LEISURE BATTERY

I currently have a 100amphour battery and it is only just lasting overnight, with minimal use. It charges OK during the day via our 135 watt solar panel but by next morning it is down to 11volts. Does anyone else have this same problem. ?

Hi tikiti, spent a wonderful six weeks motorhoming NZ in Jan. this year.    Great country.    Susprised no one has responded to your posts so far but no doubt some Worcerster owner will come along.    Without technical tests it is hard to establish but basically it must be down to either your battery being faulty, or else some electrical item is draining in down over 24hrs.     A start would be to disconnect it after charging on the solar and watch to see if it maintains its charge, or disconnect and then charge with a seperate charger for 24hrs and see what happens.   If it is still loosing its charge then battery is done.    Next steps would involve test meters so not sure if you want to proceed that far.

good luck   and regards to Auckland.   Bob

Reading the voltages on the control panel I would expect to see 13.2 ish for a fully charged battery connected to a solar panel in bright light. At dusk I would expect to see about 12.6v. In the morning before light and after a few hours of lights on, a couple of hours TV and a couple of showers I would expect to see about 12.4v (this is with the standard Mercedes 100AH leisure battery).

If you are starting at those sort of voltages and getting down to 11v then there is a problem.

The original Mercedes leisure battery is a general purpose sealed (no maintenance) battery that I would expect to last for at least 3 years without problem unless is has been radically discharged.

As in the previous post, check the ability of the battery to maintain charge whilst disconnected and then monitor the discharge with a known load such as a reversing light bulb. If the battery is ok then you need to look for a fault in your 12v circuitry.

Peter

Peter is spot on. Its time to get your battery tested.

Have you checked to see if you have left the "Radio Isolation Switch" on?

That switch (and associated circuitry) was only installed in Peugeot conversions. The Worcester is on a Mercedes.

Peter