How to stop van battery going flat when camping ?

S

scoosh

New Member
Hello,

I have a 2016 T6 converted to a campervan. It has a new fogstar leisure battery and new victron battery to battery charger installed which just runs the fridge and tap. I dont have EHU, when I park up to camp I turn off all the interior lights and had a switch put in for the interior tailgate light which is also off.

The last two trips I have been parked up for 3 days and when I come to leave my van battery is Flat. Luckily I have had someone to jump start me, but wondered if this is normal or if my battery is on the way out ?
Someone i was speaking to who is a mechanic mentioned i could get a battery isolater switch installed?

So just thought I would ask in here on what people thought the best option would be as I have very limited knowledge on this.

Thanks
 
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Van electronics can be a bit of a power drain - so will light up every time you lock/unlock although there could be another parasitic drain source present. As you point out, a weak battery will exaggerate this and especially if it has already been flattened ( this damages the battery itself).

So I would
1) Have the van battery tested. This needs to be done under load- just checking the voltage off load is pointless. If it's more than 3 years old, I would just renew it anyway. Depends on your budget.
2) Invest in a charger (Victron, or the Ablemail (which gets a good write up here)) that will keep your van battery charged from your leisure battery - but depends on your answer to below.

However - for a better answer we need a bit more info. What is the capacity of your Fogstar? Presumably your Victron DC-DC is charging the leisure battery from the van alternator. Is this a new to you van and is this a new phenomenon? A picture of your set up would be helpful as well.
 
Last edited:
Hi Kipperman

Thanks for the reply the LB is 105ah and as I understand it the Victron DC-DC charges the LB from the van alternator when running.

Picture wouldn't be great as its all under the drivers seat. The van battery dying when camping is a recent thing as i have had the van around 18 months and it has only happened the last two trips. Whilst I am happy to get a new van battery fitted if that will help I wasn't sure if there was anything else I could do to prevent this happening again with either the current or new battery ?
 
I don't know if the victron does it but we have a Renogy DCDC50. It is a combined Mppt and B2B. When we are parked up the solar will charge the LB and once that is full it will keep the SB topped up as well.
I would get your SB checked out but as said above, multiple door openings etc will wake the van and could drain the SB over time
 
You have taken some sensible precautions but just locking/unlocking the van uses power as it also fires up several modules readying the van to start.

You have the same setup as me (Victron DC-DC and Fogstar). I have fitted an Ablemail AMT12-2 and it solves the problem. Even if your starter battery is not in the best health it will use the leisure battery to keep it topped up enough to start. It’s even better with solar as that will keep the LB topped up, but even without it will keep doing its job for months without starting the van or needing to top up the LB as the power draw is low. It kept my knackered SB serviceable for a year longer than I’d have got from it otherwise. I’d recommend fitting the AMT first and seeing how you get on. You may find the SB needs replacing too if it is 3-5 years old as they do deteriorate, especially if they’ve been flattened as that can physically damage them.
 
There you go - we are all saying the same thing. Although given what you have just said I would replace the van battery first. Which will probably in all honesty give out the first cold day we have. Batteries have additional electronics that sense the most inconvenient time to fail. Loads of help round here if you fancy installing the Ablemail yourself - it's not that hard!
 
ginkster said:
You have taken some sensible precautions but just locking/unlocking the van uses power as it also fires up several modules readying the van to start.

You have the same setup as me (Victron DC-DC and Fogstar). I have fitted an Ablemail AMT12-2 and it solves the problem. Even if your starter battery is not in the best health it will use the leisure battery to keep it topped up enough to start. It’s even better with solar as that will keep the LB topped up, but even without it will keep doing its job for months without starting the van or needing to top up the LB as the power draw is low. It kept my knackered SB serviceable for a year longer than I’d have got from it otherwise. I’d recommend fitting the AMT first and seeing how you get on. You may find the SB needs replacing too if it is 3-5 years old as they do deteriorate, especially if they’ve been flattened as that can physically damage them.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. I do also have a solar panel that plugs into the LB when parked up which normally (weather dependent) keeps the LB topped up and i do turn the fridge off at night if there isn't much sun. So I'll look at getting an Ablemail fitted and then if needed replace the Starter battery
 
kipperman said:
There you go - we are all saying the same thing. Although given what you have just said I would replace the van battery first. Which will probably in all honesty give out the first cold day we have. Loads of help round here if you fancy installing the Ablemail yourself - it's not that hard!
Click to expand...
Yes thanks this forum is very helpful for those of us not that clued up on these things. I will need to find someone to fit the Ablemail for me as I wouldn't want to attempt it myself. If anyone has any recommendations for someone in Hampshire/Surrey that could do this please let me know
 
scoosh said:
Yes thanks this forum is very helpful for those of us not that clued up on these things. I will need to find someone to fit the Ablemail for me as I wouldn't want to attempt it myself. If anyone has any recommendations for someone in Hampshire/Surrey that could do this please let me know
Click to expand...
It’s really, really simple to do. It’s 3 cables into each of the sockets on the DC-Dc and 2 screws or some Velcro to mount the AMT. If you can wire a plug you can fit an AMT.
 
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