internet told me the life expectancy, so happy it’s possible to get more years. It‘s an ex rental so probably been used more than most as well. Thanks for your feedback

 

[DavidandBernie]

This depends on how bad they are. If they are just a bit old or tired, then the hookup will keep them topped and everything will work fine. But, if the battery is bad enough that it has had a proper cell failure then it is possible that it will get hot and gas up, this can cause a bad acidy smell inside. If that did happen I would probably disconnect it from hookup at that point.
I had one fail in that way. The tell tale sign is that if you put the voltage on the display it continues to try and charge it at full power forever. So on hookup it will say 14V ish continuously rather than deciding that battery is full and shifting down to 13.3V ish. This was accompanied by feeling the top of the battery and it was very hot. With my one it never got as far as properly gassing up you could just get a minor whiff occasionally.

I’m having no problem charging when driving so hoping they’re not too bad. thanks for the feedback. I will keep an eye on the display.

 

[DavidandBernie]

What @Steve1 said. Another check you can perform is feel the battery -- if it's hot stop charging it somehow.

If your batteries are sulphated long term hookup might recover them to some extent.

Cheers I will have a look tomorrow

 

[Anthony1]

Not sure who told 5 yrs was expected life? I changed mine at 11 yrs but they were still working fine - I found out after I’d fitted new ones!

I think mine are 11 years old and working fine too.

 

[Steve1]

I think mine are 11 years old and working fine too.

It's not mainly age related, it's depth of discharge and number of cycles that really count. You are allowed many many small discharges OR quite alot of 50% discharges OR some 80% discharges OR one really heavy discharge and you can ruin it in a single go ! But 11 years is pretty impressive still, must mean that it has been looked after and not heavily discharged much.

 

[Wannabecamperman]

It's not mainly age related, it's depth of discharge and number of cycles that really count. You are allowed many many small discharges OR quite alot of 50% discharges OR some 80% discharges OR one really heavy discharge and you can ruin it in a single go ! But 11 years is pretty impressive still, must mean that it has been looked after and not heavily discharged much.

Or you can swap them both to a single LiFePO4 and use and abuse as you see fit for around 3,000 full discharge cycles. The new Ford Nugget has 300w solar and lithium manufacturer options and I expect the new (2025) Transporter to follow suit.

The new 2024 Ford Nugget hybrid even has V2L from the main traction battery with over 2kW of 230v (3 pin plug) power!! Again, I expect the VW version to follow suit.