Sort out my leisure battery?

[geordie skydiver]

Ok, so my Westy has a leisure battery, its totally discharged and probably has been for some time. The lights on the fridge/cooker unit sometimes come on amber after a long drive.

I've never bothered to recharge it properly yet, is there any milage in plugging in the van and letting the zig charge it up, to see if its salvagable, or should I just get a new one? What battery is favourite?

Or, is there another way? (test, charge etc?)

[dbroada]

no lead acid battery likes sitting discharged so its probably as dead as a dead thing. So the choice is yours. I don't have a zig but I would put my battery charger on it for a day and see if it wants to hold a charge. Leave for another day and check the voltage again. If its lost its charge its time for a new one, if it holds its charge you've saved a few quid.

don't try to charge it from the alternator. It will blow a fuse or take your good battery with it. Either way it will only add to your frustration.

as for best battery the biggest problem is physical space. Mine is under the passenger seat but as I have a swivel I would need a small battery if I were to replace it. True leisure batteries tend to be larger than starter batteries (which can be used) but in either case you may have trouble finding onethat fits. Check on the wiki, there is a list of batteries there.

[kevtherev]

I have a 4 phase Leisure Battery charger and have resurected a couple of dead batts
Thanks to the advice from Mr dbroada up there

[t25col]

A very large and heavy package just arrived - dunk!

I ordered one of these 95602 things from Tayna:
http://www.tayna.co.uk/catalog/285/0/Le ... page1.html

It's 190mm high and was way too expensive but finding anything "leisure" under 200mm is quite a challenge

I'm gonna fit this thing tonight and hope the guy who posted 190mm on the wiki as being the maximum was a good measurer I'll let you know how I get on and hope I don't have to Ebay something a few mm too tall.

[dbroada]

coooo, that looks impresive!

having spent that much I would now consider an intelligent charger (if you don't already have one) as an alternator is really only good for about 50% charge. (Being constant voltage it can't push hard enough to get the last bit in when the battery voltage is approaching the alternator voltage) There again, 50% of that is a lot more hours than 50% of my 30AHr battery!!!

[t25col]

coooo, that looks impresive!

having spent that much I would now consider an intelligent charger (if you don't already have one) as an alternator is really only good for about 50% charge. (Being constant voltage it can't push hard enough to get the last bit in when the battery voltage is approaching the alternator voltage) There again, 50% of that is a lot more hours than 50% of my 30AHr battery!!!

I have a zig (however being a git green I still can't find it or the invertor - still looking under the seat). Is what came standard as setup on an 89' Westy good enough, or would you recommend an intelligent charger? I saw one in Halfords however I though it was just mains 240v -> 12v and not 12v -> 12v if that makes sense. Would the alternator charing run via my zig (if I have one) or straight to the leisure?

[dbroada]

tbh, I know very little about zigs. Before I bought my van I did some searches on them and they are not loved by everybody. As schnecke didn't have one I built my own distribution system and use a simple split charge relay to charge both batteries. I have quite a low energy usage so don't have an inverter but we do have hook up.

have a look at http://www.soh.me.uk/ for details of different battery charging methods. (You may recognise one of the split charge diagrams that Steve let me post here a couple of years back). I'm not sure how his prices compare but discounts are also available on Advec and Sterling stuff if you join the http://www.sbmcc.co.uk. Not that this equipment is cheap - partly why I don't have it.

If you are new to camper van use I would say go with what you've got until you realise it needs improving. You will be surprised how much your ideas of what you need change once on holiday.

[t25col]

I'm gonna fit this thing tonight and hope the guy who posted 190mm on the wiki as being the maximum was a good measurer I'll let you know how I get on and hope I don't have to Ebay something a few mm too tall.

Can anybody E D I T the wiki, as I need to add a comment that 190mm is too high for the Westy LHD box under the drivers seat When I calm down and daylight returns I'll see what my options are but right now I'm thinking this thing is too big to workaround as the metal carpeted hatch won't close. I'd say the hatch hinge is what's to blame and it probably eats that 10mm that I need. The other problem is the hatch is metal, , and when bent into shape and shoved down it is way too close to the terminals for my liking. Guess the hatch was designed to stop a foot getting to the battery and not designed to lie on top of the battery. Problem three is that the thing is actually too wide - so the nice metal thing you screw on to stop your battery moving about won't fit. So it seems a 278 x 175 x 190 is a no go without some lateral thinking

Think my only option would be to lay something thin and insulating above the battery between the hatch and the battery +ve, and then perhaps redesign the hatch with a hammer. Of course option 2 would be just to get a battery that fits! Pahhhhhhhh - I'm pissed off - time for a beer and some creative thinking

[cumbriankeith]

My sympathy for you - hope the beer helped - it always does for me...

I have modded the height of the hinged batt cover by a little metalwork on the back edge and using a few small selftaps. My seats are non standard tho and allow a little extra clearance. I also changed the slide stops on the seat rails to restrict how far the pass seat goes back. I modded the batt clamp too - in fact there was no clamp down for the LB when I got the camper! Pro install by a local garage for the last owner...

[ghost123uk]

I have considered putting the lesiure battery in one of those cubby holes each side of the engine bay.

Just needs some decent red cable to go to were it normally fits, and some method of holding it in place ( webbing straps ?)

btw those cubby holes are a handy place to store a gallon of oil etc, tho if storing petrol there take precautions re the can chaffing through etc !!

[Mr Dutch]

Just to put the cat amongst the pigeons...

I know the common method of activating the split charge relay is via a link to the charge warning light and, on the face of it, this is a sound idea. However... consider this:
With a nice fully charged starter battery, but with another problem that makes starting the engine difficult, it is easily possible to get sufficient voltage out of the alternator to activate the SC relay without starting the engine. If this happens, the leisure battery will be connected to the starting circuit and you will draw starting current through your LB wiring. This, of course, will blow the fuse(s); not in itself a major problem, until you get to where you're going and find you have no juice in your LB!

To avoid this, I have fitted a dashboard switch to manually activate the split charge system (it also connects the fridge relay). As a safety precaution, I have fitted a lamp to warn me not to start the engine when the split charge is 'active'.

Food for thought?

[dbroada]

I have never been in the position that a starter is turning and the alternator light goes out. It may be possible but I would think it is very unlikely. That is not to say that a relay is better than a switch though. I know lots of people (2 at least ) who use switches for reliability. I use a relay 'cause I would forget a switch. While your scenario is possible to blow the fuses they are more likely to go as the relay or switch is changed and the starter battery tries to pull the flat LB up to the charging voltage. If I could afford it I would certainly fit blocking diodes to ensure each battery is independant of each other.