What's draining my batteries?

[DMC65]

Not used the MH in a few weeks, maybe a month. Went to get a couple of things out of it last week and had to manually open the door as both leisure and van battery were flat.
Charged both up and all seemed ok. Went to put some stuff in yesterday and flat again, I can't see anything on. Anyone any ideas?

 

[PhilandMena]

The 80ah Exide gels are down to £158 now at Tayna

I had a look at that ! It is rated as a NCC class C battery which does not make sense for a gel battery ?? Also, its not listed on the NCC verified list at all and the Exide data sheet only provides information about weight and dimensions and nothing about cycle performance or how they should be charged. A bit odd me thinks.

 

[DMC65]

There has been some poor reports about AGM batteries when used as a Leisure battery and some members on here as you will now be aware of. have no confidence in them what-so-ever. However, there is now a new (ish!) dedicated AGM leisure/deep cycle battery made from pure lead carbon that is reported to out perform the previous types of AGM batteries and a number of manufacturers are now producing them. If you look at the technical details of this 100 AH battery, (similar to other pure carbon lead AGM batteries) you can see it is very impressive. Time will show no doubt just how good they really are. I intend to fit these on my next battery change.

12v 100AH Leoch Pure AGM Lead Carbon PLH+ C100 Deep Cycle Leisure Battery NCC Class A - Alpha Batteries

12V 100Ah Ultra Deep Cycle battery for multiple applications – from Leoch’s Pure Lead Carbon series. Features • Pure Lead […]

www.alpha-batteries.co.uk

Looks good, I think I'm in. I take it as long as the charger output matches the spec sheet on the battery it's compatible?

 

[PhilandMena]

Looks good, I think I'm in. I take it as long as the charger output matches the spec sheet on the battery it's compatible?

I would think so. Leoch are based in the UK and if you want to contact them directly to ask any further questions here is there details.

Pure Lead Carbon - Leoch Battery UK

Leoch Pure Lead Carbon batteries, PLH+C series, are Pure Lead Carbon AGM Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid batteries.

www.leochbattery.co.uk

 

[DMC65]

I would think so. Leoch are based in the UK and if you want to contact them directly to ask any further questions here is there details.

Pure Lead Carbon - Leoch Battery UK

Leoch Pure Lead Carbon batteries, PLH+C series, are Pure Lead Carbon AGM Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid batteries.

www.leochbattery.co.uk

Thanks again. It's getting bought!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[robert groves]

All the small loads are classified as 'Parasitic' loads, and while some are just frctions of an amp,...when all added up can quite easily come to half an amp,..not a lot you might think, but,...if you have a 100 amp battery, then the 1/2 amp load in 'theory' will completely drain the battery in 200 hours, or just over 8 days !...but considering that the odds on you getting 100 amps out of said battery is about the same as you winning the lottery !...Best thing to do is fit a 'clunk' battery switch to the leisure system, and switch if off whenever you are not using it ( you can wire it so that if you have a solar charge, it can still feed the battery)...buy a cheap Volt meter (Lidaldi do them for £4.99) and monitor the battery voltage weekly/monthly.

 

[Richard n Ann]

All the small loads are classified as 'Parasitic' loads, and while some are just frctions of an amp,...when all added up can quite easily come to half an amp,..not a lot you might think, but,...if you have a 100 amp battery, then the 1/2 amp load in 'theory' will completely drain the battery in 200 hours, or just over 8 days !...but considering that the odds on you getting 100 amps out of said battery is about the same as you winning the lottery !...Best thing to do is fit a 'clunk' battery switch to the leisure system, and switch if off whenever you are not using it ( you can wire it so that if you have a solar charge, it can still feed the battery)...buy a cheap Volt meter (Lidaldi do them for £4.99) and monitor the battery voltage weekly/monthly.

"Parasitic" may be considered a little insulting to the van's systems and gadgets these days some are very sensitive you know. I like to call it the quiescent drain. It's much less likely to upset anyone/thing

 

[steve69]

This is a more common problem than you might think. I recommend you disconnect the batteries completely if the van is going to stand for a while. I recently discovered a connector in the leads coming from the batteries that allow me to do just that. Just re-plug together again and away you go - hopefully with full charged batteries.

 

[ChrisL]

There is also now lead carbon gel battery technology avaliable, i have recently fitted three to my van, they have the advantage of being able to be charged at very low temperatures and to be able to use a standard gel charge profile, however they do not charge as quickly as the agm versions. I have only recently fitted them so can't say how long they will last but the spec says 1500 cycles at 50% dod.

12V 110AH Expedition Plus Lead Carbon Gel Ultra Deep Cycle Battery (EXP12-110C) - Alpha Batteries

Ultra Deep Cycle Lead Carbon GEL Battery

www.alpha-batteries.co.uk

 

[Rimswell Wanderer]

tracker, alarm system, radio etc - or the batteries might just have died!

You could check the current draw with a multimeter to see how much current is been drawn when not in use .
Hope this is helpfull.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Netski and Andrew]

We had a problem with a flat battery everytine we left the van for a couple of days it wasn't the radio as that isn't connected to the main battery the only thing we could think was the automatic steps which are constantly in a state of readiness to come up when the engine starts. Andrew put an isolater switch on the battery which is switched on when we're parked. We've never had a flat battery since. Hope that helps

 

[Brocksford]

I had a small light in the storage compartment that stayed on even if the control panel was off. Worth checking you do not have similar.

 

[DMC65]

Looks like it was the battery giving up the ghost. Bought the pure carbon battery and it's been spot on. Went for an overnight with no ehu, TV on etc. and it dropped practically nothing.

 

[Lenny HB]

I had a look at that ! It is rated as a NCC class C battery which does not make sense for a gel battery ?? Also, its not listed on the NCC verified list at all and the Exide data sheet only provides information about weight and dimensions and nothing about cycle performance or how they should be charged. A bit odd me thinks.

We all know the NCC list is just a fairy tail.
Exide Gels are well known for lasting 10 years+.

 

[nabsim]

If thinking about fitting carbon batteries make sure you are aware and can cope with th extra weight. The Leoch linked earlier is approx 20% heavier than a standard lead acid battery. There have been good reports on them but a lot of new motorhomes have very low payloads. If weight is tight then Lifepo4 is half the weight of an equivalent lead acid battery in ah and has twice the usable capacity. Lifepo4 prices are dropping

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[mitzimad]

I had a look at that ! It is rated as a NCC class C battery which does not make sense for a gel battery ?? Also, its not listed on the NCC verified list at all and the Exide data sheet only provides information about weight and dimensions and nothing about cycle performance or how they should be charged. A bit odd me thinks.

not being on the ncc list probably means they didnt pay to be on it. That list is available at any library just look in the fiction section

 

[PhilandMena]

not being on the ncc list probably means they didnt pay to be on it. That list is available at any library just look in the fiction section

But it is on the list as I stated in my post !

 

[PhilandMena]

We all know the NCC list is just a fairy tail.
Exide Gels are well known for lasting 10 years+.

Yes! I agree about the validity of the list. However, I find it very odd that a battery is put on there and then under rated. To the best of my knowledge all false claims on this list are in the other direction