Almost dead leisure battery - storage

[LMJ34]

Hi all

I'm a relatively new owner and this is my first winter.

My vehicle is a 2019 Swift.

With solar panels on the roof I'd imagined that my battery would stay charged with periodic top-ups.

It has however gone flat to the extent that the Sargent control panel switches on momentarily and then straight off.

I'd mention that I've been leaving the battery switched on so that I could access battery stats remotely via Swift Command - which I believe can't be done with the battery off.

The only other thing I've realised is that my Truma heating control panel hasn't been switched off - but would that be much of a drain?

I've a couple of questions. Firstly, was my expectation of the battery staying topped up unrealistic? Secondly, in terms of recharging the leisure battery, could I bring it back to life just by driving the vehicle / will it recharge if plugged into EHU? i'm keen not to have to shell out on a separate charging device if I don't have to!

Thanks in advance

 

[TerryL]

Anything left switched on will cause a small drain plus of course the battery itself will slowly discharge over a period. Solar panels are, on the face of it, a workable solution - but only if you have enough wattage and there is clear unobstructed sunshine to make them work. Also the voltage regulator used to control the solar panels can have an effect. To enable us to help further how much solar power do you have and what is controlling it? I assume you have a lead/acid battery as that's what is fitted as standard.

You appear to have identified the probable source of the drain but it could be worthwhile to check the solar is indeed inputting power into the battery.

However if the battery is already pretty much flat you may well have lost it already and no amount of charging by whatever method will restore it to full working condition. Lead/acid batteries should NEVER be allowed to drop below 50% as they will sulphate up, which is what kills them. You could try but you really need to sort out a reliable way of keeping it charged up - the ideal is a 20-30 mile run every couple of weeks but that often isn't practical. There is loads of advice here if you just search on something like battery charging. An intelligent charger on permanent hookup would be the ideal solution.

Unfortunately I've just discovered my leisure batteries (I've got 2) appear to be on their last legs as despite 4/5 hours a day running over the last couple of weeks they struggle to provide enough juice overnight. This is down to an extended period last year when I was unable to get to the van and the solar panels weren't enough to cover the parasitic losses I'm still trying to sort out. When I get home some testing is needed before investing in new batteries.

 

[LithiumConvert]

Firstly, was my expectation of the battery staying topped up unrealistic?

In winter, probably. Forget the solar until March.

could I bring it back to life just by driving the vehicle / will it recharge if plugged into EHU?

Probably not.

i'm keen not to have to shell out on a separate charging device if I don't have to!

The first thing to shell out on is a new leisure battery. The EHU could well be OK.
But keep it charged , or you will have another almost dead leisure battery.
Lead Acid batteries do not like being allowed to go flat. Especially in winter.

 

[LMJ34]

In winter, probably. Forget the solar until March.

Probably not.

The first thing to shell out on is a new leisure battery. The EHU could well be OK.
But keep it charged , or you will have another almost dead leisure battery.
Lead Acid batteries do not like being allowed to go flat. Especially in winter.

Thank you and noted re letting batteries discharge! Am giving bringing it back to life a go, is plugged in at home

 

[LMJ34]

Anything left switched on will cause a small drain plus of course the battery itself will slowly discharge over a period. Solar panels are, on the face of it, a workable solution - but only if you have enough wattage and there is clear unobstructed sunshine to make them work. Also the voltage regulator used to control the solar panels can have an effect. To enable us to help further how much solar power do you have and what is controlling it? I assume you have a lead/acid battery as that's what is fitted as standard.

You appear to have identified the probable source of the drain but it could be worthwhile to check the solar is indeed inputting power into the battery.

However if the battery is already pretty much flat you may well have lost it already and no amount of charging by whatever method will restore it to full working condition. Lead/acid batteries should NEVER be allowed to drop below 50% as they will sulphate up, which is what kills them. You could try but you really need to sort out a reliable way of keeping it charged up - the ideal is a 20-30 mile run every couple of weeks but that often isn't practical. There is loads of advice here if you just search on something like battery charging. An intelligent charger on permanent hookup would be the ideal solution.

Unfortunately I've just discovered my leisure batteries (I've got 2) appear to be on their last legs as despite 4/5 hours a day running over the last couple of weeks they struggle to provide enough juice overnight. This is down to an extended period last year when I was unable to get to the van and the solar panels weren't enough to cover the parasitic losses I'm still trying to sort out. When I get home some testing is needed before investing in new batteries.

Having brought second hand I'm not sure how much I have - it looks like quite a lot of panels on the roof! The controller has 3 LEDs which if i understand correctly from the manual indicate different battery fill states.

How would I go about checking that the panels are in fact topping up power - a multimeter reading somewhere? Please excuse my ignorance, fools guide needed here!!

