Club 80-90 Forums

My father had this sort ofproblem, battery dying. Turned out that the leisure battery was knackered, it was draining the van battery all the time.
Put in a new leisure battery, all sorted.

The fridge should not run off the leisure battery when the van is not running, the fridge takes enough juice to flatten it within hours.

Is your van battery holding its charge ok?

Do the interior lights work off the LB or the VB? Ideally they should be off the LB.

I think I am right in saying the LB should not be charging off the VB when the engine is not running.

Put the interior lights on, remove the negative connector on your LB, if the lights go off they run off the LB, if they stay on, they are from the VB

liambaxter wrote:I noticed when i switched the ignition on when parked up, the lights all of a sudden got brighter, is that the car battery or leisure battery kicking in?

on mine that's a relay switching the headlight bulbs on. Without the ignition only the sidelights work.

As for testing if your LB is charging, do you have a meter? Check the voltages (each battery) with the engine off. A good battery is above 13,5v and an iffy one is below 12v. Now get the engine running and the ignition lamp out. Now the voltages should both be about 14,4v. If the LB hasn't moved it isn't charging and it's time to look for a blown fuse.

ah, it could be that they are wired to the (low) LB and that the split charge relay is switching when the ignition is turned on, not when the engine has started (as it should) giving a higher voltage from the VB. Instead of the above voltage test add a step - check the voltages when the key is turned to "on" (not start). If the voltages become the same your relay is wired wrong.