Leisure battery at fault?

[Camper_Hotdog55]

Hi all,


Long-time follower, first-time poster.


I’ve recently purchased a private-sale VW T6.1 Transporter with a full conversion, which I’m really happy with. However, I’ve recently come across what might be a fault, and I’m hoping you guys can help me understand it a bit better. I’m pretty limited when it comes to electrics, so bear with me!


On a recent weekend trip with EHU, the leisure battery was showing 3 bars (amber) before arriving at the campsite. I assumed it would be an easy fix by just letting the EHU charge it over the weekend.


When leaving the campsite on Sunday, the leisure battery was showing full bars on the EC50 panel, so I thought everything was fine. Sadly, when I checked it again on Tuesday afternoon, the panel was back to showing 3 bars (amber).


So my questions are:

• Is the leisure battery goosed?
• The previous owner mentioned it had been sitting unused for quite some time, which makes me wonder if the battery is shot. Or could it be something less obvious?
• Also, what would I be looking at to upgrade it to a solar/lithium setup?

My current setup is below:



Battery - NAPA Leisure Battery LB6110N



Thanks all

 

[Camper_Hotdog55]

Bump

 

[kipperman]

Occam's razor (AKA don't look for complicated explanations when there is a simple one available) is probably as you suggest to suspect the leisure battery. If you have a multimeter a good charged battery should read greater than 12.2/12.3V. Even better is to do the same test whilst it is under load ( if you have a fridge - have it running). If the voltage reduces significantly ( possibly to under 12V) then I would agree that the battery has seen better days.

Worth checking that the battery connections are good in addition.

I know that the sterling power unit is lithium capable - so alternator to LB, but you would need to check that the EC155 is lithium capable. Lithium requires different charging protocols and will be damaged if not.

HTH