Leisure battery problems??

Cwoods1405 · Jul 12, 2018

I know the subject has been covered at length but I wanted to know others thoughts.
I recently noticed that the fridge seems to switch itself off. This is even on hookup. I think I read somewhere that if the leisure batteries are not good the fridge can still do this even on hookup. I tried it out this morning and put the heater and fridge on together. Fridge kept switching off

The van is about 7 years old and I don’t think the leisure batteries have been replaced so they are well over due. I’m away for a month in August and I don’t want to get stuck!! I assume the leisure batteries drive the roof motor? Any advice greatly received including recommendations for replacement ( not paying VW £500 for batteries)
Thanks

Andy · Jul 12, 2018

I believe the roof is powered by the main engine battery.
Folk have bought batteries from alpha batteries
https://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/leisure-batteries/

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

tuono001 · Jul 12, 2018

My local Vw commercial place charged me about £90 for a new main battery. Don't see why a leisure one should be any more.

awayinmevan · Jul 12, 2018

Halfords agm 019 £186 do the job

awayinmevan · Jul 12, 2018

Main battery will be agm if stop start fitted ok as leisure. If you have not got stop start fitted as main battery it’s not agm and no good for leisure if you can get agm for £90 it’s a bargain as £200 usual cost

westfalia · Jul 12, 2018

Cwoods1405 said:
The van is about 7 years old and I don’t think the leisure batteries have been replaced so they are well over due.

Mine seem to be still good after 12 years.
If the fridge turned off even on hook up then that´s surely nothing to do
with the LB´s.

Max-Felix · Jul 12, 2018

As above - fridge failing on hook up points to something more maybe...

Get a multimeter on the battery after a full proper mains charge and test if over a few days.

What has the CP been indicating voltage wise over a period?

Cwoods1405 · Jul 12, 2018

Thanks for the responses

I’m going to run the fridge tonight and see what percentage battery is left in the morning and if it stays on! CP is showing 12.6v drawing 3amps with the fridge on. No amps drawn with nothing running so I don’t think it’s an earth shunt issue. I will then run the fridge on hookup and see how that goes! I’m sure I read that the fridge runs off the battery? That I assume is theme kept topped up by the mains?? Anyway if anyone has a definitive answer to that one I would be pleased to hear. I will have a look at the Halfords option and I am also considering an Exide
https://www.tayna.co.uk/leisure-batteries/exide/ep600/
Half the price of VW!

WelshGas · Jul 12, 2018

Andy said:
I believe the roof is powered by the main engine battery.
Folk have bought batteries from alpha batteries
https://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/leisure-batteries/

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

The roof is powered from the Leisure Batteries but the Ignition has to be ON as a Safety/Security feature to prevent accidental use.

Max-Felix · Jul 12, 2018

12.6 with fridge drawing is fine. When last charged? How does voltage hold up after a few days with vehicle unused?

Cwoods1405 · Jul 13, 2018

Right have left the fridge on max for nearly 24hrs. It stayed on which is good however the battery is down to 50%and only showing 12v. I think the batteries are knackered. Anyone have a view on this? Is running the fridge on max a step too far?

Max-Felix · Jul 13, 2018

Is that voltage reading with fridge off and a short while later?

Cwoods1405 · Jul 13, 2018

No fridge was still on this was what was on the display. I was in a bit of a rush so I took the reading and then turned on the hookup to recharge the batteries. My gut feeling is the batteries are still working but a bit tired. In answer to your first point the start point was fully charged

Max-Felix · Jul 13, 2018

Sounds pretty typical and normal for a van with a few years under its belt - batteries not knackered but getting older and in need of some help - if fridge is drawing current then voltage will drop but this will recover somewhat after it has been off so check voltage a few hours later after fridge (and other loads) turned fully off. If it was really on max (freezing) then an older van might be depleted after one of two days.

Food for thought in topic below, some support, some disparaging but I'd just bung £300 of solar on the van and lose all worries:

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/leisure-batteries.22408/#post-256915

And read Roger's post here:

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...olar-panels-for-2017.16907/page-4#post-267949

Cwoods1405 · Jul 14, 2018

Thanks for the advice all it has given me some perspective. I think I’m going to just replace the batteries with the Exide ones. £256 delivered so half what VW charge and hopefully of reasonable quality.