# Changing Hymer leisure battery's. With pictures.



## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

If you're prone to lurking around the technical forum, you'll possibly have seen some of my recent posts regarding the demise of my leisure batteries. The 80 Ah/hr Exide gel batteries were fitted when I bought the vehicle new in 2007. How old the batteries are is anyone's guess. One of them may have been left in a state of discharge whilst the vehicle sat at Brownhills in 2006. Read on.

I began to notice that the batteries were self discharging over the period of about a week when not hooked up. Putting a load of about 10 or 11 Amps on the batteries resulted in about 3 hours use so I decided to replace both with one 270 Ah/hr Elecsol. Once I had the Exide batteries out of the van the multimeter revealed one of them was at 11.5 V after only 2 days after being fully charged. After charging overnight on the bench it's still only up to 11.7 V. The dud battery has been at the root of my problems & has been dragging the good battery down.

Thinking back to when I bought the van it only had one leisure battery & I spec'd a second. I'm guessing here but my theory is that the battery fitted to the van has sat for a year in a state of discharge. I suspect the 2nd battery that was added at the time of purchase is the one still working.

The electrical system in my Hymer is centred around the Schaudt electroblock. If you're changing your batteries it's wise to take a few precautions before starting.

1.	Disconnect the mains hook-up
2.	Disconnect any solar panels at the reg (Failure to do this can damage the reg)
3.	Trip the 12 V supply at the control panel
4.	Trip the main breaker on the Electroblock
5.	If you're switching battery types IE Gel to FLA move the switch on the Electroblock to change the charging profile to suit the new batteries.

Removing the batteries is straightforward. Remove all the wiring & clamps from the battery posts, taking care not to short any tools across the battery posts. Lead acid batteries may look benign but store a LOT of electrical energy & can quickly generate enough heat to start a fire if discharged in an uncontrolled manner.

Once the old batteries were out I cut up some aluminium angle to fasten the new battery into the battery locker & altered the wiring to suit the new lengths. The new battery was then lifted into place & strapped down to prevent it moving. I remade all the connections & tidied the wiring. Next, switch on the Electroblock & display then re-program the Schaudt control panel.

On the Schaudt control panel.

1.	Press the battery button.
2.	Press the menu button for more than 3 seconds. The current maximum battery capacity is displayed.
3.	Press the menu button again. The battery capacity will begin to flash.
4.	Use the + or- buttons to adjust the the display to the capacity of the new battery.
5.	Confirm by pressing "OK"
6. Exit by pressing any button or waiting 20 seconds.
7.	Your new battery parameters are now set.
8.	You'll also have to reset the date & time.
9.	Hook up & fully charge the new battery.

Elecsol are now using Calcium Calcium in their batteries. It's much lighter than lead. The weights on the Elecsol webby at the time of writing this are incorrect. The 270 Ah/hr is quoted as weighing 62 KG's. The Calcium version of this battery weighs 42Kg's, so I've gained a bit of extra payload too.

I hope this helps if anyone else is doing the same.

Dave.

Battery locker with Exide Gels.


80 Ah/hr Exide batteries beside 270 Ah/hr Elecsol.


Size comparison.


Empty locker.


Get someone qualified to check your work.


Make any necessary changes to the wiring.


Get an assistant to help if the battery's too heavy for you  


Tidy the wiring a secure the battery in its ne position.


Energise the panel.


Access the menu for the battery capacity.


Enter the new value.


Have a beer  D.


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

*Thanks*

Great post Dave - very informative. I shall keep it as a reference for when I go down the same path, although in my case it should be simpler.
Not enough room for such a large battery so I'll probably switch to 2 x 110Ah Elecsols. They are about the same size as the 80Ah Exides. Then no re-programming to do to the control panel as mine is a pre-LCD version. Just rocker switches and meters with needles. I don't think there is any way of 'telling' my EBL what battery capacity it is charging.

Thanks - Philip


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## hilldweller (Mar 8, 2008)

I thought I learn a bit about calcium/calcium.

http://lead-acid-battery.rappendal.se/calcium-calcium-lead-acid-battery.htm

http://www.akom.su/eng/pr_Calcium_calcium.asp

http://www.battery.co.za/auto/Q&ACalciumRange.htm

Not all good news:

http://www.engineersedge.com/battery/antimony_calcium_selenium_tin_alloying.htm


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

I agree with Philip,a very informative post.Will now save this.Thanks Dave.  

steve


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## Whiskeymac (Jul 20, 2005)

Many thanks for this, particularly since Hymer UK seem to be very reluctant to give advise on the subject and the handbook is useless.

One thing that I don't understand is that when you first press the menu button you get a battery reading in ah max, which can't be adjusted, then you go to a reading in ah nom, which can be adjusted. What are max and nom and what is the significance? I guess at maximum and nominal, but so what? Is the stated battery size the nom or max?


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## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

Until someone else better informed than me comes along I'd simply go with entering & storing the new battery's capacity. IE the max figure & let the control panel do the rest.

D.


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## Whiskeymac (Jul 20, 2005)

I've read a fair bit on batteries recently, but have just found this site that puts the rest to shame, for clarity and coverage:

Battery Tutorial

Reading should be followed by going the link at the footer:

Battery FAQ

Your reasoning for choosing the wet cell AGM by Elecsol is well supported within the scripts. I note the comment on guarantees however which support my suspicions, hence getting a full, free, replacement is to succeed beyond the norm.

I also note the comments about the benefits of float charging, supporting my decision to keep a mains supply plugged into my Hymer at home at all times. This also stops my satnav/radio returning to loads of defaults that need to be reset (including all saved radio channels) if power is switched off completely.


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## wilse (Aug 10, 2007)

Dave

A quick question, you mentioned the batteries were discharging in a couple of days... without hook-up?

From memory you have solar as well? were the panel(s) not able to keep the batteries 100%?

I ask as I have a friend who's recently bought a Hymer. He's had solar and extra exide battery, when he collected the van [storage] his control panel said 70% capacity... he was surprised.

My thought was the 'original' battery may be duff?

Thanks for the post.

wilse


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## Whiskeymac (Jul 20, 2005)

Hi Wilse,

If all was well before adding the extra battery, he may not have set the display properly for the new battery capacity. If set too high, the result could well be a report that it's not fully charged.

Incidentally, advise elsewhere says to never add a second battery unless 2 new batteries are used, so that they age together.


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## Jezport (Jun 19, 2008)

If you don't have a cat to help will a parrot do?


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