# Leisure Battery



## FloydCroft (Mar 7, 2011)

How long between trips should I expect the leisure battery to remain fully charged i.e. when the van is lying unused?


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

Mine lasts a number of months.
Sad to say we were too busy to use the MH last winter for nearly 5 months ( :roll: ) and it held a high charge throughout.
The vehicle battery needs charging every 3 to 4 weeks due to the constant draw from alarms etc.

I check both batteries regularly as both are over 5 years old the leisure battery still maintains around 12.5volts. The vehicle battery dips to about 12.1volts.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Depends on so many things.
How old and what condition is it?
How many parasitic loads are on it?

Ray.


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## aikidomo (Jan 8, 2008)

Really interesting point this.
We had a duff battery last year and were not aware of it until we went out and wild camped for a night.
On hook up it really is not an issue as the 12v system is from the charging side and stabilised by the battery, so is forever connected besides the fact that you would only use 240v most probably.
We now are in the habit of having the van hooked up at home all the time in the winter,(sometimes in the Summer) so we do not have any issues at all.


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## FloydCroft (Mar 7, 2011)

raynipper said:


> Depends on so many things.
> How old and what condition is it?
> How many parasitic loads are on it?
> 
> Ray.


Brand new battery. Recently bought a new one when the battery charger unit within the 240v electricity box had to be replaced.

Since disconnecting the combined cd player/ radio/ dvd / sat nav which was always on standby (and never 'off'), I'm not aware of any parasitic loads (no alarm)
Can you give me an example of what other such loads there could be?

Something is causing my leisure battery to dip to around 3v after about a fortnight.


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

Fistly, I would try disconnecting the battery, fully charge it, then leave it for a few days and check it again. You could have a faulty battery.
If the battery is ok, then you need to look elsewhere, obviously.
Maybe the new charger is faulty, and could be pulling power off the battery, when not hooked up to the mains.

Did you have this problem before the charger and battery were replaced? 
Have you got any lights in lockers which are supposed to go out via a micro switch when the door is closed - maybe a faulty switch?

It will just be a case of elimination, to see where the draw is, if in fact there is any, and its not a faulty battery.


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

Fit a decent sized solar panel to the roof of your van and this question will never arise again!

C.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

CliveMott said:


> Fit a decent sized solar panel to the roof of your van and this question will never arise again! C.


Sound advice Clive, but what if you don't have a decent sized roof!!! :roll:

I could get a 40 Watt on mine - just! Hardly worth it I would think??

Dave


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

There must be a problem, if the battery is draining to the extent that it is well below 50% capacity in two weeks, without any obvious power-draining equipment on! This will knacker the battery in no time, if in fact it is not a faulty or knackered battery now!

A solar panel won't cure the problem, just hide it a little!


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## aultymer (Jun 20, 2006)

Am amused by the rather smug, 'just fit a solar panel' type reply.
Reminds me of a civil servants reply to the question of how to deal with the Y2K bug - all the industry guys on my course were working out solutions - the civil servants were going back to work to buy new computers. ie, in the 'don't bother to solve the problem, just spend more money' mode.

Would it not be prudent to find out why a nearly new battery is dropping to 3volts in such a short time?
Just hiding the problem with a solar panel would be the worst solution.
A solar panel reduces your usable payload, reduces your bank balance, reduces the space on your roof and reduces the chance of finding out where the losses are. 
Isolate the battery, charge it and measure the drop over time as previously suggested.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

FloydCroft said:


> raynipper said:
> 
> 
> > Depends on so many things.
> ...


Hi Floyd.
Depending on the age of the van you might have some computer chip memories storing codes. Some fridge/freezers keep 12 volt power to the control board. 
The radio is the big one but as you have disconnected that, is there a cab clock or wake up alarm?

I guess pulling every fuse one by one and sticking an amp meter across might locate any drain.

This problem comes up week after week. Unless vans are on EHU they all seem to drain in one to three weeks.

Ray.


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## Techno100 (May 8, 2010)

aultymer said:


> Am amused by the rather smug, 'just fit a solar panel' type reply.
> Reminds me of a civil servants reply to the question of how to deal with the Y2K bug - all the industry guys on my course were working out solutions - the civil servants were going back to work to buy new computers. ie, in the 'don't bother to solve the problem, just spend more money' mode.
> 
> Would it not be prudent to find out why a nearly new battery is dropping to 3volts in such a short time?
> ...


I'm sure that is not what Clive meant at all.
Under normal circumstances a healthy battery wont suffer any loss during storage with a good sized solar fitted.


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## stevian (Aug 12, 2009)

Techno100 said:


> aultymer said:
> 
> 
> > Am amused by the rather smug, 'just fit a solar panel' type reply.
> ...


thats what i thought Clive meant as well, and that is exactly what i am planning on doing to mine soon as well as a battery master!


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## Techno100 (May 8, 2010)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330747187...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_3359wt_1159


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## TR5 (Jun 6, 2007)

Ray, the drain when standing is usually associated to the vehicle battery, not the leisure battery.

A battery dropping to 3v over the space of 2 weeks is pretty drastic in my book, and will very soon kill the battery.

Whether Clive meant his comment as a future suggestion after the drain problem is sorted, or as a keep taking the tablets rather than finding a cure, is not clear, but it looked more like the latter to me.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

stevian said:


> thats what i thought Clive meant as well, and that is exactly what i am planning on doing to mine soon as well as a battery master!


I suspect that Clive hadn't read all the details carefully enough. Under normal circumstances his advice would be sound.

Steve - just a thought. If you have a Sargent PSU and intend to use the built in solar regulator, don't fork out for a Battery Master. Messrs Sargent actively discourage them for use in combination - so you could save yourself seventy quid. :wink:

Dave


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

Yes it was a bit of a glib answer, sorry, but its right! Although a 40 watt panel is a tad small it is likely to be able to keep up with alarms etc if the vehicle is in storage and a bridging fuse is fitted so both batteries get charged.

It is also right that you need to lift the negative pole from the leisure battery, insert an ammeter in series and identify what current (if any) is flowing when you believe there should be none. 

Typical non considered loads can be :-

Rear view camera system, the screen may be off but the camera remains on.

Tracker system, not all are wired to the starter battery.

Alarm system, many are wired to the leisure battery.

Habitation radio keep alive feed or perhaps someone has re-wired the main radio so it works with the ignition off?.

Satellite TV system on standby.

Standby current for flat screen TV when its turned off. (This fooled me for several months)

Inverter buzzing away to its self in a cupboard.

3 way Fridge controls. The electronics of these are frequently powered up all the time even though the habitation master ON OFF is set to OFF.

Lights in cupboards as has been mentioned before.


Battery self leakage, no the meter will not measure this but it increases with age.

Hope that helps
C.


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