Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

 
 
 
 
 
 
Potis 2020
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Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 26.01.2022  ·  #1
Hi,

We are relatively new camper owners (purchased a 2018 Fiat Ducato Swift Select 122 in April 2021). It was serviced by Tractamotors 2 weeks ago.

We do not yet have a facility to plug in our camper over the winter. We use it almost as a second car so it gets used most weeks. As the weather was frosty the week before last, we switched on the tank heaters to stop the tanks from freezing. I made sure to switch off the fridge fully so it was not also a drain on the system. Ideally I would have liked to drain the water system completely but it's not so easy when you live in the Dublin suburbs!

We switched off the tank heaters a number of days ago as the nights were milder and I noticed both the leisure and vehicle batteries were registering as poor. We then took the van for an hour drive and expected the status to be upgraded to fair but it still showed as poor. FYI the van started first time with no issues.

Despite the van being parked in full sunlight for most of the day, the solar panels don't appear to have been successful in topping up the leisure battery.

We are planning on heading away to a site 90 minutes drive away this weekend and will have EHU for the entirety of our stay. Do you think this will be sufficient to top up the batteries, or have we let them drain too much? If so, where's best to get them checked out/replaced in the Dublin area?


ROBANDSUE
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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 26.01.2022  ·  #2
probably Halfords if you are looking to replace the batteries in a hurry, or online usually shows somw good bargains. Someone will be along shortly im sure to give you some better detail.
Just be very careful if disconnecting the leisure battery, there is a routine and if you dont follow it you can have costly replacement parts to source.
This happened with my 06 Hymer couple of years ago and i had to sent the unit off to be repaired to Scotland.
Best of luck

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eirebus
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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 26.01.2022  ·  #3
You should empty the tanks,it's only water , the pipes and tap's can freeze also so turn off water pump and open the tap's , there's not enough sunlight at this time of year for good solar charging,hook the van up to the mains for 24 hrs and see what happens in the days after that,if they stay charged, happy days

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Potis 2020
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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 26.01.2022  ·  #4
Quote by eirebus

You should empty the tanks,it's only water , the pipes and tap's can freeze also so turn off water pump and open the tap's , there's not enough sunlight at this time of year for good solar charging,hook the van up to the mains for 24 hrs and see what happens in the days after that,if they stay charged, happy days


Thanks, definitely will empty it fully in future. I've heard some petrol stations are sound if you need to empty water at their carwash (ours would be 90% freshwater but there's probably a small amount of grey from an overnight a few weeks ago in Carlingford).

Unfortunately do not have a way to plug into the mains at the house, but will be driving to Kilkenny on Friday and will be plugged into EHU for two full days so hopefully that will tell us whether the battery is banjaxed or not!


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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 26.01.2022  ·  #5
Can i suggest you get a 3 pin plug converter for your hook up line,then you can plug the van in anywhere,even using an exstention lead if needed,best of luck.


Potis 2020
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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 26.01.2022  ·  #6
Quote by petereire

Can i suggest you get a 3 pin plug converter for your hook up line,then you can plug the van in anywhere,even using an exstention lead if needed,best of luck.


Thanks a mill! Have been having a quick look online to see if I can source one. Think i'll ask my neighbour's mate (an electrician) if he can set us up with an outdoor socket.


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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 26.01.2022  ·  #7
Personally I'd empty the fresh and grey tanks in the street. The grey waste is no worse than run off from someone washing a car.

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insider
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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 27.01.2022  ·  #8
I have the a 2016 Autocruise Forte(184) so similar van to yours. I lagged the pipes empyting the water and waste and the water tank was already lagged but I don't have tank heaters. I would not worry about them unless the weather is going to be sub zero for serveral days. If you have a substancial amount of water in the tanks a few hours at -1 or -2 won't have any impact.

In relation to solar I think the standard 122 came with a 40W panel. If that is the case with yours then that will yield nothing at this time of year and only reach 2.5 to 3 A at the height of summer. I have a 90W panel and that is still next to useless at this time of year so installed a 60A B2B charger along with 2xVarta90AHr batteries. I also used 25mm2 & 16mm2 cable on the runs back to main battery. Your van likely has a single battery, split charge relay and the cables are not sufficiently sized in most UK build campers. Batteries are not efficent to generate heat coupled with being slow to charge. My van came with single 85AHr battery and at 50% discharge you would need to drive several hours to get it up to 90%plus full.

In short I would turn empty water tank or fill it completely and not worry about it unless you're building snowmen in the garden. I'd look at upgrading the electrics at some stage if you're into wild camping.

2 days should be fine to charge your batteries on EHU. Would recommend getting a multimeter. Measure your battery voltage some evening when there is nothing turned on and the van has not being run in the previous hour. If you're at 12.7V or over then you're full. If you below 12.1V then you're past 50% discharge and you should not use them until you get charge into them. If they are below 11.8V then they are sersiously discharged and may be damaged. You don't want to go past 50% discharge on a regular basis.

Enjoy roaming the world!!


 


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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 27.01.2022  ·  #9
I would definitely empty the water tanks and open the taps, run the water pump for a few seconds and make sure your hot water tank is empty. I've had to change a water pump due to frost damage

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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 20.03.2022  ·  #10
Quote by eirebus

You should empty the tanks,it's only water , the pipes and tap's can freeze also so turn off water pump and open the tap's , there's not enough sunlight at this time of year for good solar charging,hook the van up to the mains for 24 hrs and see what happens in the days after that,if they stay charged, happy days


If the battery is on a charger for 24 hours. how long should a healthy battery hold its charge for? I think my battery is on the way out.


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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 20.03.2022  ·  #11
Quote by Roulston1008

Quote by eirebus

You should empty the tanks,it's only water , the pipes and tap's can freeze also so turn off water pump and open the tap's , there's not enough sunlight at this time of year for good solar charging,hook the van up to the mains for 24 hrs and see what happens in the days after that,if they stay charged, happy days


If the battery is on a charger for 24 hours. how long should a healthy battery hold its charge for? I think my battery is on the way out.


That will all depend on whether the battery is sitting idle doing nothing or being used and current being drawn from it.


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Re: Leisure and Vehicle battery 'Poor'

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Posted: 20.03.2022  ·  #12
Quote by ntg

Quote by Roulston1008

Quote by eirebus

You should empty the tanks,it's only water , the pipes and tap's can freeze also so turn off water pump and open the tap's , there's not enough sunlight at this time of year for good solar charging,hook the van up to the mains for 24 hrs and see what happens in the days after that,if they stay charged, happy days


If the battery is on a charger for 24 hours. how long should a healthy battery hold its charge for? I think my battery is on the way out.


That will all depend on whether the battery is sitting idle doing nothing or being used and current being drawn from it.


Was going to let the battery sit idle after I turn off the charger

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