[NWH]

I had a few bits done to the van and the battery needed changing since a new one I can’t believe the difference with my heater system,I know diddly about electrics in the main but I charge into the side of the van on a mains adapter every night and even though I do that sometimes the heater has turned off after 4 or so hours.
Since it was changed last view days it’s stayed on 13-7 after I’ve switched the van off and only dropped down to 12-9- 13 volts and running like a dream,the split charger must be sticking loads back into the 2 leisure batteries since the main ones been changed my question is will having changed the main van battery made this big difference as I say I know my way round a system but nothing technical.

[Ched]

My guess is starter battery wouldn't hold charge so didn't reach a high enough voltage, so split charger wasn't able to switch to charge leisure batteries very often.

[NWH]

Massive difference since I had it changed I noticed it instantly.

[Ched]

Massive difference since I had it changed I noticed it instantly.

Normally batteries are virtually fully charged when they are new. So almost straight away starter battery would be fully charged so all 'spare' charge is redirected to leisure batteries giving them a good boost.

It's good to hear your experience as sometimes theory doesn't match real world experience.

[NWH]

Although I charge via the mains every night it just shows you how much the split system can put back into the leisure batteries to keep them topped up,I can’t remember the last time I switched off the van to start work and it read 13-7 and held it for a fair while before it started to drop.
End of day it was still reading 13v most of the time only dropping to 12-8 briefly over the course of the day and then back up to 13-7 after a short drive.

[Kev Martin]

Do any of you use a solar system to keep your leisure batteries topped up in the day?

[Spruce]

Do any of you use a solar system to keep your leisure batteries topped up in the day?

P&F has a detailed post a couple of years back with his experiences.

He found that solar worked during the longer day light hours of summer but was a waste of time in winter. His best results were a combination of solar and alternator charging.
He has on street parking so was trying to find a solution to not carrying his heavy leisure battery in for bench charging.

There  is a youtube canal boat channel called Cruising the Cut.
David fitted some large panels on his canal boat. He also did a video on solar performance  in winter. What he got in power wise was negligible in low winter sun and that is with the panels tilted.

In the cold weather our batteries perform less efficiently, so it's in winter we need auxillary battery charging more than in summer.

[Spruce]

I go with ched on this one. If your van battery is losing charge then the alternator is going to favour that battery as it's the path of least resistance.

You only get a true battery voltage reading when the battery has rested after 4 hours.
The highest I've seen my leisure battery after standing all night is 13.09 volts. It's usually around 12.8 to 12.9 volts fully charged and rested.

The Sterling b2b charger I have is set to charge my flooded leisure battery at 14.6 volts. When the engine is switched off that charge quickly dissipates to begin with but will settle on whatever it's true state of charge is in 4 hours.

[dazmond]

Although I charge via the mains every night it just shows you how much the split system can put back into the leisure batteries to keep them topped up,I can’t remember the last time I switched off the van to start work and it read 13-7 and held it for a fair while before it started to drop.
End of day it was still reading 13v most of the time only dropping to 12-8 briefly over the course of the day and then back up to 13-7 after a short drive.

Mines always like that.....sounds like you ve had a dud battery for a while.....which is quite ironic really as you do lots more mileage than me....

[P @ F]

Do any of you use a solar system to keep your leisure batteries topped up in the day?

As Spruce says , solar only really comes into its own in summer , last night was the first time I have had to bring the battery in since last winter , and that was only 2 hours on a 5 amp charger.
What I tend to do now is check my Bluetooth app and if I read any less than float mode the battery comes in , I would say 6 months of the year it needs benching every night for at least 4 hours.
But that’s not bad as I run the pump and diesel heater for 6 hours straight a day 

[NWH]

Must have had Daz this morning I’ve parked for an hour and a half after cleaning with hot flat out,just driven up the road 2 miles and it’s still saying 14v-13-9v it’s 1000% better.

[Jonny 87]

I upgraded my batteries last year.

