Leisure Battery Drain

[John Kennedy]

I have a 2011 Bessacar E425. I have had a few issues with the leisure battery draining over the winter so I replaced it under warranty last month as it was less than a year old. Its the correct battery for the vehicle Numax Leisure 100Ah LV26MF. I have noticed that it drains down to about 10 Volts from full charge over a 10 day period when the MH is parked up. The small control panel that works the lights, heating etc shows the battery has a discharge of 0.15A when everything is switched off. Is that normal and is that whats pulling the battery down ??
The only thing I can see that is drawing that small current would be the small control panel its self

 

[Richard n Ann]

That's a big drain, My battery monitor uses 2ma or 0.002 amps.
Could be anything, try pulling the fuses out one by one until it stops.

 

[Tincataylor]

We had the same trouble despite all the discharge tests showing that the resting drain was minimal the leisure battery still discharged over the period of a month. We replaced the battery and the situation remained the same. We have no idea of the technical issues but found that a simple resolution was to fit an isolating switch into one of the leisure battery leads. This was a low cost switch and the job can be easily carried out by an enthusiastic amateur. The result is that we can leave the van for months at an end without any discernible loss from the leisure battery, hope this helps,

The Tincas

 

[Sundowners]

Have you got a light on somewhere??, could be in a locker or cupboard-----is the fridge isolated as it draws 12 v to run the board??? even if it is not cooling.
Do you have a switch on main control panel to isolate all (most) of 12v circuit??

 

[Pausim]

Alarm, tracker, inverter? Lots of things can add to the drain. 0.15 Amps is 3.6 Ah per day which gives you about 14 days before you hit the 50% battery danger level. Also need to allow about 5% self discharge per month.

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[Larby]

A reversing camera on all the time? although display off, heard of that before.

 

[tonyidle]

10 days = 240 hours. 240 x 0.15 = 36Ah. Are you certain that current draw is accurate and that you're starting off fully charged?

 

[Bognor Saint]

Do you not use the system shutdown button on the control panel

 

[Lenny HB]

The small control panel that works the lights, heating etc shows the battery has a discharge of 0.15A when everything is switched off

150ma seems a bit low with the panel switched on, our van with the panel on (never switch it off) draws about 400ma probably about 100 with the panel off. Wondering if the 150ma is a correct indication, I would check it with a multimeter as if it is about 400ma it would flatten the battery in 10 days.

 

[John Kennedy]

Thanks everyone for all the very helpful responses to my question. I have removed every fuse and with them all out the draw on the battery is still 0.1 amps so I am doubting the accuracy of the panel.
So can I ask another question ..... is it normal for a MH like this ....2011 bessacar .....to have its brand new fully charged leisure battery to discharge in a 10 day period when its parked up.... if that’s what happens I think I should fit an isolator switch like tincataylor ended up doing

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[pappajohn]

it drains down to about 10 Volts from full charge over a 10 day period when the MH is parked up. The small control panel that works the lights, heating etc shows the battery has a discharge of 0.15A

To drain to 10v in 10 days means it has a much higher drain than 150milliamps. (0.15a)
It's nearer to 420 milliamps, almost 1/2amp per hour
Until you find the cause my advise is Disconnect the battery when not in use or in a month or two you WILL be replacing it..
50% discharge is the accepted amount and that should be around 12.3v using a volt/multimeter, not any onboard panel meters... They can be wildly inaccurate.

10v isn't just discharged.... Its dead

 

[Lenny HB]

As I said in my earlier post I would expect it to draw around 400ma with the panel on which will kill the battery in 10 days. That is why if you haven't got solar panels you should leave it plugged into the mains when not in use

 

[Tincataylor]

We understand that an isolator switch is treating the effect rather than the cause of the problem, but its cheap and easy and it is guaranteed to solve the problem,

The Tincas

 

[ChrisL]

One way of checking how much current draw you have is by using a DC clamp meter on the battery earth lead, if you don't already have one be aware that not all clamp meters can measure DC current and of those that do not all can measure very low current drain. I can recommend the UNI-T 210e as being relatively cheap and very accurate. Check the link for a brief review and how to measure current using the clamp.



Available from Amazon and other places.

Amazon product ASIN B00O1Q2HOQ

 

[eddie]

Wireless reversing cameras are the worst culprits for unexplained leisure battery discharge.

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[Lenny HB]

Wireless reversing cameras are the worst culprits for unexplained leisure battery discharge.

Why would anyone wire them to the leisure battery, surely they should be wired to a switched ignition feed so only on when the ignition is on.

 

[eddie]

Why would anyone wire them to the leisure battery, surely they should be wired to a switched ignition feed so only on when the ignition is on.

People think that wireless cameras are "wire free" So buy the damn things at shows and get into a pickle when they realise that the camera needs power, and as you say, preferably from an ignition switched supply.

This means running a wire from high up on the back of the van to the dashboard area, and if your going to do that you may as well run a proper camera/monitor hook up cable in the first place and do away with all of the inherent problems with wireless images being transmitted

But to save all that work, people just connect to a 12 volt supply they find in a cupboard and forget that the camera is transmitting 24/7 even if the monitor is turned off

We try to avoid getting involved with battery drain issues in the workshops, but when we do you would be amazed how many are down to silly things like this.

 

[Lenny HB]

But to save all that work, people just connect to a 12 volt supply they find in a cupboard and forget that the camera is transmitting 24/7 even if the monitor is turned off

The word plonkers comes to mind.
Never have seen the point of wireless cameras, even if you don't get interference problems to do the job properly you stil have to run a cable to the front.

 

[R Farrant]

I have a CV40 camper. Can the vehicle battery drain current from the leisure a battery when the engine is not running

Roy F.

 

[eddie]

The word plonkers comes to mind.
Never have seen the point of wireless cameras, even if you don't get interference problems to do the job properly you stil have to run a cable to the front.

Yup!

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[Phill D]

I have a CV40 camper. Can the vehicle battery drain current from the leisure a battery when the engine is not running

Roy F.

Hi Roy welcome.
It depends how your system is set up if for instance you have a battery master or equivalent that permits the hab battery to support the cab battery as it drains then yes it can.
Does your system have such a device?

 

[R Farrant]

Hi Roy welcome.
It depends how your system is set up if for instance you have a battery master or equivalent that permits the hab battery to support the cab battery as it drains then yes it can.
Does your system have such a device?

Thanks Phil,
There is no master switch that I am aware of but the previous owner disconnected the vehicle battery from the leisure battery, leaving a pair of bare wire ends that are carrying a 14.2 voltage! I am trying to decide whether to reconnect it but I don't want to flat the vehicle battery when the engine is not running.
Roy

 

[Phill D]

It’s not a master switch it’s called a battery master and allows the hab battery to support the engine battery in certain circumstances.

Sounds as if you probably don’t have a battery master.

How do you know that those wires joined the cab and hab batteries?

It would be very unusual for the cab and hab batteries to be directly connected together ( as in parallel) without going through your control unit.