# Dead leisure battery ???



## LozSiBen (Jun 24, 2005)

Hi all,

We've just had a two hour drive home and the Leisure battery is reading 9.8v (poor) on the digital display. 
We've had 3 days away with no EHU and minimal driving so I thought I had just drained the battery, but after the long drive home I'm not so sure.

The fluid levels in the battery are ok and the fuse near the battery terminals has not blown.

How do I check the quality of the battery and any faults with the charging system ?

Thanks, Simon.


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Give it a good mains charge for a day, then let it rest several hours before checking the voltage again.

Dave


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Take a reading of the battery with all turned off. then conect EHU and see if the reading changes, if it does then the charger is working, if not then check out why. If possible leave the van on EHU for 48 hours to give it a chance to charge the battery.dissconnect and take a voltage reading again,then leave for 12 hours and check again, you might want to do this over a period of 3 days if there is no noticable drop in volts. If however the volts drop quickly to below say 10 volts with nothing switched on you should replace your leisure battery.

cabby


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## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

If you try the above advice and still have a problem,then check the electrolyte in all the cells with a hydrometer,could be one has gone down.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

When driving you are depending on the vehicle alternator to charge all the batteries. Altenators are not good at charging very flat batteries because a very discharged battery has a high resistance as does one which is fully charged. Therefore the alternator cannot tell the difference between a battery which is very discharged and one which is fully charged. It could be as simple as that. 

Before any further charging check the electrolyte levels in your batteries, if they are of a type which can be topped up. If after a good mains charge your batteries come back up then they may be OK. Your mains charger should not be confused in the same way as your alternator although it may need quite a high ampage to begin charging your batteries again. If you have a powerful charger (say 40 or 50 amp) in your garage it might be better to use that, just to get them started, rather than your onboard one. 

If your batteries do have removable lids a hydrometer (battery type not to be confused with antifreeze type) will give you a very accurate assessment of their condition, Alan.


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