Purchased March 2023 and had extra leisure battery fitted in case of no EHU Stopped last night in aire and after 4 hours not enough leisure battery power to run heating so freezing this morning. Dont understand why? I remember when I was at Alde northants for new circuit board, the engineeer stated that he thinks wires not correct in paralel join? Is that possible?
Swift Kontiki 794 Leisure Batteries
- Thread starter k11ngy
- Start date
If the batteries were connected in series, you'd have 24 volts. There's correct and not so correct ways to correct batteries in parallel, but it should still work.
Some vehicles around the time yours was built had a smart alternator, but no B2B. This sometimes meant that when you were driving, the fridge (particularly 3 way fridges which use a lot of electricity) would consume more battery than you were getting charge. So you'd arrive on site with a battery that was already half flat.
Were you in hook up the night before? Should the batteries be fully charged?
Some vehicles around the time yours was built had a smart alternator, but no B2B. This sometimes meant that when you were driving, the fridge (particularly 3 way fridges which use a lot of electricity) would consume more battery than you were getting charge. So you'd arrive on site with a battery that was already half flat.
Were you in hook up the night before? Should the batteries be fully charged?
Hi, yes, we have been on hook up all holiday prior to arriving at aire yesterday and with ehu we have no problems and leisure states fully charged. Drove 180 miles, parked up and 4 hours later we have no power in 2 leisure batteries so Alde heating will not operate and freezing this morning. Not an electrician so dont understand why no power after 4 hours (Let alone 4 days) ? appreciate reply
- Feb 24, 2013
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I would guess one of the batteries has failed or at least is not as efficient as the other, sadly with multiple batteries they all drop to level of the weakest
Only my best guess based on my own experience
If you are able to disconnect one battery, then measure the voltage of both separately that might identify the weak one
You need to be off hook up and engine not running
Only my best guess based on my own experience
If you are able to disconnect one battery, then measure the voltage of both separately that might identify the weak one
You need to be off hook up and engine not running
If your hab connections only go to one battery you will only be getting 100 amps. They need to be pos on one and neg on the other to get 200 amps worth. Unlikely that it has been wired for 24 volt. You would see much smoke!!
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Many possible causes: failing battery, low charging, drain on the batteries, bad connections, could be anything. One thing for sure, it should not have run out after 4 hours even with only one battery. Either take it in somewhere to be investigated, or try a bit of investigation yourself. You'll need a multimeter, and any cheap multimeter from a DIY store will be OK for this. Can you get at the batteries to measure the voltages at the battery terminals? The actual battery terminals, because the connections might not be good. And maybe post a pic of the batteries and connection wires if you think they are suspect.
Maybe start with checking some fuses, starting with the ones near the starter battery and leisure battery.
Maybe start with checking some fuses, starting with the ones near the starter battery and leisure battery.
Last edited:
- Apr 30, 2018
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I take it you had plenty of LPG to run the fridge and Alde heating. When off grid we tend to use absolute minimum lights and only have the water pump on as and when needed.
Found the culprit guys. We have a 12 volt TV and also we have amazon firestick attached via HDMI and 3 pin plug. Ok on hook up but when off grid I attach USB from firestick to TV. I do so yesterday with no hook and up and it was sucking the electricty like mad. If I still use USB off grid and plumb in to motorhome USB would that make a difference rathan plugging in to TV? Cheers
A firestick is only 2 amps maximum, and normally a lot less. And that's 5 volts. Even if it were trying to burn itself to death, it would only eat 15Ah per day from your hab battery.
It sounds like you've got a weak battery.
It sounds like you've got a weak battery.
Sorry, not convinced that's the problem, though it may be contributing in a small way. A USB supply like that won't take more than 2.4A at 5V, which is 12 watts max. So even if it does that, it's only 1A from a 12V battery. No way could that drain a leisure battery in 4 hours, which is what you said happened.
I don't know the size of the leisure batteries but I assume they are both about 100Ah, so you'd have to take out at least 100Ah in 4 hours, so that's a drain of 25A for 4 hours. Even if there was a serious fault in the USB plug, the fuse on the TV circuit would blow at a lot less than 25A. So I don't think you've got to the bottom of it yet.
Edit: Guigsy already said it.
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Hi. Just turned up at aire with no EHU. Left tv and fire stick off for couple hours and leisure battery still good but slowly dropped to 12.5 amps. Says in panel 1.7amps being used. When I plug in fire stick it just drops dramatically??? Not sure what’s going on and dealer will check when home. I have 2 100 amp leisure batteries connected together ??
RandallC
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Not being funny, but suggest you read the manual for your display and advise the thread what it's saying, as Volts-Amps-Watts are not the same units and mean very different things.. Volts * Amps = Watts. Theoretically a 100 AH battery will supply 1 amp load for 100 hours, therfore a 5 amp load for 20 hours. But that's thereretical and affect by condition, age, temperature, etc, and thats ending up with an over discharged battery.
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Sounds like your LBs are goosed (assuming your mean 12.5 volts) which drop like a stone when the tv is used, or they weren’t that well charged. Volts is not a reliable indication of condition. Hope you get sorted.
When you plug in the Firestick, you say that 'it' drops dramatically. Is that the volts? What is the amps reading when it is dropping dramatically? It's easier to see the problem if we know both the volts and the amps.
Once this is known, we can maybe work out if the wiring is taking too many amps from the battery, or it's taking the expected amount of amps but the batteries can't keep up with it.
Also, when you are on hookup, what is the amps reading for the charge flowing into the battery to charge it up? So we can be sure the charger is working and the battery is filling up OK.
One time my battery dropped far faster than I was expecting. It was nearly dead by morning. I checked my shunt and there was a couple of amps of drain, even though I thought everything was off. Turns out I'd left the oven light on.
Other unexpected high drains can be things like lights in the garage, and the cab radio set to use the hab battery.
Other unexpected high drains can be things like lights in the garage, and the cab radio set to use the hab battery.
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Thank you, just on way home from France so will check when home. Appreciete help
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