Leisure Battery Dead (2 Viewers)

ABZSteve

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Hi Folks,

On Thursday I went in to the van an found that the Leisure battery was dead, loads of noise from the panel telling me so. We were going away on Friday so as usual I put it on EHU overnight to get the fridge up to speed before traveling. I though that might re-charge the battery overnight but no, still dead. OK, so perhaps driving for 90 minutes each way to the site an EHU for a couple of days would do the trick, again no. Have I killed my battery and what caused it?. I have left the van off EHU for two weeks before without issue so what did I do wrong this time? FYI, van and battery are only 3 months old.

Cheers,

Steve
 

Clickem

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May 20, 2014
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I had a similar incident recently and concluded that it was caused by the reversing camera, which was added to the van and wired into the leisure battey
 
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ABZSteve

ABZSteve

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I had a similar incident recently and concluded that it was caused by the reversing camera, which was added to the van and wired into the leisure battey

OK, I have a reversing camera but don't know where it is wired to. It was factory fitted if that makes any difference.

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Feb 9, 2008
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It's possible your alarm (if you have one) may have drained the battery or you have inadvertently left something on. Many modern motorhomes have a kill switch/button to prevent this from happening. So, when parked up for long periods without hook up or solar panel, you just press the kill switch which isolates your battery/ies and prevents them from discharging.
If it is an error on your part, don't expect the dealer to replace your battery. You should never allow a battery to discharge more than 50%.

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If you are going to store your motorhome in a secure location without hook up, I would advise getting a solar panel fitted which will provide a free source of power to your leisure batteries and also help when your off hook up and wilding. Also, consider installing a kill switch so you can isolate your batteries when the need arises.
Better yet, if you can hook it up do so, it will do no harm being on hook up for long periods.

Best of luck !
 

Clickem

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As mentioned above I have had similar problems with flat batteries

My alarm flattens the vehicle battery and the reversing camera flattens the leisure battery. I was able to establish this by removing fuses to determine where these things were powered from

There has been another thread, suggesting that using battery isolation switches can damage other parts of vehicles by frequently switching power on and off

For me the solution is to change the van storage location to home for EHU and keep the batteries charged up, but solar panels would also provide a solution

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Don Quixote

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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
You might just have been unlucky with that battery even though it's only 3 months old it could have been in stock for years........ take it back and they should replace.
 
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ABZSteve

ABZSteve

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Thanks for the replies. I don't have an alarm and don't know if I have a kill switch. If I do have a kill switch, I have never used it before and have had no issues. I noticed that the electric boiler was still on but I thought that if I switched off the power at the main control panel that would kill everything. If I didn't switch it off at the panel, would that have caused the problem? If the panel is off but the boiler is still switched on, does that draw down the battery?
 
Feb 9, 2008
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I suggest you read the operating manuals that came with your van and associated equipment. It is hard for members to give advice when the only information provided is' both my van and batteries are 3 months old. There good (the members!) but not that good.

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Jan 27, 2013
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Thanks for the replies. I don't have an alarm and don't know if I have a kill switch. If I do have a kill switch, I have never used it before and have had no issues. I noticed that the electric boiler was still on but I thought that if I switched off the power at the main control panel that would kill everything. If I didn't switch it off at the panel, would that have caused the problem? If the panel is off but the boiler is still switched on, does that draw down the battery?
If your heating system is an Alde wet system you will have a 12v circulation pump it will operate even if you have gas/electrical element switched off. On mine these is also a 12v fan too. That'll kill your batteries in two weeks
 
Jan 27, 2013
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NB you can switch it off of course!

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ABZSteve

ABZSteve

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NB you can switch it off of course!
Thanks Sydney. I will re-charge/replace the battery then make sure I switch everything off in future. Of course as mentioned, I will read the manuals again.
 
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ABZSteve

ABZSteve

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Read the manuals last night, nothing worth reading really from a troubleshooting perspective. However, I fixed it myself first thing this morning as an idea came to me as I woke. So, my advice to anyone experiencing the same problem is to check for an in-line fuse. Mine was a loose connection, simples (y). Now I can concentrate on work :LOL:
 

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