Leisure battery and Optimate

[Morag]

Our Bongo has a lovely 100ah Elecsol Leisure battery fitted alongwith all CBE electrical and charging equipment. We were away last weekend and didn't have a hook up and I was kinda disappointed with the leisure battery performance. We had the fridge running and also a 12v tv but the the 'low battery' warning was came on during the noght both nights. I've never used a charger on our leisure battery. So, a couple of questions. Should I give charging it a go, we've got an Optimate charger for the motorbikes anyway, will that work okay. Also, if anyone has the CBE PC200 control malarky, does the leisure battery charge when the vehicle is being driven if the control panel is switched off?

[francophile1947]

What type of fridge is it? If it's a compressor one, it'll run for ages on the battery. However, if it's not, it'll use loads of power. Also, your TV could be using 5 amp/hr. You may well get a low battery warning when the battery has dropped to 80% of it's capacity, which it'll reach after only 4 hours of the TV alone - considerably less with the fridge on.
Don't know about your panel - haven't you got a manual?

[apole]

Hi there,

Firstly there are many things that could cause this but you need to be sure the battery was indeed full before you started. In that line I'd use a decent digital multimeter (or you can buy cheap ones from ebay that have a clock, temp gauge and battery voltage indicator and measure the terminal voltage, that will give you a good idea of the state of charge.

Link explaining voltage and approx state of charge here:

http://www.c-realevents.demon.co.uk/battleaf.htm

Could be that your battery wasn't full to start with, or perhaps it's not getting charged by the alternator.

Also how thick are the supply cables from the LB to the devices, if they are thin you could be getting voltage drop which would fool the devices into thinking the battery is getting flat when it isn't. I got this with a laptop charger, turned out the wiring to the rear power outlet (installed as part of camper conversion) was way too thin, replacing it with thicker stuff solved that issue.

Moving on, it could well be that the fridge and or telly have genuinely drained the battery. Most LB's should only be discharged by 50% from what I've read unless they are deep cycle ones, so don't be thinking 100AH means you can use a 1A device for 100 hours, that is theory and doesn't unfortunately happen for real which is a shame.

Get a multimeter and find out where you are first. A proper charge won't hurt the battery, I charge mine every few weeks to keep it topped up.

Let us know how you get on.

Andy

[mikexgough]

I agree with you John, I was up your way at Snetterton 2 weeks ago, we stayed over and the Fridge, lights, TV and laptop were all using powered from my LB.... my fridge is a Waeco - 12 amps/day, my TV is a Maplin which eats 2 amps and the lights nominal and laptop 2 amps..... I had not probs at all.....I have a 110a/hr marine/leisure battery made by Wetline
Some say 50% is the maximum discharge of your LB, deep cycles can go to 80% discharge.....my split charge is a Willinton kit if that helps

[Morag]

It's an Imperial Lulworth, so I reckon the wiring is all okay, the fridge is a waeco compressor, we bought the Bongo privately but did get all the manuals, the CBE one is not the most comprehensive. I'm going to track down our multimeter tomorrow.

[apole]

Hi,

I found an instruction manual for a CBE control panel here if that is any use.

http://www.marcleleisure.co.uk/store/pd ... 300_EN.pdf

Andy

[Muzorewa]

We had a similar problem, the leisure battery is charged with the engine running whether the control panel is switched on or not, but not to as high a voltage as the mains hookup - plug the Bongo into the mains before you go away and the LB should perform a lot better

[Morag]

Ah Muz, glad you're here, should I plug Bongo into mains via electric hook up on drivers side or plug it into a charger hooked on to the battery?

[Muzorewa]

Plug it in via the socket on the driver's side for a few hours or overnight

[MountainGoat]

I always leave my bongo plugged into the mains overnight at home before any trip. This insures that the leisure battery has a full charge and the fridge has reached the correct temperature to take the food before setting out.


Tony

[Morag]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'm off to buy an adaptor for the hook up tomorrow, Apole thanks for finding the manual.

[dandywarhol]

I usually put a mains charge on the LB for a day at 5 - 7 amps. It would be fine to use the Optimate on the LB only if the van's left laid up for a while Morag.