Leisure battery drainage (1 Viewer)

Jersey joe

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Jan 26, 2012
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Can anybody tell me if it is normal for my leisure battery to loose 25% charge per week when parked up for the winter.
My 12volt is turned off and only thing that is drawing power is my tracker and security alarm. Many thanks J J
 

Wildman

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May 30, 2008
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how much power are the alarm and tracker drawing,
is the radio connected to the battery
is the cigarette socket connected to the battery
what size battery,
how is it being charged,
how old is the battery,
how are you measuring the 25%

with answers to these questions we may be able to hazard a guess
 
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Jersey joe

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Jan 26, 2012
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Leisure battery

The battery is brand new in a brand new motorhome.When I park it up it is showing 100% a week later showing 75% and so on .

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Jersey joe

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Jan 26, 2012
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Leisure battery

When turning 12 volt off every is not working,radio ,cigarette lighter ect,
 

Minxy

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You're talking about the leisure battery, not the engine battery, so the cab electrics, radio etc shouldn't have any effect on it at all.

Have you got a built-in inverter? If so make sure it isolated by an in-line switch (which it should have) not just on the inverter itself, as otherwise it could still draw power. Check the fridge is definitely set to 'off' if it is an AES type. Check if you've inadvertently left a light on somewhere (if it has a garage for example).
 

Gunner29

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can't say much about the problem but look on the Tech page about CTEK chargers May be off help

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pappajohn

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assuming you have a 85ah battery that equates to just 126 milliamps per hour....I would say the tracker and alarm are the cause.

the radio may have been rewired to the hab battery by the converter which, even though turned off, will also draw a little power for the radio memory.
 
Apr 27, 2008
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Agree with Pappajohn, tracker and radio may be wired to leisure battery. My radio draws a bit even when turned off and theres not much you can do about it, other than to periodically charge the battery or get a solar panel to keep it topped up..
 
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Jersey joe

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Jan 26, 2012
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Leisure battery

Thanks for all your replies,I have a solar panel but the problem is my motorhome is garaged,will have to keep on periodically charging.

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David Parkes

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Apr 27, 2012
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Just one thing you could try when the battery shows fully charged disconnect it for a week then connect it back up and see if its still fully charged if its lost charge I would be thinking about having the battery checked.faulty battery's will lose charge quicker in cold weather,also when you connect the battery back up put the earth on first and as you put on the positive side you will get a good spark if anything is pulling current out of the battery.good luck Dave Parkes.
 

pappajohn

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Just one thing you could try when the battery shows fully charged disconnect it for a week then connect it back up and see if its still fully charged if its lost charge I would be thinking about having the battery checked.faulty battery's will lose charge quicker in cold weather,also when you connect the battery back up put the earth on first and as you put on the positive side you will get a good spark if anything is pulling current out of the battery.good luck Dave Parkes.
Never good practice and DONT EVER attempt this with a freshly charged battery.

the battery may be gassing and a sure way to an explosion.
 

David Parkes

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Battery gassing

Pappajon been connecting up fully charged battery's for twenty years never had a problem yet I do take your point about charging battery in a confined space then connecting it up all battery's I've put on are always charged off vehicle I will re phrase my writing thanks for that I will be more careful when writing messages in future.

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Apr 27, 2008
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The current drain will be very small if it is weeks to discharge. Disconnect one of the terminals and put a meter between the liberated battery post and the connector. You will probably need to be in the milliamp range.
If you haven't got a multimeter I would suggest getting one as they are cheap and one of the most useful things to have in a MH. When I bought mine they were BOGOF at Maplins, about £12 for the 2 including batteries (Digital)
 

pappajohn

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Pappajon been connecting up fully charged battery's for twenty years never had a problem yet I do take your point about charging battery in a confined space then connecting it up all battery's I've put on are always charged off vehicle I will re phrase my writing thanks for that I will be more careful when writing messages in future.
Fair comment David but i would never recommend doing it.... it only takes once to get it wrong.

as this pic shows.


