# Leisure battery



## coakie (Mar 2, 2009)

I fitted a new 85ah leisure battery to my CI Riviera in August last year. It seemed to work OK until after being parked up, on hook-up, over the winter, when after disconnecting the hook-up, the battery discharged itself within 3 weeks with no electrics being used.
Has anyone any ideas ?


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## chrisjrv (May 7, 2007)

Hi,
I would suggest that having been left on hook up the battery has been over charged and is now "cooked" try taking it off and having it charged up and left standing to see how long it lasts or take it for checking. Have you checked the water levels in it? It depends how good your charger is on your van. In theory a good charger will cut out when the battery is fully charged and cut back in as its charge is lost but in reality quite often the charger keeps pushing the charge in and boils the water away. I always turn the charger off when leaving the van on hook up over winter with an oil filled radiator to prevent freezing and turn it on every now and again as the batteries discharge,
regards,
Chris


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## steco1958 (Mar 5, 2009)

When you had the MH on hookup over the winter, did you ever charge the leisure battery?

Steve


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## chrisjrv (May 7, 2007)

Hi,
My van has an alarm which tells me the battery voltage by text so when it drops to about 12.4 I switch the charger on for about 24 hours which charges everything back up. This only needs doing about once a month. It actually reads the starter battery voltage but this charges by way of the battery master. Yes it is a "strikeback" alarm fitted by those nice people at Van Bitz :roll: 
Chris


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

chrisjrv said:


> Hi,
> My van has an alarm which tells me the battery voltage by text so when it drops to about 12.4 I switch the charger on for about 24 hours which charges everything back up. This only needs doing about once a month. It actually reads the starter battery voltage but this charges by way of the battery master. Yes it is a "Strikeback" alarm fitted by those nice people at Van Bitz :roll:
> Chris


AFAIK all mh's have battery charging systems which are designed to be left on all the time. I know mine has, it hasn't been turned off in five years and is permanently on ehu when at home, the batteries (Varta semi-traction) are still in top notch condition, as in 4/5 days off ehu wild comping and they are still ok.


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## coakie (Mar 2, 2009)

Thanks for the advice. I thought (?) that when the motorhome was on EHU it automatically charged the battery and cut off when it was fully charged but I'll try taking it off and see how long it takes to discharge.


What do I need to check the rate of discharge / level of charge


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## chrisjrv (May 7, 2007)

Hi,
When your battery is charging its charge rate is reduced until it reachs the required voltage when charging should stop, and cut in again when the voltage drops. If for any reason the battery does not reach this voltage it will continue to be charged which will eventually boil off the battery water. This is a very simplified version of what can and does happen and can be caused by battery or charger faults. I used to work with powered access machinery and the recommendation was not to leave any machine on charge continuously without monitoring. If your battery was new in August it should still be under warranty so I suggest you charge it fully and then disconnect one terminal and see how long it holds its charge. The best simple test is to use a hydrometer which tests the specific gravity of the electrolite in each cell. The easiest charging check is to clip a test meter to the battery then see if the indicated voltage increases when you switch on your hook up. If it doesn't switch off the charger then turn on the habitation lights and see if they get brighter when the charger is turned back on. Leisure battery charging faults are a big can of worms with lots of possibilities :roll: 
Good luck,
Chris


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