Bazzeruk Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Have left our campervan not plugged in for just over two weeks. Came to it today and found remote locking not working. Discovered both batteries discharged. Cannot find anything left on, but may not have switched off electrics, like I believe I should have done. After plugging in for a few hours, leisure battery charging ok. Tried to switch it to charge vehicle battery by pressing the dial, but stays charging the leisure battery and vehicle battery still flat. Have i got to charge the vehicle battery with a normal charger for it to recover? If so, do i need to disconnect the EHU before I do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddy Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 I believe that the sargent battery charger that is fitted will not work if the battery is very low so you may have to get some charge in it before the motorhome charger will operate . You could disconnect the EHU for a while to do this just to be on the safe side but I do not think this should be needed. But disconnect the extra charger before trying the motorhome one again. Have you tried turning off and then back on the power on the control panel in case it needs to reset itself now it has some power to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazzeruk Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 Thanks Buddy - I will put some charge in the vehicle battery if it doesn't charge up after the leisure one is fully charged and switch onto the EHU to make sure that is charging the vehicle battery. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Usually these chargers only divert a small amount of charge to starter battery so if it's flat it will take forever to get it back to useful level. Use a separate charging source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazzeruk Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 spirou - 2020-03-09 5:56 PM Usually these chargers only divert a small amount of charge to starter battery so if it's flat it will take forever to get it back to useful level. Use a separate charging source. Many thanks. My fault - I left the power on and the TV on standby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 But why did it discharge BOTH batteries? The TV could only have been plugged into one battery so unless you have some form of 'Battery Mate' or (as the late Allan of A&N used to call them) voltage theft battery balancing device, then you must have a fault of some kind. It would be worth investigating to prevent this from happening again, as the law of sod says it will be at the most inopportune time! Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Keithl - 2020-03-09 8:15 PM But why did it discharge BOTH batteries?... Keith. Bazzeruk’s Autocruise Rhythm is 2013 vintage. His motorhome’s leisure-battery might be expected to discharge heavily over a 2-week period if the habitation power is left on and the TV is on stand-by. It may be sheer coincidence that the vehicle’s starter-battery (if it is the original one and now 7 years old) has become ‘flat’ over the same period, with the discharging simply due to battery senility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazzeruk Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 Leisure battery charged up no problem and now have main battery on charger I will get the main battery tested when fully charged Thanks for all your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 The starter-battery installed as original equipment (OE) in a 2013 Boxer is likely to be a FIAMM-branded product with dimensions of 353mm(Length) x 175mm(Width) x 190mm(Height). The OE starter-battery is also likely to be ‘maintainable', meaning that its six cell-caps can be unscrewed, thus allowing the level of electrolyte in each cell to be checked and topped up if necessary. However, as will be apparent from the attached image of an OE FIAMM starter-battery in a 2015 Fiat Ducato, it will not be practicable to unscrew all six of the cell-caps without first removing the battery’s metal hold-down ’strap’ and the piece of equipment covering the two caps near the battery’s positive (+) terminal. If your Rhythm’s starter-battery looks similar to the one in the photo, even if you don’t want to disconnect it I suggest you remove the hold-down strap and unscrew the three cell-caps that will then become accessible. If the electrolyte level in those three cells is OK, there’s a reasonable chance that the electrolyte level in the three inaccessible cells will also be OK. If any of those three cells look ‘dry’, the battery is probably a write-off even if it will still accept a charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazzeruk Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 Thanks Derek, but it is a Peugeot Boxer and as with all Peugeot and Citroen electrics, they are a law unto themselves. Despite being a car engineer in a previous life, I will not be checking any of this myself - leave it to the experts when the van is serviced next month. Main battery is charging nicely, but as I said, I will have it checked. Kind regard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Derek Uzzell - 2020-03-10 8:47 AM Keithl - 2020-03-09 8:15 PM But why did it discharge BOTH batteries?... Keith. Bazzeruk’s Autocruise Rhythm is 2013 vintage. His motorhome’s leisure-battery might be expected to discharge heavily over a 2-week period if the habitation power is left on and the TV is on stand-by. It may be sheer coincidence that the vehicle’s starter-battery (if it is the original one and now 7 years old) has become ‘flat’ over the same period, with the discharging simply due to battery senility. Not familiar with the particular installation but, apart from the above coincidence, might this be due to the split charge relay having fused closed, so linking both batteries when the ignition is off instead of separating them as intended? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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