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[LMJ34]

Anything left switched on will cause a small drain plus of course the battery itself will slowly discharge over a period. Solar panels are, on the face of it, a workable solution - but only if you have enough wattage and there is clear unobstructed sunshine to make them work. Also the voltage regulator used to control the solar panels can have an effect. To enable us to help further how much solar power do you have and what is controlling it? I assume you have a lead/acid battery as that's what is fitted as standard.

You appear to have identified the probable source of the drain but it could be worthwhile to check the solar is indeed inputting power into the battery.

However if the battery is already pretty much flat you may well have lost it already and no amount of charging by whatever method will restore it to full working condition. Lead/acid batteries should NEVER be allowed to drop below 50% as they will sulphate up, which is what kills them. You could try but you really need to sort out a reliable way of keeping it charged up - the ideal is a 20-30 mile run every couple of weeks but that often isn't practical. There is loads of advice here if you just search on something like battery charging. An intelligent charger on permanent hookup would be the ideal solution.

Unfortunately I've just discovered my leisure batteries (I've got 2) appear to be on their last legs as despite 4/5 hours a day running over the last couple of weeks they struggle to provide enough juice overnight. This is down to an extended period last year when I was unable to get to the van and the solar panels weren't enough to cover the parasitic losses I'm still trying to sort out. When I get home some testing is needed before investing in new batteries.

Thank you for your advice so far by the way.

 

[Jev88]

Having brought second hand I'm not sure how much I have - it looks like quite a lot of panels on the roof! The controller has 3 LEDs which if i understand correctly from the manual indicate different battery fill states.

How would I go about checking that the panels are in fact topping up power - a multimeter reading somewhere? Please excuse my ignorance, fools guide needed here!!

Multimeter on each battery. Over 13volts and it is being charged (higher for lithium).

 

[LMJ34]

Both my batteries drained pretty low but came back to life having run the engine for 40 minutes and then plugged into ehu for 24 hours at home.

10 days later though and both batteries have just steadily declined in charge (from 12.8 to 12.4v according to Swift control panel) despite having an aa solar panel plugged into the vehicle battery and my roof solar panels feeding the leisure one.

I'm attaching a graph showing readings from the Swift control panel including charging spikes over the last few days but it doesn't seem like the batteries retain any charge. Could that be because they need replacing? What multimeter measurement would support that?

 

[Lenny HB]

Not worth messing about just buy new batteries.

 

[GeoffnDee]

There are Starter and Leisure battery status readings on the top right side side of your control panel , green being ok . (according to the EC800 control panel information )

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[TerryL]

Once batteries start to fail, as Lenny says, it's not worth trying to save them, they'll just let you down at the most awkward time. At least you'll know the history!

 

[VXman]

In winter, probably. Forget the solar until March.

My van has not been started since November but my 3 leisure batteries and my starter are still topped up.

I have 350 watts of solar admittedly but if it was just one battery I reckon a 100 watt ought to keep it going if their was no big drain, and the batteries were in a decent condition and charged when originally left.

 

[LMJ34]

Thank you everyone.

I guess my main concern is that it could be parasitic drain causing problems rather than battery health. Would rather not spend a few hundred pounds replacing batteries needlessly!

Is the battery health check service the likes of Halfords offer worthwhile?

 

[Lenny HB]

I guess my main concern is that it could be parasitic drain causing problems rather than battery health. Would rather not spend a few hundred pounds replacing batteries needlessly!

You have already said they went down to the point of the control panel shutting the system down so that will have reduced their capacity by quite a big chunk.

I would get your system working first as it appears your solar is not charging the batteriesthen run a slow discharge test on the batteries.

Is the battery health check service the likes of Halfords offer worthwhile?

No, totally useless they will do a CCA test which is for starter batteries meaningless on a leisure battery.

This test will give you a good idea of the state of your batteries.

Make sure they are fully charged, preferably test each one separately.

To do a discharge test:-

First charge the battery fully and leave it to settle for an hour then:-
Disconnect all charging methods.

For example if it's a 100a/h battery load it with a 5 amp load and run for 5 hours, this will represent a 25% discharge. (adjust load/time to suit the size of the battery)
Disconnect the load and leave to stand for at least 30 min then measure the voltage.
Repeat the test and you will have discharged the battery to 50%.
You can repeat again then it will be 75% discharged.

 

[CAB96]

The AA solar panel on the starter will be maybe 10w?

No use I'm afraid in the winter, OK facing south in summer.

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[Reallyretired]

My batteries are kept pretty well fully charged all winter by solar 2x100w but you must switch everything inessential off. Just run alarm tracker etc but everything else off.