smokie joe Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I have an Autotrail Tracker EKS and my leisure battery appears to run down very quickly. When I brought it in 2007 (used van only 9months old) the battery was totally run down I normally go on hook-up when away but now and again I use the Aires in France but can not stay without electric for more than 2 nights, or my battery runs down, is this normal or do I need a new one, I would like to stay longer (3 or 4 nights) without hook-up, if I need a new one which would people recommed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokie joe Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 Forgot to mention the battery in my motorhome is an Orange Juice??. Afraid I have never heard of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I had the same problem in my Tracker. H Have you ensured that everything is switched off - including the display panel, the tv booster, the cab radio, roof mounted tv/reverse camera, and any other spurious 12v thingies that may have been fitted as they all seem to create power drain even on standby. I never did find out why but the fitting of 2 x 110 ah leisure batteries mitigated it to a large degree but I still needed to run the engine once a month (which I do anyway) to keep it fit. Leisure batteries by and large are pretty poorly made in my view and they have been the biggest source of aggro in every van I've ever had so buying a decent make battery with a long guarantee might be worth while - Halfords have always given me good service and their guarantee is no quibble. The only sure fire cure is a battery isolating switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 "When I brought it in 2007 (used van only 9months old) the battery was totally run down " Chances are the battery is severely sulphated as a result of being totally flat and left standing fro a while. You could try and recover it by removing from vehicle and making sure it is topped up to top of plates ( not the level markers) and giving a full extended charge. Once charged top up to marked level. Keep on charge preferrably where it is gassing away merilly in a well vented area. You might get lucky and it recovers but unlikely to get a lot of capacity back. If the insides of the filler caps are well and trully stained dark grey forget it. Get a new battery. As Tracker suggested fit battery isolator switch so when you are laying up you can isolate the battery from residual current drain my some items permanently connected. Jon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 We put in a second battery recently. Hubby checked them yesterday and found they were down to just over 12v! Seeing as we'd been to Newark on Sunday about 90 mins each way, and the only electric we used was to light the hob and the 'lights' on the fridge which was running on gas, we were a bit worried. He checked again tonight ... still low even after a charge ... found that he wardrobe light was on!!! They're now charged up nicely. So make sure you've checked everything is switched off, it's very easy to miss something. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Good point Mel - the Tracker also has a wardrobe light and also a light in the electric control box top cupboard to be checked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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