stuartg Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 I have a swift suntor530lp.motorhome.2014.after not using the motorhome for 1month I return to find both batteries have completely lost charge.I connect main supply and leisure batterery charges up but engine battery will not charge.does this morthome charger do both batteries,any advise please . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Welcome to the forum Stuart. Flat batteries is quite normal and one of the little joys of owning a modern motorhome that the dealers and converters forget to mention when you buy it. Your handbook should explain if and how you can charge both batteries from the on board charger - does it? There are ways round it and the most popular cure is a solar panel that keeps all batteries charged via a split charging set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 stuartg - 2014-11-16 2:07 PM I have a swift suntor530lp.motorhome.2014.after not using the motorhome for 1month I return to find both batteries have completely lost charge.I connect main supply and leisure batterery charges up but engine battery will not charge.does this morthome charger do both batteries,any advise please . Yes, go and see the company you purchased your motorhome from first and foremost, certainly in my experience your leisure battery should not be flat after that period of time, of course assuming that everything is switched off. The engine battery however can be a different ball game, drawing as it does continuous power for alarms etc, mine for example would be dead flat after a couple of weeks, a pal of mine with a Swift after about 4/6 weeks, it could be a "parasitic" discharge problem that plagues so many modern vehicles making the problem worse, my radio was a culprit on one van I owned, can't find the culprit on my current van so a solar panel wired to keep both batteries charged is my solution. But like I say, your dealer would be my first port of call, especially with such a new van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 I also would not expect the leisure battery to be flat after that time, so you need to investigate what is draining it. Engine battery 2 - 3 weeks is quite normal leaving it any longer you risk a flat battery. I think my Hymer manual say should not be left more than 10 days without being plugged into mains. The best option is as mentioned is Solar then you never have to worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Had a think about what I said in my last post about the leisure battery depending what your circuits take in standby mode (control panel turned off) it is possible for the battery to get very low after a month. As it is a new Motorhome I would expect the engine battery to be charged by the on board charger, it should tell you in the charger manual. If it does it will only be a fairly slow charge, a common arrangement is for the engine battery to be charge at around 6 amps. After the leisure battery is nearly charged it will divert a charging current the engine battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Bulgaria Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 My habitation battery has an isolation switch that disconnects the battery negative terminal from the vehicle chassis thereby ensuring that the habitation battery and circuits are isolated. It loses very little charge when in storage for 4 weeks at a time. I have suffered from the vehicle starter battery losing charge at a rate that made 3 weeks without hook-up about the limit. The culprit was the aftermarket alarm system, which was drawing 60 mA even as a standby current. The base vehicle and other live circuits took just 17 mA between them. I now have a means to disconnect the alarm when the motorhome is in secure storage (with the agreement of the insurer) so the drain is much reduced giving a much extended ability to leave the vehicle in storage. Normally I don't leave the vehicle for more that 4 weeks without taking it out for an extended run. The on-board charger only provides a trickle charge to the starter battery so I now use a separate charger to recharge the starter battery, having isolated the on-board charger and the habitation battery, to restore the starter battery to the fully charged condition before the motorhome goes back into secure storage. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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