I’ve now got 360 amps of power. (2x180 numax).

I charged them every night, they are beasts. No power issues what so ever, they are holding charge like they are new too.

I’m always gonna have Atleast 300 amps of power onboard now I think.

[NWH]

No Jonny mine has made a massive difference since I’ve changed the main van battery not the leisure’s.

[Jonny 87]

No Jonny mine has made a massive difference since I’ve changed the main van battery not the leisure’s.

I know what you mean, but I’ve got so much power in the back of my van and I fully charge them each night with beasty ctek charger. I don’t think my b2b relay charger has much work to do at all. My van battery has no impact I’d say.

[NWH]

I plug in the side of the van it’s like a caravan type plug from the mains,I have all the Grippa setup in the van for the split charge etc it must be the main van battery as far as my problems have been going,since it’s been changed again today the lowest it went down to and only briefly today was 12-9 the majority of the day it’s been 13-7 - 14v and that’s unusual to what I’ve been used to.

[Spruce]

Although I charge via the mains every night it just shows you how much the split system can put back into the leisure batteries to keep them topped up,I can’t remember the last time I switched off the van to start work and it read 13-7 and held it for a fair while before it started to drop.
End of day it was still reading 13v most of the time only dropping to 12-8 briefly over the course of the day and then back up to 13-7 after a short drive.

I thought about this yesterday. When you switch your engine off both starter and leisure  batteries will show the same voltage of 13.7v.
If your split charge relay is an intelligent one then it relies on voltage from the starter battery  to trigger it and disconnect it.
Depending on how that relay is programmed it could be sometime before the circuit is disconnected after the engine is switched off.
In other words, if your relay is set to disconnect at 12.8v then the relay will still connect both batteries together until the starter battery voltage drops to 12.8v.

[NWH]

Hi Spruce however it is setup is working much much better than ever before maybe my van battery was shot,I know they said at the MoT last year i just never got round to changing it until last week

[NWH]

It must work as you say switching from the main van battery to the leisure’s then switching over when the power drops,it’s not worked as well as it has this last week before new main battery.

[Ched]

Although I charge via the mains every night it just shows you how much the split system can put back into the leisure batteries to keep them topped up,I can’t remember the last time I switched off the van to start work and it read 13-7 and held it for a fair while before it started to drop.
End of day it was still reading 13v most of the time only dropping to 12-8 briefly over the course of the day and then back up to 13-7 after a short drive.

I thought about this yesterday. When you switch your engine off both starter and leisure  batteries will show the same voltage of 13.7v.
If your split charge relay is an intelligent one then it relies on voltage from the starter battery  to trigger it and disconnect it.
Depending on how that relay is programmed it could be sometime before the circuit is disconnected after the engine is switched off.
In other words, if your relay is set to disconnect at 12.8v then the relay will still connect both batteries together until the starter battery voltage drops to 12.8v.

I believe most 'intelligent' split chargers are connected to the charge signal wire of the alternator or an ignition feed. So when the alternator is not producing a charge or the ignition is not on the leisure battery is disconnected from starter battery. The split charger should only connect leisure battery to starter batt/alternator when starter batt V is high enough and alternator is producing electricity. That is why on some modern (Euro 6) engines you need a more sophisticated battery to battery charger as the ecu stops the alternator producing electricity when starter batter is full to save fuel!  Some of these euro6 vehicles have a shunt resistor in so they can monitor the load on the battery and work the alternator according to the need. The alternator is only about 60% efficient ie. it pulls almost double the power off the engine than it generates. So being able to stop the alternator drawing power as much as possible reduces fuel consumption and emissions.

If both batteries are fully charged they should be at the same voltage when you stop engine.
If they are only sensing the starter battery voltage then you could have a drain on the leisure battery that would take the starter battery lower and that could compromise starting!

[NWH]

Thanks Ched I didn’t get any of that lol are you saying that because I now have a fully working main van battery it’s sorted it,like I say before new battery the heater wasn’t working as consistently well.