400px-ExplodedBattery.jpeg
 

David Parkes

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Hi papa John just looked at my writing again and I never mentioned charging up the battery then connecting it up, any have my words been removed I can't seem to find them .

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pappajohn

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Hi papa John just looked at my writing again and I never mentioned charging up the battery then connecting it up, any have my words been removed I can't seem to find them .

Pappajon been connecting up fully charged battery's for twenty years never had a problem yet I do take your point about charging battery in a confined space then connecting it up all battery's I've put on are always charged off vehicle I will re phrase my writing thanks for that I will be more careful when writing messages in future.

Nuff sed !
 

David Parkes

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Hi papa John I've just sent a private text telling him about gassing and showed him picture you sent better be safe than sorry thanks for the advice I'm sure he will appreciate it
 

Heyupluv

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Thanks for all your replies,I have a solar panel but the problem is my motorhome is garaged,will have to keep on periodically charging.

Joe... Buy a small smart charger.....that you can leave on all the time...these will charge and discharge, de-sulphation your battery plates, although yours should be ok being a new one...I have two Lawn Tractor's one I have a small smart charger on all the time the other tractor is fairly new so battery is ok at the mo...but if that battery failed there would be another small smart charger being coupled...

I agree with John ,,(PappaJohn)..and Roger.....on my last motorhome I used to have the same problem battery going flat very quickly....mine was the immobiliser..... You could buy a bigger HAB batteries or two large Hab batteries it will last a little longer


This is another smart charger item I purchased a 16amp Ring larger one...this was to fetch a cab battery back to life after it had gone TOTALLY FLAT...and it did...Brill piece of kit..you don't have disconnect anything and just leave it on.....after using ring smart charger the cranking hab battery was back to it's normal self:thumb:



I use these type of smart chargers on the tractor battery

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c5aliveinfo004.jpg


And one of these for the big Jobs Ring 16 amp smart.


$(KGrHqN,!lUFBgGg-ncyBQdEsuozjg~~60_12.JPG


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Jaws

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As others have said..

Ok, a bit extreme, but years ago when I was working as a fork truck fitter I went on a ( salvage ! ) job to assess a truck that the renter had reported as faulty

When I got there the side of the building was missing and the truck was laying on its side half in and half out of the hole ( and this was a biggish lansing bagnall FRER7 reach truck )

They had left it on over the weekend and the charger was a bit duff.. instead of cutting off at 13.8v it had continued to charge, causing the battery to gas like mad.. This was in a big factory unit so not exactly short of ventilation ..

They had plugged the battery back on the unit ok, but the moment the driver pressed the accelerator pedal, the first motion contactor clonked in and that was game over

Fortunately apart from shock, temporary deafness and minor scrapes the guy was ok, but the battery looked like a banana, the mast carriage was destroyed, and as mentioned, it had blown the truck through the side wall ( breezeblock ) and caused a lot of carnage to the charging bay !!
 

lunarman

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Fridge draining battery on Pilote

Hi Jersey Joe,

I'm not sure if you have solved your problem or not. I have a Pilote which is made by the same company that makes your van I think.

I went to the van today after leaving it in storage last Thursday, switched on the 12v and found that the hab battery was down to bel;ow 75%. I could not undersatnd this as I have a solar panel and the battery was fully charged when left. I set about finding the cause of the drain and found it was the fridge.

We always leave the fridge door open, on the catch, when storing the van but I had not switched the fridge off. Now on other vans I have had that would not have been a problem as the fridge 12v was wired via the master switch. Not so the Pilote, the fridge control supply is wired to a permanent 12v supply. Whilst the fridge itself was not cooling leaving the door open meant that the inside light was on draining the battery 24hrs a day. The solar panel could not supply sufficient power in the short days to keep the battery fully charged.

It may be worth you checking your van to see if yours is the same.

Lunarman
 

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