Leisure Battery problem?

[S4r4h]

Afternoon All,
Firstly, please, please be kind. I’m a newbie and am wary about posting for fear of looking immensely stupid.
This post refers to leisure battery, not van battery.
So,
Bought a brand new T6.1 conversion last September.
The info panel in van display has 2 red bars, 2 orange bars, then 4 green bars.
We have a solar panel.
Have had several trips away, but, we had never turned on the ehu battery charger- please don’t ask me why, I couldn’t tell you- in all honesty, we didn’t realise it was there. We’d been using the ehu for power inside the van though.
Anyhow, idiocy aside…
Last week, away in Suffolk, in the heat, after two days, info panel showed battery level not charging and gradually it fell to 2 red bars and eventually the fridge shut down. We hadn’t driven the van for a couple of days so alternator had not been utilised for charging. Realised the error with the ehu charger, turned it on and the battery picked up slightly, but fridge cut out 10 or so hours later after sinking down to 1 red bar. Went for a planned trip so it was slightly charged and then headed home the next day.
Spoke to the conversion company whilst away and technician suggested a good 24-48 hour charge when we got home on the mains.
Have done that, but panel in van shows battery at 3 green bars. It seems to be stuck at 3 bars and the CTEK charger is showing that the solar panel is still charging the battery. Have unhooked the ehu though.
Went for a quick drive and the bars went up to 4 green but fell back down to 3 after an hour or so.
Voltage across battery is 12.89V.
Is the battery knackered? How reliable is the info panel in the van?
Any suggestions, please?

 

[Anakin]

Do you know what chemistry/type the leisure battery is. Lead acid flooded/AGM/Lithium ?

I’m going to presume it’s not lithium. Lead acid and AGM hate being fully discharged and it can permanently damage the battery. If this has happened with yours then it explains why it will show green bars when being charged, but this will drop when you take the charger off as the cells can’t hold the charge. 12.89V is about 95% charged for AGM, but you need to check it again after 24 hours or after you put a load on it to really tell the health of the battery.

 

[kipperman]

I'd agree battery somewhat suspect. It seems a little odd though that the fridge died despite the charger being on - most modern chargers should be able to provide sufficient current to charge the battery and power the fridge at the same time. Can you show us a picture of the set up?

 

[S4r4h]

Difficult to show a picture, everything is in cupboards.
But we have CBE516-3 ehu charger, with a CBE PC180-ST electrical system panel and a CTEK D 250E smart charger for alternator and solar panel. Standard Dometic CR50 fridge (12v only).
So, when charging with ehu and constant solar panel, electrical system panel shows 3 green bars. Quick drive sent it up to 4 but that soon dropped.
The CTEK shows solar panel is charging the battery.
Fridge stayed cold, but ice box melted. Red warning light for leisure battery on electrical system panel was flashing. This flashing happened twice, but at 3am, there was very little we could do. The first time it happened the ehu charger was NOT on. The 2nd time, the ehu charger was on but red warning light still flashed, fortunately this was just as we were heading out so the alternator charged it up.
So, being a bit dim here, if the battery is suspect, do we need a new one or will this one manage for the time being? We have 3 methods of charging so shouldn’t it stay ‘topped’ up? Van and conversion was brand new 2024.
Battery, husband thinks, is lead acid. Low box, 110ah etc.

Edited to add: we’ve had 5 trips away in the van without using ehu as a charging method. This was the first time this has happened. Suspect the heat may have played a part with the fridge needing more juice than usual.

 

[kipperman]

So your EHU charger can supply up to 16A - which definitely should be able to run the fridge.

A 110ah battery should run a domestic fridge for a couple of days - but hugely dependent on other loads ( such as lights etc) and of course ambient temperatures. If your trips away were sunny, you might have got some assistance from the solar panels, but you may not know their size.
Presumably your van is under some form of guarantee- so my first port of call would be to go back to the converters and tell them that despite charging the battery as per their instructions and having EHU connected the fridge is not keeping cool. Perhaps downplay the flat leisure battery scenario so that they don't blame you ( although you should have been told that the leisure battery needed charging and how to do this)


Failing that , then I would replace the leisure battery with like for like - frankly you don't want to have your camping trips spoilt with "Fridge" anxiety ( we have all been there)

Relying on EHU/Engine/Solar with a possibly dodgy battery isn't a great idea. Battery will still drain if the van is parked up whilst shopping/down the pub/campsite EHU fails.

 

[S4r4h]

Many thanks for the advice.
I’m going to ring converters tomorrow. They’re pretty good.
They definitely did not tell us to turn on the ehu charger, we wrongly thought it was on as the plug sockets all worked. Handover was really extensive, except for the ehu charger bit
Neither of us are dummies, husband messes around with 25000V at work. We read all the booklets except the ehu charger it seems.
Well, you live and learn.

 

[S4r4h]

Update…

Unhooked the ehu yesterday as it had been on 48 hours, panel showed three bars. This morning, checked and four bars (solar panel running constantly, of course). Seems like battery/ electrical system etc needed time to settle perhaps?

 

[Captain Quick]

I’ve a CBE516-3 which is installed in a rear locker of my Hillside Birchover campervan and have noticed that in warm weather the charger runs very hot with the built in fan kicking in for extended periods. When I first noticed this, I looked through the product information and remember reading that not only does the fan switch on but the output of the charger also reduces to a trickle charge when it gets hot. I wonder if that could be the reason for your lack of charging.

 

[S4r4h]

I think you’re onto something there. I read that too.
We’ve made mistakes, no two ways about that, but it’s a learning curve and I’m certainly much more familiar with the electrical set up than I was and should have been much sooner

 

[CAB]

Update…

Unhooked the ehu yesterday as it had been on 48 hours, panel showed three bars. This morning, checked and four bars (solar panel running constantly, of course). Seems like battery/ electrical system etc needed time to settle perhaps?

If its showing 4 bars when the solar is connected, that may just be the voltage of the solar charger.

Best to try it out at night.

Even a knackered battery can get up to voltage if charged, it just won't have the capacity it used to.