Leisure Battery Power Issue.

[MJB67]

Recently upgraded my 2016 T6 camper to a 2019 conversion complete with the PMS 3H Power Management System as I had before which would give me 3 days power not hooking up.
The new conversion with an upgraded fridge ( Dometic Waeco CRX 50 Fridge) it doesn't give me 12 hours running the battery with only the fridge using the power.

The company are taking it back to have a look but told me I may need a solar panel which is of course nonsense as there is no reason the PMS system should be able to keep a fridge working for more that12 hours.

Anyone else have the same issues with the above?

 

[Eclipse Custom Vans]

Hi, There are lots of variables on the duration of battery life and fridges etc.

Ambient Temperature - it’s been very hot lately so fridge will work overtime

How often the fridge is opened etc,

Cable sizing,

ventilation etc


The fridge cuts out when it reaches a certain level to prevent the batteries being damaged also.


Don’t forget that the T6 smart charger will need a different type of relay otherwise the leisure battery won’t be charged to 100% when driving.


The PMS is quit an old fashioned device to be using in T6 vans these days…..


Rgds

Ian

 

[Pete C]

You are right, you should not need solar charging to last more than 12 hours.

A few questions though:

What capacity is your leisure battery ?
Is it new ?
How is it being charged when you are on the move ?

Pete

 

[Dellmassive]

ill assume you new bus is Euro6 and your old one was Euro5?

you would need a decent DC-DC charger to charge up the leisure batteyr when driving,

Solar would help to charge when parked.

the factory split charge relay doesnt fully charge the leisure battery above 80% . . . and that assumes you are driving long enough for the charge to take effect.

Have you got any MOLL batteries? . . . these have had issues . . .

a few pics would help.

 

[MJB67]

ill assume you new bus is Euro6 and your old one was Euro5?

you would need a decent DC-DC charger to charge up the leisure batteyr when driving,

Solar would help to charge when parked.

the factory split charge relay doesnt fully charge the leisure battery above 80% . . . and that assumes you are driving long enough for the charge to take effect.

Have you got any MOLL batteries? . . . these have had issues . . .

a few pics would help.

Yes new one Euro 6 old one was Euro 5. the PMS systems where the same on both vans.

Yes I've noticed that the battery doesn't charge to 100% so interesting what you say about the factory split charge relay.
Not sure what battery is on there I'll have to check.

 

[Eclipse Custom Vans]

Hi, this wont charge the leisure battery when driving, you will need a dc-dc charger for smart alternators. Check if yor installers fittted one of these, if so make sure it is suitable for EURO 6 systems.

In your T5 you probably had a VSR but these wont work effectively on Euro 6.

Rgds
Ian

 

[MJB67]

 

[Eclipse Custom Vans]

cant see the charger from those images. have a look around LB and under bonnet near battery

 

[Dellmassive]

Yes new one Euro 6 old one was Euro 5. the PMS systems where the same on both vans.

Yes I've noticed that the battery doesn't charge to 100% so interesting what you say about the factory split charge relay.
Not sure what battery is on there I'll have to check.



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yeh, thats not going to work on a T6 Euro 6 unfortunately . . . . (as many of us found out)

whole long thread about it over here > Stop/start...regen...smart Alternator... Dc-dc Charger For Leisure Battery Or Not?

you will need to get that VSR/Relay replaced with DC-DC charger (charges leisure battery when engine running)

maybe add solar after. (some of the DC-DC units have built in solar inputs)

@travelvolts has a range of DC-DC kit over here > https://www.travelvolts.net/shop

i went for the Redarc kit as have many others . . . . DC to DC Battery Charger - Best Charging Systems | REDARC Electronics

The Ctek unit is also popular - Products

some other makes are Votronic & Ablemale.

 

[Eclipse Custom Vans]

My suspicion is you font have the correct DC-DC charger (or any...) I have seen this before. So your LB is not charging correctly or only on hook up!

 

[Eclipse Custom Vans]

font?...I meant dont!!!

 

[Graham Jones]

If you ordered the factory fitted 2nd battery as an option when ordering the van, the 2nd battery does fully charge to 100%, while main battery stays at 80%. This has been my experience for over 18 months now, and I find it excellent when camping out . I do only run fridge (Waeco cf50), and lights...but have no trouble bringing battery up to full charge again with driving or letting engine run.
Cheers.

 

[Loz]

If you ordered the factory fitted 2nd battery as an option when ordering the van, the 2nd battery does fully charge to 100%, while main battery stays at 80%. This has been my experience for over 18 months now, and I find it excellent when camping out . I do only run fridge (Waeco cf50), and lights...but have no trouble bringing battery up to full charge again with driving or letting engine run.
Cheers.

You might need to have a read through some of the posts in this section, as the factory second battery only uses a relay and this keeps the starter and leisure batteries the same.. so you won’t be getting as much charge as you could be getting if you upgraded to a dc-dc charger.

 

[travelvolts]

What Loz says is correct. It is impossible for your aux battery to fully charge via a relay . On the subject of poor fridge performance, if it has been wired via the PMS and not directly to the battery this will severely reduce the run time. There are also some dodgy fridges about that have faulty control units and the compressor runs all the time. This too can drain the battery very quickly.

 

[Graham Jones]

So if the factory fitted leisure battery setup only charges both batteries to 80%......I must have a faulty one..because main battery charges to 12.4-5v and 2nd battery at 12.8-9v. Maybe I'm just lucky that it works as it does. It also recharges to same level quickly...all good. I can only go on what actually happens in practise.
Cheers to all.....

 

[travelvolts]

Graham, it just isn't possible with just a relay. You must have some additional charging device. The relay just connects the aux battery to the vehicle battery when the engine is running.

 

[Graham Jones]

Well maybe VW do a different set up for Australia.....all I can tell you is what came from the factory and what the batteries charges are ......I haven't added anything or changed any thing. As I said 18 months of use ......main 12.4-5v, 2nd battery 12.8-9v........
Surely if it was not possible....2nd battery should be 12.4-5v too.........
Cheers...

 

[travelvolts]

Maybe they do. Sorry, didn't realise you were in Oz! Be interesting to find out for sure what is going on though.

 

[widu13]

Just to throw something else into the mix, the PMS is not a "smart" charger. If you have a standard wet battery at say 100AH capacity it will only charge it to around 80%. You should not usually/regularly discharge a standard battery to less than 50% capacity (AGM can go as low as 80% IIRC), so you only have 30AH of power to play with. Take an average load of 40 watts (approx 3AH) then you have only got 10 hrs of (constant) fridge power. Add in lights/pumps/other power demands then 12hrs would be about right.

What is the capacity of your leisure battery and the type? BTW listen to the advice Travelvolts gives- he does this stuff for a living.