Anyone with the Hymer Smart Battery 2.0?

[PDrill]

Now, this is about the latest version (2.0) that came, I believe, in late 2023. Check the picture below.

My question is, how quick does your battery drain when not in use, everything turned off? The thing is that even when everything off, I loose some 4-6% per day and it keeps on going as long as there is juice left. I mean, it doesn't just drop to X%, it goes all the way down if I let it. The panel shows between 0.7-1 amps of which some of course is the panels consumption, but measuring from the cables there is really something going on all the time. I also feel the batteries go down too fast while wild camping, but of course on my trips I can't know what goes in to use (fridge, heater, charging laptop etc) and "what goes just somewhere". The battery capacity though seems to be what it should, I once ran a hair dryer from the inverter and it lasted about as long as I calculated it would.

Had my 1st year check a while back and after I insisted there is a problem they looked in to it and after two hours they came back admitting I'm right but they don't know where it goes. They were going to contact the factory or something and get back to me, but hasn't happened. Just the other day I emailed them about it, but it's summertime and "no one is working" so surely it also will take time.

I could turn off the batteries when not in use but it's not very practical as they are in the back below the floor and I have my e-scoot and/or bbq there all the time so..

So, anyone with this system and how is it working?

 

[Antl]

I have had a van with the Smart System 2.

Do you have solar panels fitted?

When the van was not in use it would lose energy, but always recover quickly when there was solar available. I did monitor the van when it was in the workshop with no solar and it dropped from 100% to 83% over a period of 5 days,

When camping I rarely saw the batteries drop below 85% even using the inverter, but again with plenty of solar then batteries soon recovered.

 

[Wh05apk]

I have exactly the same issue on my t780, losing about 4-6% a day as well.

At first service I also queried it, and they also referred to factory, but heard nothing,......

I have the factory 2x 95w solar and even this time of year I still need to hook up when not in use.

 

[Pausim]

Three of you reporting similar high battery drain and two of you being ignored by Hymer when the dealer queried the problem. A cynic like me might conclude that someone has designed an all singing and dancing system that monitors everything but is itself power hungry and rather inefficient.

 

[Antl]

There also seems to be an issue with the vehicle battery draining after 2 - 3 days with Hymer built on Mercedes chassis.

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[Coolcats]

Guys can I suggest that one of you who has the BOS S contact the manufacturer, I haven’t yet installed a BOS lithium yet but am interested in doing so when the leisure batteries need changing.

I have contacted them regarding sizing and a couple of other questions and they are responsive. So here is the technical contact link.

Contact - BOS

Contact us By accepting marketing, you are sending us on a mission to bring you the best, the newest, and the most exciting updates from BOS. You can revoke it later at any time. (optional) You agree that your data will be used to process your request. More informations and cancellation notices...

www.bos-ag.com

 

[Antl]

Guys can I suggest that one of you who has the BOS S contact the manufacturer, I haven’t yet installed a BOS lithium yet but am interested in doing so when the leisure batteries need changing.

I have contacted them regarding sizing and a couple of other questions and they are responsive. So here is the technical contact link.

Contact - BOS

Contact us By accepting marketing, you are sending us on a mission to bring you the best, the newest, and the most exciting updates from BOS. You can revoke it later at any time. (optional) You agree that your data will be used to process your request. More informations and cancellation notices...

www.bos-ag.com

I suspect the problem is down to Hymer.

 

[Pausim]

I suspect the problem is down to Hymer.

I agree. If the panel is showing 0.7A to 1.0A drain this indicates the drain is not internal battery drain but Hymer system drain. BOS might say turn the battery off when not in use until Hymer has fixed their problem.

 

[Wh05apk]

I agree. If the panel is showing 0.7A to 1.0A drain this indicates the drain is not internal battery drain but Hymer system drain. BOS might say turn the battery off when not in use until Hymer has fixed their problem.

The "panel" does not show any flow, all it shows is the solar production, which seems pretty pointless if you don't know the actual usage.

 

[Pausim]

The "panel" does not show any flow, all it shows is the solar production, which seems pretty pointless if you don't know the actual usage.

I misread #1.

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[Coolcats]

I suspect the problem is down to Hymer.

Possibly but just thinking to avoid doubt BOS are really helpful but then again they may point you to Hymer!

 

[Antl]

With the van I had solar kept track with any discharge, even when the van was in use.

The true measure was when the van was in a workshop with no solar. This resulted in:

Habitation batteries dropping as derailed in previous post.
Starter battery going flat.

I am now aware of several Hymer vans with this system where the habitation and/or vehicle battery drains.

 

[PDrill]

No I don't have solar. And it's not a problem, at home I have EHU available and on my trips we barely stay more than two nights in one spot and we have enough battery for our use. But like I said, seems when "in use" the batteries drain quicker than I would've guessed. I indeed feel the 2000+ eur Smart Battery ain't that much better than just adding another 95 AGM.

The vehicle battery doesn't drain in my case, it barely drops below 12.8 volts (and I've checked with a multimeter too) and suspiciously often it can be even as high as 13.1 volts even the next day which made me think maybe the lithiums are charging the vehicle battery. Surely that's not how it's supposed to be, and I haven't measured this yet so just an idea at this point. And I also think this isn't a BOS problem as the batteries do not drain if they are turned off, has to be something draining the battery and that's a Hymer problem.

I contacted Hymer (the factory or what ever it is, at least it's not in my country/Finland) earlier about this and got a really formal reply with CC: to some boss (?) in Finland telling me it's a problem with the way the system measures available capacity and they are working on it, but as I've measured the battery really drains (so not (only) a problem with the panel measuring the capacity the wrong way) and have heard nothing from then about this fox maybe 6 months, I think it's time for a retry.

I'm going to Germany next month, maybe I should just find the "main repair place" and book a few hours of troubleshooting

 

[Antl]

If you have no solar, the van is not on hook up and the engine is off, the vehicle battery should not be 13.1 volts. It does sound like there is a connection between the lithium and starter battery.

A fully charged lead acid battery will be no more than 12.8v at rest.

 

[PDrill]

I know. But like I said, it's often, but not always. And I'm planning to disconnect the vehicle battery to see, but not right now.

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